Our Campus

When Smith Elementary opened in 2015, it was the first new campus built in PISD since Harper Elementary opened in 2008.

The architects said they used students as the focus when they designed the facility, which is fitting since the naming committee said that was also Leta Horn Smith's focus throughout her career in education.

Mrs. Smith started her teaching career in Princeton in 1922.

Throughout her 42-year career, Mrs. Smith taught every grade at one time in her life before retirement in the 1970s.

“She also taught nearly every subject but math,” Mickey Story said at the school dedication for her mother. “She was not the mathematician in the family. But she would have done it if they had asked.”

In addition to the typical classroom subjects, Mrs. Smith directed the one-act plays for UIL competition and enjoyed several years as the senior class sponsor, which included traveling with them on their senior trips.

Despite living on a road that was nearly impassable in the rain, Mrs. Smith’s attendance at school was almost perfect from the 1920s-1970s.

“She was determined to get to school, so mother would walk one mile north to school,” Mrs. Story said.

Her impact on students didn’t stop in the 1970s when she officially retired because she started substitute teaching.

In addition to her school responsibilities, Mrs. Smith saw a need to be a community servant. She was one of the founding members of the Noino Study Club and served faithfully at First Baptist Church.

When her granddaughter, LaQuita James, spoke at the dedication ceremony, she said, “It is very fitting and an honor to see grandmother’s name on the Leta Horn Smith Elementary School because of her dedication to the schools and this community,” Ms. James said.