On September 5, 1955, Mae Smythe Elementary opened its doors at 2002 Pasadena Boulevard for the first time. The school had a teaching faculty of 29 and the principal was Jack D. McCoy. At its opening, the school had an enrollment of 785 students in grades one through four. Unfortunately, the first day was not all smiles for some children. Most children who attended Mae Smythe rode buses to school. As the buses arrived for the first day of school, faculty wrote bus numbers on a piece of paper and pinned them to the students’ clothing, so each child would be able to get on their bus to go home. However, the same buses had not returned to pick up the children. The children got on the wrong buses and had difficulty getting home. It was nine o'clock that night before the last student got home. Understandably, many parents were unhappy, but the bus situation went much smoother from then on. In January of 1962, Roy F. Reese became the principal of Mae Smythe Elementary as McCoy left to become the principal at Southmore Intermediate. Enrollment at the school fluctuated and in 1976, Mae Smythe had 633 students and 27 teachers. 

In more recent years, Mae Smythe participated in a year-round schooling program for 12 years, before it eventually transitioned back to the traditional schedule. During the 2018-2019 school year, the school was relocated to its new campus at 2424 Burke Road in Pasadena. Over the past several years, Mae Smythe has been named a TEA Recognized and Exemplary school. The campus currently serves around 780 students in prekindergarten through fourth grade.

• Jack McCoy 1954-1962
• Roy Reese 1962-1987
• Emily Maddox 1987-2003
• Peggy Henson 2003-2006
• Quita Brown 2006-2015
• Marty Moffett 2015-2017
• Denise Moody 2017-present