Smith wanted to start a Christian school in Sapporo because it was a new town. Sapporo didn't have many churches then. But her group didn't give her money, so she went to Hakodate. Hakodate was bigger than Sapporo. In 1886, she got an English teaching job at the Public Teacher’s College of Sapporo. The next year, she could start a Christian school by herself. It was called Smith Girls' School ( "Sumisu Joshi Gakkou").