Rutherford principal outlines strengths, space challenges and intervention gains

Heather, Rutherford Elementary principal, told the Stillwater Area Public Schools board that Rutherford’s staff and programs have produced academic and social‑emotional gains even as the building’s open‑learning design creates scheduling and space challenges.

Rutherford serves 573 K–5 students and has a capacity of 675, Heather said. “Our free and reduced lunch population is at 16%, our multilingual learners are at 2.4%, our special education is at 16.7% and then our children of color are at 15.4%,” she said. She told the board the school’s certified teachers have a combined 874 years of experience and support staff 248 years.

The principal described Rutherford’s five “houses,” each with multiple flexible learning spaces, and credited a strong PTA with funding two new playgrounds, makerspace carts and other classroom grants. “They purchased 10 makerspace carts…teachers can check those carts out, bring them right into their learning environments,” she said.

Heather also described the school’s DCD (developmental cognitive delay) cluster program, which houses 18 K–5 students and includes two full‑time cluster teachers and five paraeducators. She said the program runs practical learning opportunities the students themselves operate and described the program as “very individualized and very focused on strength based.”

On academic intervention, Heather pointed to the district’s tiered system. She said Rutherford’s team meets quarterly to review CBM FastBridge data and provide tier‑2 supports in classrooms and tier‑3 services through interventionists. She said the school moved 37% of students qualifying for tier‑2 intervention back to tier‑1 between fall and winter, which she described as a significant success.

At the same time, the principal flagged concerns about reading comprehension in upper elementary. She said district assessments and MCA results show declines since 2019 and that the school has identified gaps in curriculum and tier‑1 instruction. “If you look at 61 of our MCA this last year was at the proficiency level 3, 4, and 5,” she said, adding that targeted professional development and LETRS training have been used to address decoding and fluency needs.

Space and collaboration time were recurring themes. Heather said the open‑learning houses aid collaboration but complicate scheduling: “When you have a team of 4, you can't have the same prep time…there isn't a time for all teachers to be together during that prep time.” She described an operations and safety team that coordinates space planning and house guidelines to reduce surprises when rooms or middle spaces must be used.

The principal also described social‑emotional work after staff noticed discrepancies among green room, health office and SABERS behavior data. The school provided a fall “clear and reset” training on SABERS, added social‑emotional time during a staff SWIM day, and plans a March follow‑up to better align referrals and supports. Heather said the aim is to make sure staff understand when to document concerns and when to initiate tier‑2 or tier‑3 supports.

Board members asked about preschool placement within the house structure; Heather said Rutherford currently houses two preschool sections in the Blue House but that space pressures—particularly five kindergarten sections—could require future relocation. She said she would like a permanent front‑of‑house location for preschool.

Chair Sherman and other board members thanked Heather for the report and asked follow‑up questions; Heather closed by thanking staff and families for their support.

Ending: The presentation provided the board with a detailed portrait of Rutherford’s instructional model, intervention gains and logistical constraints; no formal board action was taken on the item.