Running Head: School & Community Profile for Smithland Elementary

School & Community Diversity Profile:

Smithland Elementary School
Meagan Swortzel
Bridgewater College

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A place where learning has no limits and together we work for the success of all, is the
perfect motto for a school like Smithland Elementary School in Harrisonburg, VA. Smithland has
an extremely diverse student body, and this motto publicly dedicates them to serving each and
every one of their diverse students. Smithland Elementary School is an exemplary model of their
motto as they serve a very unique student body including various diverse cultural identities, and
as a whole they are especially distinct in the areas of gender, race, poverty, and language.
The Smithland Elementary School Student body has a surprising gender make up, with
about 63% males, females are outnumbered. In the greater Harrisonburg City community, the
ratio is closer to even, as I would expect. About 47% of Harrisonburg City citizens are males and
approximately 53% females ("American fact finder:," 2010). This expected ratio made the
schools gender imbalance even more surprising. With female students only making up 37% of
the population, this brought forth a type of diversity, I did not expect to be prominent ("Virginia
department of," 2014). Even in a 50/50 gender classroom, this issue would need to be addressed;
however, in a classroom where only three to four out of ten students are female, it could easily
become a gender biased atmosphere with gender bias.
In order for educators at Smithland Elementary school to avoid gender bias in their
classroom as they educate both male and female students, they need to be aware of how their
pedagogical tactics could influence the children. For example, as an educator, I will strive to
provide both boys and girls with the same opportunities. This includes during free time, as well
as during instruction. Students should not be driven towards gender stereotypical toys or games,
but should be given the freedom to choose and the encouragement to try new things. In order to
promote acceptance and equality, I will also try to avoid boys versus girls classroom activities,
and instead combine gender groups. Additionally, I will encourage all students equally in all

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subjects. Educators should never discriminate by assuming that one gender can perform better in
a subject than the other. I will give equal opportunities to both boys and girls in math, science,
the arts, and other subjects, fully believing that all students have the equal ability to learn.
Another diverse demographic set of Smithland is race. In Harrisonburg City, the most
prominent racial groups include whites and Hispanics. 68.9% of the population is white, while
15.9% of the population is Hispanic ("American fact finder:," 2010). With this set of data for
Harrisonburg City, I would have expected the school population to somewhat mimic this;
however, again, I was greatly surprised at what I found. The Smithland student body is only
35.12% white, and Hispanics are the dominant group, making up 47.82% of the students
("Virginia department of," 2014). This switch in the dominant culture produces a very unique
school environment. Just as with gender, this unique racial diversity requires an insightful,
culturally responsive educator.
In order for teachers at Smithland, or other racially diverse schools, to create a positive
and accepting learning environment, without oppression of minority groups or overemphasis on
the dominant culture, it is important that the teacher is informed of the students ethnic
backgrounds. One way I plan to learn about a students racial background is to involve parents in
the educational experience. Once I have knowledge of students races, curriculum and lessons
can be molded to involve the diverse racial element of my classroom. When using a students
race as an asset in the classroom instead of an inconvenience, students will have increased selfconfidence and be proud of their background, and in turn, this will create a more effective
learning environment. Additionally, teachers in racially diverse schools, like at Smithland, have
to conquer the issue of discrimination and fight the idea of racial privilege based on skin color.
There are many valuable activities to teach students equality. One activity that I hope to use if I

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have a racially diverse classroom is people painting, in which students cannot use the terms
white or black to describe themselves, but must use paint and find a more specific name for their
skin tone, such as walnut or peach. This, and other activities, can help students value all the
diverse skin tones and races in the classroom, in turn creating an oppression-free classroom to
educate every student equally.
A third crucial demographic factor in Harrisonburg City and Smithland Elementary
School is poverty. In the city of Harrisonburg, 35% of people live below the poverty line
("American fact finder:," 2010). This unfortunate demographic is further present within
Smithland Elementary, as 354 out of the 504 students come from families that the Virginia
Department of Education considers to be economically disadvantaged. This means that around
70% of the Smithland Elementary School students are at an economic disadvantage ("Virginia
department of," 2014). This data is astonishing, and with such a prominent level of poverty in the
school, Smithland teachers have the important responsibility of organizing their classrooms so
that these economically disadvantaged students will not also be disadvantaged in their
educational experience.
One important way Smithland teachers can accommodate for their economically
disadvantaged students is to try avoid requiring money from home to participate or succeed in
various classroom activities, including projects and field trips. Teachers should try to provide all
needed supplies in the classroom; however, if supplies or fees are needed for special activities,
classes can avoid high prices by participating in fundraisers or collecting recycled supplies.
Solutions like these can avoid discrimination or privilege based on a students economic
situation. Besides making an effort to provide for economically disadvantaged students in the
classroom, I also believe that I will have the responsibility to be an advocate for these students.

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This includes helping students and family take advantage of the resources, such as free and
reduced lunch, food stamps, or free medical care programs which can help economically
disadvantage students still achieve a better lifestyle and the best education possible. When I
become attuned to the economic needs of my students, I feel that all children in my classroom
will have a more equal learning experience.
Another type of demographic that makes Harrisonburg and Smithland uniquely diverse,
is language. In Harrisonburg City, approximately 73% of the population is English speaking,
14% are Spanish speaking, and all other languages make up around 8% of the population. This is
measured by the language individuals speak in their homes, meaning that 27% of Harrisonburg
citizens speak a language other than English in their homes, making it their primary language
("American fact finder:," 2010). In Smithland elementary, this proportion was vastly different. In
the school, there are 259 out of 405 students that are Limited English Proficient. So, English is
the not the primary language in the lives of 64% of the Smithland student population ("Virginia
department of," 2014). This provides a great challenge for schools to conquer, but Smithland
does an outstanding job at accounting for the differences.
Harrisonburg City Schools run an English as a Second Language program to help fill the
gap for the non-English speaking students. Additionally, Smithland also offers a Dual Language
Program. This program teaches the same curriculum as a standard classroom, but offers a 50/50
balance of English and Spanish. Although this program is new to Harrisonburg City, it is
believed that it will produce bilingual students who are educationally more advanced than their
monolingual peers by middle school. This great program takes an issue that is usually thought of
as an inconvenience or a disadvantage and makes it noteworthy and valuable. I believe
classrooms like this could be the future of education, and one day, I would love to have a job

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working in this Dual Language program. Outside of the ESL and Dual Language classrooms, I
will also try to provide all the necessary accommodations and constantly strive towards inclusion
so that these students may also have an equal educational opportunity.
Every school has some form of diversity, but Smithland Elementary School in
Harrisonburg City, is especially diverse in the areas of gender, race, poverty, and language.
Despite the extra challenge of working with such diversity, this school and its teachers have
completely inspired me. I hope to continue to learn from the exemplary model Smithland
elementary is providing as they thrive and unquestionably live up to their motto of being a place
where learning has no limits and together we work for the success of all.

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Works Cited
American fact finder: Community facts. (2010). Retrieved from citationmachine.net/index2.php?
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qstyleid=2&mode=form&reqsrcidTarget=APAWeb&nameCnt=1&source=mla&minimod
e=isbn
Smithland elementary school. (2014, March). Retrieved from web.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/smes/
Virginia department of education: Fall membership. (2014). Retrieved from
http://bi.vita.virginia.gov/doe_bi/rdPage.aspx?
rdReport=Main&subRptName=Fallmembership