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Edward R. Murrow High School

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Coordinates: 40°37′15″N 73°57′33″W / 40.6207°N 73.9592°W / 40.6207; -73.9592
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Edward R. Murrow High School
Address
Map
1600 Ave L

Brooklyn
,
New York,

USA
Coordinates40°37′15″N 73°57′33″W / 40.6207°N 73.9592°W / 40.6207; -73.9592
Information
TypePublic
Established1974
PrincipalAnthony R. Lodico
Grades9-12
Number of students4,130
Color(s)Green and white
NewspaperThe Murrow Network
Websitewww.ermurrowhs.org

Edward R. Murrow High School, is located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York and is part of the New York City Department of Education.

It opened in 1974 with Saul Bruckner as principal. The school was named for the pioneering television newsman Edward R. Murrow, Murrow was founded according to the pedagogical theories of John Dewey.

Murrow's second and current principal is Anthony R. Lodico who took over in 2004 after the retirement of Saul Bruckner, who had been principal since the school's creation and whose leadership was responsible for many of the school's accolades. Saul Bruckner died on May 1, 2010.

Academics

[Formerly] Westinghouse Talent Search, semi-finalists consistently since 1995, and the Virtual Enterprise program has been regarded as the best in the country, winning such honors as 1st place at the National Business Plan competition in 2005, 2007, and 2008. Murrow's We The People also recently emerged as the 2007 New York State Champions at We The People Competition in Schenectady, New York. The We the People team also placed in the top 21 and won a Unit 2 award [1] at the 2007 National competition held in Washington D.C.

Keeping in line with Dewey's theories on education, Murrow has an unusual schedule structure. The academic year is divided into four 9-week "cycles", rather than 2 semesters; students receive new class schedules and therefore, a new set of teachers every 9 weeks. The daily schedule shifts depending on the day of the week, with class lengths varying from 45 minutes to an hour, and each class meets only 4 times a week; there are no bells to mark off the time between classes, and no time explicitly scheduled in between. Rather than having a lunch period or study halls, Murrow students have free periods called "OPTA"s (Optional Time Activities), used for studying, eating, or relaxing.

Murrow students are also permitted to take independent study courses called MILEs ("Murrow Independent Learning Experiences"). While most work is completed independently, students taking a MILE meet with an instructor once a week for 15 minutes to collect homework assignments. The grade designating successful completion ("MI"; see below) is based largely on the final exam and is credited as a 98 in the student GPA.

Murrow has a number of unique features including:

  • A letter grading system, with each letter corresponding to a numerical measurement, e.g. E=90-99, G=80-89, S=79-65, and No credit (N) for grades below 65, and MI for Mastery in Independent Study.
  • In calculating the average, E is treated as a 95, G - 85, S - 75, N-55 and MI - 98. This means that for getting the highest grade in all classes, a student will not achieve an average higher than 95, unless he also takes MILEs. In college admissions applications, an explanatory letter is forwarded to colleges to explain this fact.
  • Four "cycles"-each one approximately 40 days in length-during the course of a given year.
  • Instead of using numbers to represent class periods, Murrow uses letters from A-J, excluding I. The periods are called "bands" (eg, A-Band, D-Band). Some students take classes that meet before A-Band and after J-Band. These bands are "0 (zero)-Band" and "K-Band"
  • There are no daily "home room" meetings. Entering students are assigned to a "Student Communication Section", or SCS, and remain in that SCS until graduation. The SCS meets only on an "as needed" basis and is used solely for dissemination of school-wide administrative/logistical information (eg, distribution of report cards or new class schedules; election of class officers); 1 or 2 morning bands are usually cut short to allow time for SCS to convene. For mandated city-wide testing, students usually attend a half-day of classes, followed by the test in the SCS. Since class time is lost, the next academic day may follow a different calendar day's schedule (eg, students follow Tuesday's class schedule on a Thursday).
  • An "elective" approach to coursework. Year-long courses are divided across the 4 cycles of the year; however, students are also able to choose cycle-length courses that focus on topics of interest to them while continuing to fulfill requirements for a diploma. Either way, students are often not in courses with other students from their SCS and are likely in courses with students from all class-years.

Edward R. Murrow High School is also known for its outstanding theater program. Their success in the arts was recognized by Mel Brooks, who granted the school to be the first ever to gain rights to the smash hit musical "The Producers" in Spring 2008.

The Edward R. Murrow chess team has won seven national championships, fifteen state titles and sixteen city championships. The Edward R. Murrow HS chess team's success has been chronicled in "THE KINGS OF NEW YORK: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team", by sportswriter Michael Weinreb. "The Kings of New York" follows the 2005 championship-winning season of the Murrow Team. It was reviewed in the March 4, 2007 NY Times Book Review. The team was personally congratulated by President Bush in the Oval Office on December 15, 2004. A movie, based on "The Kings of New York" will begin production sometime in 2011.

Student demographics

There are 4130 students in the school as of the 2010-2011 school year. The demographics of the school are 49.99% White (non-Hispanic), 19.01% Black or African American, 21.38% Asian, 14.76% Hispanic or Latino and 0.2% Native American. The student/teacher ratio is 20/1. The Department of Education has released the annual Progress Reports for all high schools. Murrow received a grade of "A" on the 2009-10 Progress Report, and a rating of "Well Developed" on the Quality Review for the same period.

Notable alumni

Notable staff

References

  1. ^ "National Finals 2007", Center for Civic Education, 2 May 2007
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