Smith Junior High School of Inquiry…  What is it all about?   Desplácese hacia abajo para ver el texto en español.

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All Smith Junior High students have the opportunity to be a part of a team, surrounded by a group of common teachers and a smaller community within Smith JH.  Smith School of Inquiry is one of the teams in both 7th and 8th grades.

Smith School of Inquiry is an inquiry based program where learning often combines content areas, and assessment is both work and project based.  Classes offer honors level work, although honors level qualification is not required for admission. Students in this program should be curious, motivated, and willing to actively participate in their learning.

Frequently asked questions:

How can I get into the Smith School of Inquiry (SOI)?

Incoming 7th graders who have a commitment to learning, hard work, value curiosity, and are willing to play a larger role in learning can select School of Inquiry on their registration form. In the event that course requests are full, the SOI team will review other information on the student including teacher recommendations and academic data such as report cards and test scores. 

Rising 8th graders  should contact Kim Elliott (email below) or their Smith counselor if they are interested in joining the School of Inquiry for 8th grade.

The School of Inquiry is Smith’s honors program.  Do I need to be Gifted and Talented qualified to join?

Any student who has a commitment to learning, hard work, values curiosity, and is willing to play a larger role in learning is welcome to join the School of Inquiry.  You do not need to have Gifted and Talented designation with Mesa Public Schools to be a part of SOI.

Is there someone I can contact with questions about the program?

If you would like to know more about the Smith School of Inquiry, or have questions, please feel free to reach out to:

Kim Elliott - Title I Specialist               kaelliott@mpsaz.org

Brad Peterson - Instructional Coach   bjpeterson@mpsaz.org

What is inquiry?  

Inquiry based education honors the natural learning driver in education that we are born with; curiosity. Rather than teachers being experts and presenters in an inquiry based classroom, they become models and coaches in learning.  Inquiry encourages students to be curious, invites them to share these curiosities, and often uses student questions to drive learning. While remaining responsible to Mesa Public Schools’ Portrait of a Graduate and the Arizona State content standards, SOI’s inquiry based program encourages students to be actively involved in their learning.  An inquiry based approach asks students to do the majority of the “heavy lifting” in thinking and work in a classroom setting.