- Murrah High School
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Murrah High School 
Motto The only place to be. Established 1954 Type Public secondary Principal Dr. Freddrick Murray Faculty 200 Students 1,359 (2006-2007) Grades 9-12 Location 1400 Murrah Dr.,
Jackson, Mississippi,, USADistrict Jackson Public School District Colors Blue and Silver Mascot Mustangs Yearbook 'The Resumé' Newspaper 'The Hoofbeat' Website [1] Murrah High School is a public high school in Jackson, Mississippi (USA). It is part of the Jackson Public School District.
Contents
Demographics
There were a total of about 1,600 students enrolled in Murrah High during the 2008-2009 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 56% female and 44% male. The racial makeup of the school is 93.52% African American, 5.30% White, 0.44% Hispanic, 0.59% Asian, and 0.15% Native American.[1]
History
William Belton Murrah (1852-1925) was an American Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1910. Born in Pickensville, Alabama, he was educated at Southern University (now Birmingham-Southern College) in Greensboro, Alabama, and at Centenary College in Jackson, Louisiana. In 1897 Murrah received the LL.D. degree from Wofford College in South Carolina. Prior to his election to the Episcopacy, he served from 1890 till 1910 as the first President of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Murrah High School in Jackson and Murrah Hall on the Millsaps campus were both named after William B. Murrah.
Special programs
Base Pair program
JPS is a partner with the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC) in the Base Pair research mentorship program funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The primary focus for Base Pair is to utilize the physical resources and intellectual capital of UMC to enable the pursuit of excellence in science education within a local public school environment. The program matches high school students with UMC faculty members for in-depth experiences in the sciences.
Base Pair has consistently emphasized three objectives:
- To cultivate career awareness among high school students in areas related to biomedical research
- To train such students as effective "communicators of science" to the general public
- To advance teacher professional and science curriculum development within the JPSD
That program, funded since 1992 and continuing through 2007, has brought approximately $1.3 million for science education enhancement into the district. Base Pair-trained high school students are authors on more than five dozen published scientific papers or abstracts. Twenty-five Base Pair graduates are currently in post-baccalaureate academic programs, including 12 in M.D., M.D./Ph.D., Ph.D. (science) or Masters degree in science training. Six of these are currently enrolled in a program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Visit the UMC Base Pair Web site at http://basepair.library.umc.edu
SOAR
The Student Oriented Academic Research (SOAR) program is a companion to the Base Pair program at Murrah High School. SOAR was developed to implement advanced science research activities for JPS students outside of the UMC zone. In this program, students are enrolled in Biology II during their junior year and other advanced life science courses during their senior year. The SOAR program supports advanced biomedical and forensic science laboratory research by students at each high school site.
Forensics
Murrah's Speech and Debate Team, coached by Sonya Harvey since 2008, has produced many successful competitors. Most recently, junior Public Forum debaters Porter and Rucker qualified to compete at the 2011 National Forensic League Tournament, along with only two other Public Forum teams from the entire state of Mississippi.
Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC)
The Academic and Performing Arts Complex (APAC) is open to students in grades 4-12 who are academic achievers and/or who show aptitude for one or more of the visual or performing arts. There is an application process held each year for entrance into the programs for the following school year.
- Academics: Eligibility for the academics division is based on past grades, standardized tests, entrance tests, and teacher recommendations. Cooperative learning and higher order thinking skills are emphasized. Courses in math, science, language arts, and social studies prepare students to take further APAC and Advanced Placement/APAC classes in high school. APAC academic courses are offered for grades 4-5 at Power APAC Elementary; for grades 6-8 at Chastain, Powell, and Peeples middle schools; and for grades 9-12 at Murrah High School. In October 2002, Jackson Public Schools received a federal grant totaling almost $1 million to increase the number of middle and high school students who complete college-level courses in high school. This Advanced Placement (AP) Incentive Grant money has been used to increase the number of middle and high school students enrolling in and successfully completing Advanced Placement or college level courses in high school and in pre-AP courses through the district's accelerated academic program (APAC).
- Performing Arts: The performing arts division offers classes in dance, music, theatre arts, and visual arts. Students must make application and audition for entry into the program. These courses are offered for grades 4 through 12 at the Power APAC site.
Alumni
- James Barksdale - Time Warner/Netscape executive
- Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale - Federal judge, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Richard Ford - novelist, Pulitzer Prize
- Othella Harrington - basketball
- Ronnie Henderson - basketball
- Beth Henley - Pulitzer Prize winning playwright
- Lindsey Hunter - basketball
- James Robinson - basketball
- Greg "Fingers" Taylor - harmonica player with Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band
- Carson Whitsett - legendary keyboardist, songwriter
- Tim Whitsett - music publisher, producer, author
- Mo Williams - basketball
- Cassandra Wilson - singer
- George Winston - pianist, recording artist
- Rea Hederman - publisher, New York Review of Books, Granta
- Anton Vincent - President, Baking Division, General Mills, Executive [2]
- Robert L. Gibbs - Award-Winning Lawyer, Sleep Inn Executive,Former Justice Court Judge
Feeder Patterns
The following schools feed into Murrah High School.[2]
- Middle Schools
- Chastain Middle School
- Powell Middle School
- Peeples Middle School
- Elementary Schools
- Boyd Elementary School
- Casey Elementary School
- McLeod Elementary School
- McWillie Elementary School
- Power APAC School
- Spann Elementary School
References
- ^ "Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System". Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education. http://orsap.mde.k12.ms.us:8080/MAARS/indexProcessor.jsp.
- ^ Feeder Patterns – Jackson Public Schools.
External links
- Murrah High School - Official website.
- Base Pair official website
Coordinates: 32°19′33″N 90°10′11″W / 32.32583°N 90.16972°W
Categories:- High schools in Mississippi
- Schools in Jackson, Mississippi
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