Frank J. Smith School

Dear Frank J. Smith Elementary School families:

The Frank J. Smith School is committed to fostering a life-long love of learning in all students through a diversified curriculum that encourages independent and critical thinking while promoting compassionate and responsible citizens. Embracing an individual process towards measurable growth of academic, social, and emotional skills; including personal responsibility and self-confidence, we aim to create an atmosphere that is accessible to all, where each student is accepted, respected, nurtured and motivated. We strive to actively involve parents, teachers, and community members in our students' learning.

We are a high achieving primary school where students and staff work together in a positive and supportive environment with the philosophy that every child can learn. Our pre-kindergarten through first-grade building is proud to provide a comprehensive program for our students. In partnership with parents, our students are able to achieve above and beyond our expectations.

We also offer a well-rounded integrated preschool program that provides our youngest students with small-group instruction, independent play in an organized atmosphere, as well as whole-group activities to help ready children for kindergarten.

Our students’ early childhood education experience begins with our Full-day Kindergarten Program that focuses on educating the whole child. Academically, our Kindergarten curriculum has a strong focus on reading and math readiness, but balances this with a devotion to addressing the social, emotional, and physical growth of each child. We are equally proud of our Integrated Preschool Program for three and four year old students. This provides a wonderful starting point for our well-established Inclusion Program.

Students in Grades 1 receive instruction in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. In addition to the core academic subjects, students enjoy participating in physical education, music theater, art, library, computers, enrichment and Spanish.

Our district is committed to meeting the needs of our entire student population. To this end, our staff is provided with 20+ hours of professional development on topics directly related to instruction. During the past year, we have focused our attention on the implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in both English Language Arts and Mathematics.

In addition to attending to the academic needs of our students, the staff at Frank J. Smith School values the nurturing of the whole child by providing experiences geared toward their social, emotional, and character development. Our HOPPS (Helping Ourselves to Prevent Problems Successfully) Program supports our students as they develop conflict resolution and problem-solving skills during the early years. In addition, we are excited to introduce our newest offering, the #BeAPal Club. Typical peers are matched with “pals” who can benefit from strong social role models.

The Frank J. Smith School is proud to offer our students a well-rounded Early Childhood Program.

Matthew Tuorto, Principal
(973) 887-5650