Artifacts

Section 1

District History

Murphy Elementary School District No. 21 of Maricopa County, Arizona is located at 2615 West Buckeye Road in Phoenix, Arizona. According to available records, the district was organized on September 16, 1886. Murphy School District began in a bunkhouse on the James T. Murphy Ranch, located just west of what is now 27th Avenue and south of Buckeye Road. In the early days, ranchers often provided a school for their children and their workers' children. In 1886, Mr. Murphy donated the land for a school. The first Murphy School was a one-room schoolhouse, with one teacher serving 48 students, ages six to eighteen.

Current District Demographics

Murphy Elementary School District now has four elementary schools serving approximately 2,500 students from pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade. This community is now predominantly an industrial area encompassing low-income housing. The average family income is $4,245.00, and extremely low as compared to the Arizona average of $27,540.00. Based on 2002 census data, Murphy Elementary School District is the fourth poorest district in Arizona. The student population is predominantly Hispanic (94.7%). Anglo students comprise 2.92% of our student population, followed by Black students (1.29%), American Indian students (.82%) and Asian students (.27%). A majority of the students (69%) served in our four schools are English Language Learners. More than 20% of our students are "New ELL" students, having little or no functional English language skills.

Section 2

Summer 2005 - Murphy Learning Organization Project - 3 Day Workshop

At a 3-day workshop this summer, members of the Murphy Learning Organization Project developed "Collective Vision" statements. Click here to download these statements.

The various organizations represented in the Murphy Learning Organization Project shared and discussed their missions. Click here to download these mission documents.