Rutland High School circa 1917
Macon, ca. 1917. Rutland High School. Mr. Smith was the principal. These wagons were forerunners of the modern school bus. Perry McGee on bicycle; R.E. Dunbar on horse. Wagon drivers left to right: John Outlaw, Lewis Davis, Perry McGee, George Skipper, Charley Stokes. Rutland is now the old J.H. Heard School.
The Rutland District was named in the early 1800s for the Duke of Rutland, a friend of General Oglethorpe. In the early 1900s, Rutland High School was opened and became the first rural consolidated high school in the state. The following one room schools were consolidated: Planters, Sardis, Walden, Skipperton, Evergreen, and Rutland. The date of opening was Sept 15, 1912 .
An auditorium was added to the high school in 1921. Programs of all types took place including plays, piano recitals, PTA and community meetings. The last graduation of high school students was in 1926 and the school reopened later that year as the Rutland Grammar School under Mrs. L.Y. Hallman, Principal. The last graduation from the old wooden building was June 9, 1933.
For many years, the people of the Rutland area, south Bibb County, fought for a neighborhood middle and high school for their children. The Bibb County Board of Education acquired 151 acres of rolling farmland near Interstate 75 at the Hartley Bridge Road exit, which is in the heart of several growing shopping areas. Rutland's Middle School (RMS) opened its doors in August of 2003.
Rutland Middle is one of six middle schools in Bibb County. One of the School's distinguishing factors is that it shares its campus with Rutland High School. This eases the transition from middle to high school, and it saves the county money by combining two schools on one campus. The middle and high school also share a common kitchen and lunchroom with a partition.
Rutland Middle School was the first school in Bibb County to move all sixth grade students to a middle school. When it opened in 2003, all of the sixth and seventh grade students were new to the middle school setting. Only our eighth grade students had been in a middle school prior to 2003.
Rutland Middle has experienced numerous successes since it opened. Several students have won awards in the local and state fairs in science, math, social studies, technology, media, art, chorus and band. The Rutland students have held the county record in numerous sports categories as well.