Rutherford School District

Rutherford School District
Superintendent:		Elaine Baldwin (interim)
Business Administrator:		Robert Brown
Address:		176 Park Avenue Rutherford, NJ 07070
Grade Range:		K-12
School facilities:		5
Enrollment:		2,470 (as of 2008-09)
Faculty (in FTEs):		193.5
Student–teacher ratio:		12.8
District Factor Group:		GH
Web site:		http://www.rutherfordschools.org
Ind.	Per Pupil	District Spending	Rank (*)	K-12 Average	%± vs. Average
1	Comparative Cost	$12,915	42	$13,632	-5.3%
2	Classroom Instruction	7,848	48	8,035	-2.3%
6	Support Services	1,429	7	2,166	-34.0%
8	Administrative Cost	1,583	56	1,379	14.8%
10	Operations & Maintenance	1,693	51	1,674	1.1%
13	Extracurricular Activities	334	26	258	29.5%
16	Median Teacher Salary	60,341	47	57,597
Data from NJDoE 2009 Comparative Spending Guide. *Of K-12 districts with 1,801-3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=70

The Rutherford School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade from Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.

As of the 2008-09 school year, the district's five schools had an enrollment of 2,470 students and 193.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

History

Public education began in Rutherford prior to 1900, but the oldest permanent school structure was the Park School, built in 1902. It is currently the home of the Rutherford borough hall, on Park Avenue.

Rutherford formerly had three "neighborhood" schools for grades K-5 (Washington, Lincoln, and Sylvan) which fed into two "magnet" schools for 6-8 (Union & Pierrepont). The magnet schools also served as elementary schools for their neighborhoods. Since the 2005-2006 School Year, the Rutherford Schools have changed this format.

Sylvan Schools has since been closed by the Rutherford Board of Education, it houses YMCA Programs, the District Special Services Department, as well as a Handicapped Pre-School Program run by the South Bergen Jointure Commission.

Rutherford now has two elementary schools, Washington and Lincoln, for grades K-3. In grades 4-8 the students attend Union and Pierrepont Schools. For years before the reformatting, the Rutherford School System underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, which effected all of its buildings, with the most substantial amount of work taking place at Washington, Lincoln, & Union Schools.

Schools

Today's public schools (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:

Elementary Schools (K-3)

• Lincoln (357 students)
  • Jeanna Velechko, Principal
• Washington (341)
  • William Mulcahy, Principal

Middle Schools (4-8)

• Pierrepont (501)
  • Joan Carrion, Principal
  • James Manco, Assistant Principal
• Union (489)
  • Kenneth Polakowski, Principal
  • Kurt Schweitzer, Assistant Principal

High School (9-12)

• Rutherford High School (782), built in 1922 and expanded in 1959 and 2005
  • Jack Hurley, Principal
  • Robert Klie, Acting Assistant Principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

• Elaine Baldwin, Interim Superintendent
• Robert Brown, Business Administrator / Board Secretary

External links

• Rutherford School District
• Rutherford School District's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Rutherford School District, National Center for Education Statistics