Richard J. Murphy Elementary School

Richard J. Murphy Elementary School
1 Worrell Street
Boston, MA 02122
(617) 635-8781

Vera Johnson, Principal

The Murphy School is an elementary school in which TEP places some of its middle-school candidates.

What Makes Our School Special?
Reading and math scores for Murphy School are in the top 3% of all Boston schools. The school has won numerous national, state and local honors, including National Distinguished Title I School, Commonwealth COMPASS School, Massachusetts Vanguard School, Boston Public Schools Effective Practice School, Mathematics Learning Site School, and Lead School for Science.

How Are We Preparing Our Students for Educational Success?
Murphy students do well in reading and math because teachers devote more uninterrupted time to these subjects every day. A range of extra-time programs extend the school day to eight hours five days a week and the school year to 210 days for eligible students who need more time to learn. Smaller class sizes are achieved by adding paraprofessionals, resident teachers, graduate interns, and student teachers to each classroom team to increase the numberr of adults available to help students. As a result, students get more attention and teachers monitor learning more consistently. Teachers are highly trained in teaching reading, writing, math, and using computers as a tool for learning. The school has full-time literacy and math coaches and a full-time librarian.

As of June 2008, the racial breakdown was as follows: 24.5% Asian, 29.3% Black, 9.9% Hispanic, 33.3% White; and 1.0% Native American, 0.1% Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and 2.0% Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic. Special education services were provided to 18.8% of students. (From the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education)