Rutherford Elementary School

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.

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!!!!!

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.

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.

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?