by Aaron W. Hughey

Willie Jackson, who is currently the interim superintendent of Murray Independent Schools, is certainly no stranger to education in this area.

Jackson is a graduate of Murray State University who has been with the school system for over 40 years. After only a year into his retirement, he was asked to come back and assume his current role.

“My heart is in Murray,” Jackson says. “How could I refuse?”

“The Murray Independent Schools is a relatively small district,” Jackson notes. “We have a total enrollment of about 1,530 students in grades K-12.”

The Murray Independent School District consists of three schools: Robertson Elementary School, Murray Middle School, and Murray High School. The Middle School actually consists of two facilities; one is a “transition” school for fourth and fifth grades, the other includes grades six, seven, and eight.

One of the things Jackson is obviously proud of is how the Murray Independent students fare on standardized test scores.

“During this past year, Murray Independent Schools ranked eleventh in the state on test scores,” Jackson explains. “We were first in the region.”

“We always seem to do well with respect to testing,” Jackson adds.

“Overall, enrollment has been increasing for the last few years,” Jackson says. “Right now the numbers have leveled off.”

Most of the students who attend Murray Independent Schools continue their education beyond the secondary level.
“About 80 percent of our graduates go on to college,” Jackson explains. “We are very fortunate in that respect.”

“Most of our students are highly motivated and interested in doing well both academically and personally.”

The school system is also involved in several renovation projects.

“We are in the process of upgrading our facilities,” Jackson explains. “We are adding eight new classrooms at the elementary school as well as updating at our other schools. In fact, we just sold bonds to help finance these improvements.”

“Parents are very supportive of our schools,” Jackson says. “We have a very active volunteer program that has lots of parent involvement.”

“The Murray area has a lot of advantages when it comes to education,” Jackson observes. “We are a ‘university’ community, which affords us many benefits.”

“I am very pleased with what we have,” Jackson indicates. “The public expects a lot, but they are very supportive of what we are doing.”