John M Smyth Elementary School

I really want to love Smyth because of the IB program, but the facilities situation is getting hard to ignore. Lately, the cleanliness has been a big issue for me—I saw in some recent reports that they’ve had major issues with their cleaning equipment, like industrial vacuums not even working right and water tanks leaking everywhere. It shows in the hallways, and honestly, with kids running around, it feels like a breeding ground for germs and dust. Also, finding out the school has a chronic absenteeism rate near 28% was a huge red flag... it makes me feel like the overall wellness culture is just not where it needs to be. It’s hard to prioritize 'wellness' when the basic maintenance and student attendance are struggling this much. Definitely a bit frustrated with the lack of transparency on how they're fixing the building's hygiene status.

My kid has been at Smyth for two years now and honestly, the health side of things is pretty solid for a CPS school. They’re super on top of the IB wellness focus, so they actually encourage the kids to move around and stay hydrated throughout the day. I really appreciate that they don't mess around with the sick policy—if a kid has a fever, they are sent home immediately, and we get an email update if something like strep is going around the classroom. The building is older, but the custodial staff works their tails off keeping the common areas and bathrooms smelling clean, which isn't always the case with elementary schools! Only downside is the nurse isn't there every single day, which can be a bit of a headache if yours needs regular meds, but overall we feel like he's in a safe, healthy spot.