Clara W. Rutherford Academy

The Clara W. Rutherford Academy has 28 dedicated and certified teachers serving the school; population. The staff works collaboratively, holding grade level meetings as well as weekly staff meetings. These meetings allow staff to share successful instructional strategies, which will help to increase student achievement.

We have a comprehensive support staff comprised of speech therapist, social worker, school psychologist, math specialist, literacy coach, an onsite Beaumont Health Center and its staff of nurses and visiting doctors. School service assistants also work in the classroom to assist in increasing student achievement. Rutherford’s support staff serves to further help-meet the needs of the diverse student population.

Clara W. Rutherford Academy is a third year Reading First School, which is a federal initiative authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act. The common goal of this program is for all students to be reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade. Michigan was one of the first states in the nation awarded this grant. Our kindergarten through third grade staff and students benefit from state mandated early intervention assessments, research based professional development, and sizable funding to support the program. In our three years as a Reading First School, data has shown that our students are improving phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.