Exploding Growth
Rutherford County Schools Director Don Odom told the Murfreesboro Rotary Club that with enrollment they were the fifth largest public system in Tennessee, but surprisingly the third largest when it came to the number of English as a second language (ESL) students. Despite the Volunteer State being listed as "English only", there are 68 languages spoken in our schools here.
Odom told the noon lunch gathering on Tuesday (9/22/2015) that in addition to traditional student ages, there were 800 adult education students attending Rutherford County classes last year.
The majority of students receive traditional diplomas, however the previous class saw 172 students receiving a high school equivalency diploma.
Accomplishments
Director Odom proudly told the civic leaders that the Rutherford County Schools are ranked twenty-third out of the thousands of systems across the nation.
It's not just national achievement, the local schools also score highly when compared to others in Tennessee. There were five local schools that received the STATE REWARD accreditation, and that means they rank among the top five per cent of schools in this state. Those include Cedar Grove Elementary, Central Magnet School, McFadden School of Excellence, Stewarts Creek Elementary and Lascassas Elementary.
Odom indicated that 64 per cent of Rutherford County Schools are in the top 25 per cent academically across the state, and 47 per cent are in the top 10.
Training To Succeed
The school director told the Rotary members that they wanted to train students to become successful to either get a job upon graduation or to have the mental tools needed to do well in higher education programs.
In fact, Rutherford County Schools have a 98.5 per cent graduation rate when compared to schools across the entire U.S.
Odom proudly concluded his talk to the Murfreesboro Rotary Club by noting college credit hours can be earned by high school students in the local system, especially in the fields of science and math. College level courses are available in robotics, STEM engineering, veterinary and animal sciences, dental, as well as audio-visual production.
The Rutherford County School system is one of this area's major employees. Odom noted the number on the payroll is approaching the 5,000 mark.
