344 SMITH Street
Jacksonville, FL 32204

It's really a heartbreak to send your kid to this place -- this is what we experienced in the one year we attended: numerous fights; bathrooms often closed; movement in the building so restricted during lunch that some kids couldn't really always get lunch; security guards made kids shake out their binders onto the floor in the hallway; an English teacher showed a highly inaccurate movie inspired by Beowulf instead of having kids read it (and the teacher oblivious that the film is way off); another teacher told kids that hurricanes in the Americas are created by the souls of enslaved people; my son would send me cell phone videos during class of multiple students just sleeping on their desks while the teacher was doing nothing. This place extinguished my son's interest in school. The name is being changed (which is great), but I hope the rest of the place can be improved for the general students. At the open house, all the principal talked about were the special tracks like early high school and the engineering program, which might not be so bad -- but what about the majority of the kids? We discovered that few of the more appealing course offerings were actually available.

This is the worst school ever. I do NOT RECOMMEND YOUR CHILDREN GOING HERE.

This is arguably the best elementary school in Jacksonville. It is a gifted and talented magnet school that feeds ultimately into Paxon or Stanton. A student need not be gifted to get into the school, but there is a strong emphasis on academics, math and science. Homework is every night and students have to be willing to work hard. The teachers are hand picked by the principal and I would match them with any school. The principal is strict and there is not a discipline problem at this school.

The principal and teachers really care about the education of each child. Parents are involved in the school which helps in the child's learning process from PK through 5th grade.