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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MESQUITE ISD·NCES 483039003416

Rutherford Elementary School

1100 RUTHERFORD DR, MESQUITE, TX 75149 · (972) 290-4060 · Dallas County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL803 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 46% of Texas public elementary schools
  • B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
  • FThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.

Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Texas public elementary schools

Enrollment
803
Elementary
DISTRICT 507 · STATE 519
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 15.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
78%
628 students
DISTRICT 82% · STATE 65%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Pre-K9412%
Kindergarten10914%
Grade 111915%
Grade 212415%
Grade 312516%
Grade 411214%
Grade 512015%

This year's kindergarten class (109) is 9% smaller than its 5th grade class (120).

Student demographics
50%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 63% · US 70%
White
7910%
DISTRICT 8% · STATE 24% · US 43%
Hispanic
54868%
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 54% · US 30%
Black
12916%
DISTRICT 24% · STATE 13% · US 15%
Asian
81%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 6% · US 6%
Two+
324%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 3% · US 5%
Native American
41%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 0% · US 1%
Pacific Islander
30%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 0%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Male
40050%
Female
40350%

Discussions

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Test scores

STAAR 2025-26 . % Meets Grade Level or Above
Reading
49.0%
TX avg 54.5% . -2.0pp since 2020
Mathematics
43.0%
TX avg 45.3% . -13.0pp since 2020

What this means: On the STAAR, Texas's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read at grade level and about 43 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Texas schools, those numbers are about 55 and 45. Reading scores are down about 2 points since 2020, while math scores are down about 13 points.

Performance levels, 2025-26

SubjectMasters Grade LevelMeets Grade LevelApproaches Grade LevelDid Not Meet Grade Level
Reading24.0%25.0%22.0%29.0%
Mathematics16.0%27.0%22.0%35.0%
Share of tested students at each STAAR level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.

STAAR results by year

School yearReadingMathematics
2025-2649.0%43.0%
2024-2552.0%42.0%
2023-2449.0%47.0%
2022-2358.0%66.0%
2021-2265.0%61.0%
2020-2151.0%56.0%
% Meets Grade Level or Above, all students and all tested grades.
Source: STAAR. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →

BeatsExpectations

Demographically-adjusted score · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
43.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.3%
based on TX schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.9pp
above demographic expectation

What this means: About 43% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% typical for Texas schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Texas's top nor bottom 10%.

BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →

Schools most like Rutherford Elementary School

Rutherford Elementary School's state test result (43.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Rutherford Elementary School this school80378.2%43.2%
Royal Elementary School
BROOKSHIRE
76075.9%30.2%
Trinity Basin Preparatory - Mesquite
MESQUITE
80075.6%35.6%
H T Jones Elementary School
HEMPSTEAD
72079.6%35.8%
Travis Elementary School
BAYTOWN
70977.9%32.7%
Margaret S McWhirter Elementary School
WEBSTER
81075.7%42.5%
Matched among Texas elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.

Where Rutherford Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn TexasIn Dallas County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
43.2%#2,189 of 4,401#150 of 421
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
43.0%#2,530 of 4,466
▼ 55
#214 of 429
▲ 4
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
49.0%#2,660 of 4,466
▼ 390
#195 of 429
▼ 27
3-year test score change
ranked biggest drop first
-16.0pp#138 of 3,998#18 of 399
Enrollment
ranked largest first
803#437 of 4,938#27 of 448
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
15.7:1#3,023 of 4,622#280 of 432
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
49.7%#2,450 of 4,628#183 of 433
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
78.2%#2,077 of 4,789#294 of 437
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+69.4%#55 of 1,307#6 of 118
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.

4-year change

SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25
Enrollment
803
+141 (+21%) vs 2020
-17% since 1990-91, when it was 964
Student : Teacher
15.7:1
was 15.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-2580351.315.7:178% (628)
2023-247484915.3:181% (607)
2022-2372945.216.1:178% (569)
2020-216624415.1:177% (511)
2017-184742916.3:176% (359)
2015-165003116.1:168% (341)
2010-114942917.0:162% (305)
2000-017293918.7:122% (162)
1990-919644123.5:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Rutherford Elementary School.

Since 2017-18: students up 69% (474 to 803); teachers up 77% (29 to 51.3).

About Rutherford Elementary School

Rutherford Elementary School is a large elementary school in Texas, with an address in MESQUITE. It educates 803 students in pre-K through 5. The school's enrollment is 55% above the 519 average for elementary schools in Texas.

MESQUITE ISD serves 37,930 students across 51 schools.

Rutherford Elementary School's enrollment is 68% Hispanic. Other groups include 16% Black, 10% White, and 4% multiracial. By comparison, Dallas County residents are about 41% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Rutherford Elementary School comes in at 50%.

The school reports 51.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 15.7 students per teacher. Elementary schools in Texas average about 15.1:1, a similar figure. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 78%. Across public schools in Dallas County, the average is about the same, 77%.

Measured against Texas public elementary schools, Rutherford Elementary School receives a B-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.

Schools in Texas with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 40.3%. Rutherford Elementary School scores 43.2%.

Dallas County has about 2,621,179 residents, and median household income is about $76,547, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 36% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 11%. Federal data list 771 public schools in Dallas County, with a combined enrollment of about 459,645.

The school nearest to Rutherford Elementary School is Smith Elementary School, at a distance of about 0.7 miles. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Rutherford Elementary School ranks 2nd on average proficiency.

The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.

Enrollment was 662 in 2020-21 and 803 in 2024-25, a gain of 141 students.

Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.

Dallas County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
2,621,179
Census ACS
Median income
$76,547
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
771
459,645 students

Quick facts

School name
Rutherford Elementary School
District
MESQUITE ISD
Address
1100 RUTHERFORD DR, MESQUITE, TX 75149
Phone
(972) 290-4060
County
Dallas County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
PK–05
Total enrollment
803
Teachers (FTE)
51
Student–teacher ratio
15.7:1
Free and reduced lunch
628 (78%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
483039003416
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in MESQUITE ISD
Other schools in MESQUITE
Other Rutherford Elementary schools

4 other US public schools in 5 states are named Rutherford Elementary. Rutherford Elementary School is the largest of the 5.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Rutherford Elementary School
How large is Rutherford Elementary School?
Rutherford Elementary School enrolls approximately 803 students in grades PK-05.
Is Rutherford Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Rutherford Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Rutherford Elementary School have?
Rutherford Elementary School employs 51 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.7:1.
What is the student diversity at Rutherford Elementary School?
Student demographics at Rutherford Elementary School are roughly 10% White, 68% Hispanic, 16% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Rutherford Elementary School?
Rutherford Elementary School is overseen by MESQUITE ISD in Dallas County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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