Murray High School (Utah)

Murray High School is the only high school in the Murray City School District in Murray, Utah. Murray High School is located in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area with 1,465 students enrolled in the 2019–2020 academic year. The school enrolls students in grades 10–12.^[3] The school's mascot is the Spartan, and the school colors are orange and black. Murray High is a 5-A school in Utah's 6 Division high school sports leagues (1A being the smallest, and 6A being the largest). The Disney Channel reality show High School Musical: Get in the Picture was shot on the Murray High campus in 2008,^[4] and American Idol season 7 runner-up David Archuleta attended the school.^[5] The school also offers the highest number of Salt Lake Community College Concurrent Enrollment classes in the state of Utah.^[6]

Murray High School
Murray High School's main entrance and plaza
Address
5440 South State Street Murray, Utah 84107 United States
Coordinates	40°39′15″N 111°53′21″W / 40.6543°N 111.8893°W / 40.6543; -111.8893
Information
Type	Public
Motto	Serve, Participate, Achieve, Respect. SPAR On!
Established	1916 (Hillcrest location) 1954 (current location)
School district	Murray City School District
Principal	Quinn Linde
Faculty	79
Grades	10–12
Number of students	1,490 (2017-18)^[1]
Campus size	21 acres (85,000 m^2)
Color(s)	Orange and black     ^[2]
Athletics conference	5-A Region 6
Mascot	Spartans^[2]
Website	mhs.murrayschools.org

Building history

Murray High School was originally located on the east side of State Street at the current Hillcrest Junior High location, another Murray City School District School, at 126 East 5300 South Murray, UT. From 1916 to 1954 Murray Junior High was named Murray High and Junior High. It was rebuilt and moved across to the west side of State Street in 1954.^[7]

Academics

Salt Lake Community College Concurrent Enrollment is a service offered in multiple High School's in Utah, Including Murray High school, in which students can take and earn SLCC credit and also in-state college credit.^[8] Murray High ranked #1 in the state for the number of SLCC (Salt Lake Community College) associate degrees earned by high school seniors in 2011.^[9]

Murray High School is one of the schools in Utah piloting the Utah State Office of Education U-PASS & criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) online. The school has received $100,000 to purchase new laptops and upgrade current computers.^{[citation needed]} The administration of Spring 2008 criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) through computer-based testing (CBT) was performed through Pearson's assessment systems.^[10]

Environment

At the beginning of 2007-2008, administrators and Murray High School's Environmental Club started a program to save energy and money. Adjustments at the school, and other schools and offices in the district, included changes to the thermostats and turning off running water in the restrooms and unplugging machines during weekends and long breaks. This has caused difficulties for the instrumental music programs at Murray High since instruments can sustain harm when temperatures are allowed to drop drastically over long school breaks. Recycling bins have been placed throughout the school. Students are sent to detention if they are found to have wasted excessive amounts of water.^[11] Since its beginnings, the district has saved $405,000, all of which went into teachers' budgets. It was projected that the district will have saved one million dollars or a twenty percent savings per month by the year 2024.^[12]

Controversy

In 2004, Murray High School prohibited same-sex students from participating in the promenade of their prom. Press coverage noted the similarity to Aaron Fricke vs. Richard B. Lynch, a landmark case in high school student LGBT rights. ^[13] Using Fricke as a precedent, the ACLU threatened to sue the high school on behalf of its gay and lesbian students. The high school reversed its policy and allowed a 17-year-old lesbian student to dance with her girlfriend at the prom.^[14]

Another recent controversy was when some students passed around "white privilege cards".^[15]

Films and other productions shot at Murray

• A few of the scenes from the wrestling movie Take Down (1978) were filmed prior to the rebuilding.^{[citation needed]}
• The auditorium scene of High School Musical (2006)^[16]
• Read It and Weep (2006) ^{[citation needed]}
• Minutemen (2008)^[17]
• High School Musical: Get in the Picture (2008)^[18]
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008)
• The school was the host venue for American Idol season 7 runner-up David Archuleta's homecoming television episode^[19]

Sports national titles

• Men's Inline Hockey 1998,^[20] 2005^[21]

Notable alumni

• David Archuleta (class of 2009), runner-up on season 7 of American Idol^[5]
• Britton Johnsen, NBA basketball player; Utah's Mr. Basketball 1996–1997; player for the Turkish club Galatasaray Cafe Crown^[22]
• Braxton Jones, NFL player for the Chicago Bears^[23]
• Mark Koncar, NFL player for the Green Bay Packers (retired)
• Nathaniel Coleman, 3-time National Men's Bouldering champion and Team Petzl professional climbers ^[24]

References

1. "Murray High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
2. "Murray High School". Utah High School Activities Association. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
3. "1-Murray High School Overview". Google Presentations.
4. "ksl.com - 'High School Musical' reality show wraps up filming". from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
5. "Deseret News | Murray High teen moving up on 'Idol'". Deseret News. from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
6. (PDF). schools.utah.gov. March 16, 2005. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2010. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
7. "Murray High School – Murray City School District". from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
8. "SLCC About Concurrent Enrollment". www.slcc.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
9. http://www.ksl.com/sid=6258271&nid=691&sch_id=5948808 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine ksl.com-Principal's Letter
10. "Computer Based Testing | Utah State Office of Education". from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
11. "Going Green". from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
12. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=6796931 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine ksl.com-'Saving energy is saving teachers' jobs'
13. . www.gaypasg.org. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
14. (PDF). www.acluutah.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Students at Murray school passed out 'white privilege cards'". from the original on 2021-11-05. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
16. "Visit Utah | See Where High School Musical Was Born". Retrieved 2023-09-11.
17. "Deseret Morning News | Disney moment for Murray, Highland". Deseret News. from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
18. "ksl.com - 'High School Musical' reality show wraps up filming". from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
19. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3238568 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine ksl.com KSL Channel 5 News| 'Homecoming being planned for Utah's American Idol contestant'
20. "1998 USA Hockey National Champions". from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
21. "2005 USA Varsity High School Hockey National Championship". Deseret News. from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
22. BASKETBOL - Britton Johnsen, Galatasaray Cafe Crown’da - 30.01.2008 20:27:00
23. "Braxton Jones NFL Draft 2022: Scouting Report for Southern Utah OT". Bleacher Report. from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
24. "Salt Lake City climber wins men's title at Bouldering Nationals competition". from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-01-22.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Murray High School (Utah).

• Murray High School website
• Murray City School District
• Murray Schools - About MHS
• "Murray High teen moving up on 'Idol'"
• Murray Spartans historical high school football scores