Welcome to Smith International Baccalaurete Primary Years Programme and Spanish Immersion Magnet Elementary School!  Our school is named after a former Wake County Public School System Superintendent who also served the district as a teacher, football coach, and principal.  His passion for education lives on in our community.  

Fred A. Smith Elementary became a Magnet School in 2012 under the theme of the International Baccalaurete Primary Years Programme.  Since this time, SMES has expanded its programming to include Spanish Immersion and a focus on Global Studies.  The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme is governed by the International Baccalaureate Organization, and is represented in over sixty countries throughout the world, serving nearly two million students each year.  The IB PYP focuses on transdisplinary units of instruction to form connections between and across subject areas, to ensure an education that is both authentic and relevant as learning is a life-long exploration.  Through inquiry, students are encouraged to ask questions, reflect earnestly, and engage with agency in their own learning.  Students learn additional languages and gain in-depth insight into diverse cultures and their significance in the ways in which we live and work with others.  

Our Spanish Immersion Program offers students the opportunity to engage in a fifty/fifty split of both English and Spanish instruction, promoting bilingualism and biliteracy in the foundational years, when acquiring an additional language is most often successful.  Our school provides daily world language in both Spanish and Mandarin. Students at Smith Magnet Elementary are receiving a holistic approach to education that many schools simply do not offer.  

To learn more about Smith Magnet Elementary and schedule a visit, please contact Curt Carlyle, Magnet Programming Coordinator, at 919.662.2458 Extension 25376 or by email at dcarlyle@wcpss.net