Murray High School is housed in the building that was once Rose Hill Elementary. I was very familiar with the outside grounds, as I often played on the playgrounds that were there when I was a child. Inside, Murray has a comfortable scale, with soothing colors, punctuated with skilled student artwork decorating surfaces. This is the kind of school I would like to attend:, cozy, with the personalities of the students woven into the very walls. Unconditional love at Murray is $0.00, a sign proclaims.
Murray still labors under the sometimes perception that it is a suspension or disciplinary school, a problem compounded by history and place. Albemarle’s past alternative schools did have students “encouraged” to attend by administrations that were at a loss on how to teach them in their larger schools, and Murray shares a campus with the Enterprise School, which “provides specialized short term intervention to students requiring alternative placement for educational rehabilitation”.
The reality is, which I know well as both a student and an educator, there are simply students who don’t thrive in larger schools. And by “don’t thrive”, I mean they cannot muddle through with the regular teenage ennui and challenges. I know many adults who reflect back on their high school experience, and say things like “It was okay, I enjoyed this teacher and that class, and overall it wasn’t bad.” For some students, high school in a large facility, with hierarchical structures, social pressures, and economical, emotional, and/or developmental challenges, can be absolutely horrible.
Murray follows Choice Theory, and is a Glasser Quality Public High School. Students perform A and B quality work, and do not receive grades until that quality of work is attained. If students do not care for given assignments, they must work with the teacher to propose and complete an equivalent assignment. Students complete personalized annual Quality Work projects, examples of which include a 45-page essay on Hamlet, a rebuild of a Harley Davidson motorcycle (by a female student), and a complete CD of music, including cover art and digitization. Projects like these require that students build partnerships with collaborators, and develop the technical and soft skills needed to complete a long-term project. Students identify the ways in which their projects align with the county’s 21st century life long learner skills.
Moving to the Murray physical plant next year will be the Community Public Charter School, a middle school with an arts-and-literacy-based program, also following the Choice Theory model. I know two alum of CPCS and know that they love the hands on, active and small-sized program.
Murray also shares space with Central Office, two large rooms have been designated to be used for professional development because there is no other space in the County’s building. Initially that surprised me, since there are two County Office buildings, and then I recalled the difficulty I have had trying to reserve a room on a given day. Even with all the buildings the county owns, it seems that space is still a premium.
