Murray Middle School Student Council Students will host a Murray/Calloway First Responder breakfast, Tuesday, December 6, 2022 from 8 to 9 a.m. in the MMS Atrium. In collaboration with the MISD 150th birthday celebration, the Frist Responder Breakfast is an event to show appreciation and give back to the community. The breakfast will provide light breakfast refreshments and is a come and go event.
The 150th birthday of the Murray Independent School District will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. A number of activities will occur throughout the day and evening to highlight the black and gold heritage of Murray Schools demonstrating Tradition, Pride, and Excellence since 1872.
A special alumni assembly inside Taylor Gymnasium will be held at Murray High School beginning at 2 p.m. featuring Mark Brady, MISD veteran educator, Scott Turner, 2022 MHS Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee, Danny Hudspeth, MHS alumnus, Murray City Council member and Hall of Fame inductee, and Dr. Abby Dowdy, MHS alumnus and psychologist with the Murray Calloway County Hospital.
At 3:30 p.m., a cake and cookie reception will begin in the Murray Middle School Atrium. Tours of Murray Middle School led by student-ambassadors are also available. A special program featuring the following speakers: John Weatherly, MHS alumnus who represents four generations of MHS graduates, Scott Turner, MHS graduate/MISD veteran educator and 2022 MHS Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, and Regan Settle, an MHS senior, will begin at 4 p.m. inside the MMS Auditorium. The MES Choir will conduct a performance in between junior and varsity basketball game with University Heights at Taylor Gymnasium. During halftime of the MHS/UHA varsity contest, the 2022 Murray High Yearbook reveal will be held.
The black and gold lineage of the Murray Independent School District traces back to 1872 when private individuals took steps to organize a stock company and issue bonds, which were sold to locals. The trustees used $17,500 to hire the best builder in the Purchase and staked out a site on the edge of town, on the corner of Eighth and Main Streets. The Murray Male and Female institute, a two-story brick school, was constructed for one of the first high schools in the Purchase Region. Four teachers taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history, and English grammar, inside the stately structure that housed six classrooms, a chapel, and a small stage for the principal's desk. Trustees sought teachers from outside the area, believing they would bring a better perspective from the world they had seen.
The current Eighth and Main Street site has been home to three school buildings. The first was constructed in 1872 and lasted until 1904, when fire destroyed it. The new building took two years to rebuild, and students attended classes at the abandoned clothing factory at the end of Poplar Street, until the new building opened in 1906. In 1919, another fire destroyed the building over Christmas break. Students attended classes in the basement of First United Methodist Church during the three-year reconstruction phase. The third MHS building opened in 1922 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This building housed every grade in the Murray City Schools in various configurations.
The doors opened to Murray State Normal School in the new MHS building on September 24, 1923. Serving as the birthplace of today’s Murray State University, 202 students enrolled. In 1965, Kentucky’s first head start was established there.
On Thanksgiving weekend in 1971, the new MHS building and area vocational school, located on same property, opened for students and faculty. The historic MHS Pennant yearbooks date back to the early 1900s. According to historians and 1920 era newspapers, the tiger mascot and emblem were well established in 1933, the yearbook was renamed The Tiger. In 1984, the U.S. Department of Education named MHS as one of the nation's most outstanding secondary schools and the only Kentucky school to be honored. In 2015, they recognized MHS as a National Blue-Ribbon School, and in 2020, Murray Elementary was bestowed the Blue-Ribbon School Award. Murray Middle School was named National Title 1 Distinguished School by the Kentucky Department of Education. Today, MISD students represent 16 different countries, with staff members hailing from across the country and globe. Murray Students are active participants in Special Olympics or Unified Sports Team.
Since 1974, Murray High School boasts 53 National Merit Finalists, and 11 National Merit Commended scholars. MISD students continually perform as one of the top districts in the Commonwealth on state accountability measures, and continually ranks in the top 10 percent of Kentucky ACT scores. MHS offers 30 plus Advanced Placement and Dual Credit Courses. While U.S. News and World Report continually ranks Murray High School as a top performing high school in the state and nation, Niche.com consecutively ranks the Murray Independent School District in the top tier rankings among the 172 Kentucky public school districts. Most recently, Murray High School earned the GreatSchools’ 2022 College Success Award, a National recognition celebrating public high schools that prepare students to enroll and succeed in college
Murray Elementary School will honor volunteers on December 6 and Murray Middle School is offering a First Responder Breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m. hosted by MMS Student Council. The Murray-Calloway Area Technology Center will show a commemorative work honoring the sesquicentennial of Murray Independent Schools.
The Murray Independent School District invites community members, alumni and friends to be part of the black and gold educational celebration.