Rutherford Elementary School

301 West Southland Boulevard

School District

Jefferson County
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by other on March 06, 2022

Toxic environment. Principal sets the negative tone. Coworkers will tattle on one another. Most staff are only looking out for themselves. If you are a job hunter, beware.
Submitted by other on March 27, 2016

Having major promblems when my daughter started kindergarden she is now in first grade and lack of issues being dealt with and the staff and the principal who is never there and will not have a face to face about my child being bullied and handed it off to other staff members so that went no where. Just really has no help at all. Never ever had my messages for staff to call me at home and i left several messages. But this goes on daily and still i deal with all this everyday as soon as my daughter walks in the door in the morning it starts all over.So i end this for now and say this is all the time!!!!!
Submitted by parent on June 23, 2014

Rutherford is located in a multi-ethnic community. My children go to school with children from many other countries, and I love it! They are making friends from Iraq, Cuba, Guatemala, Bosnia, Thailand, and many other countries.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2014

I grew up in Louisville and later moved to Indiana--but when our family decided to move back here, I researched the JCPS elementary schools. I chose Rutherford Elementary for my daughter because of the Visual Arts Magnet program, and also because the student population is highly diverse. My daughter and I both love the school, the principal and all the teachers she has had. I was shocked to see Rutherford had a 1 rating, until I learned the rating is based on standardized state testing. Of course any school that has so many ESL students and brand new immigrant children is going to score lower on standardized testing. Personally, I think the rating system should be based on more than a culturally biased standardized test. My daughter was bullied at her previous school in Indiana, and we've had NO problems with bullying or harassment at Rutherford. I also appreciate that Rutherford has school-wide cultural activities to encompass the backgrounds of all the students. My daughter says she likes the new friends she's made at Rutherford and learning about where they are from, art and reading, and also the food is very good.
Submitted by parent on February 24, 2014

There is much talk of Zero Tolerance for Bullying in JCPS schools. We hear it often and want to believe it is true. But at this school, bullying is common. Either it is ignored by staff and teachers or it is not efficiently handled as it happens often. Maybe no one takes it seriously or they are too tired and stressed out to address it properly. It any ways, it is festering like a virus and infecting kids from all grades. Some kids who are generally well behaved had been overwhelmed by the attitude and violent behavior of their peers and are copying such behavior at home. Some of the good teachers do the best they can yet still the problem persists. Could bureaucracy, school politics and policies be hindering their good intentions? Parents complain but the bullying continues. Parents give in or give up. Students are withdrawn or transferred out of the school. Tragic but true. Students that stay on learn the violence as part of the school culture and pass it on to other children. Soon they move on to middle and high school. What will be the future be like if bullying is the norm in our society? What legacy are we leaving for our children if we let them grow up to be bullies?
Submitted by parent on August 10, 2013

My child has been in school since head start now she is entering the third grade. This school is the worst school she has been in. The parents are NOT udated on their childs progress. The teacher made me feel like it was my fault the reason my child was behind due to her seizures. They let a little boy pick on my child, i talk to principal she made it seem like my child was the problem. when I talked to the conselor she made it seem like it was a small thing. I called the board and again nothing was done until 3days school was out my daughted had to switched classes. The school is NOT for a concerned parent that wants their child to suceed in life. Parent involvement is ask but, not respected. So, why sign up for it. My child felt left out and all alone at times. This is the first year she hated school. I hope her third grade year at this schoolis better!
Submitted by other on August 10, 2012

Rutherford Elementary School is terrible. Most of the students have problems with their behavior and they get a below average on tests. However, they do not care. Teachers take action and the head administration does too. But later, not much is done and it happens again and again. The teachers at Rutherford are all different. There's fantastic teachers that teaches and helps their students while there's teachers that are TOO nice and friendly. This may sound silly, but it's true. The teachers that are very nice ends up giving their favorite students favors and learning there is not distributed. So I have to admit, don't send your children here. They won't learn a lot.
Submitted by parent on October 27, 2011

I only rated this school with one star because you cant give them zero stars! This school is horrible and as the other parent below stated, they have failed the last two years! Some thing should be done about all these school failing year after year, but as the parent stated below, the "system" is overwhelmed! I have tried and tried to get my kids out of this school for the past two years!!!
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2011

No one has commented since 2008, what does that tell you? Currently this school has failed for two consecutive years. It has met 11 of the 17 academic testing goals, but did not make the AYP ( Adequate Yearly Progress ). Sadly like most schools, with bussed children and not many neighborhood families attending, it has a poor parent involvement. The school also is struggling with a huge language barrier with most of the parents there. More needs to be done on so many levels and with so many JCPS schools in need of guidance, it seems many schools will continue to be allowed to fail... because, " the system", itself is overwhelmed with its " own " failure.