In the News: Murphy will remain in charge at Edwards Elementary

When Scott Murphy interviewed for the assistant principal position at Mountain View Middle School in 2012, he told the interview committee he saw himself being an elementary school principal within five years.

Murphy’s vision came to be three years later, when he was named interim principal at Edwards Elementary School following the departure of Sue Luthra.

As of March 10, the placement is no longer temporary as Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza announced the interim tag would be removed from his title at the Newberg School District’s recent board meeting.

“Lo and behold, here I am,” Murphy said. “I told my staff this is where I want to finish my career. I have 10 or 12 years left before I can retire and this is where I want to be. I love it here.”

Murphy has spent the majority of his career at the middle school level, but prior to a stint as assistant principal and teacher at Astoria Middle School, he had two experiences in elementary schools that proved to be formative.

The first was as an administrative intern at Lewis & Clark School, a 3-4-5 institution in Astoria, after which he moved on to serve as principal at Captain Robert Gray School, an all-kindergarten school with about 165 students, also in Astoria.

“That’s where I fell in love with this age group,” Murphy said.

With so much of his experience coming at the middle school level, Murphy said moving to Edwards has been quite an adjustment. That’s been especially true when it comes to Edwards’ dual-language program, but also transitioning to elementary teaching and learning models.

“I know a middle school kid can learn something,” he said. “I still have a lot to learn about speaking directly to how an elementary kid does it. Being a professional, I know good teaching when I see it, but that’s a big challenge for me here.”

On the other hand, Murphy said the staff and Edwards community have otherwise made his transition to the school an easy one.

He said that was aided by the fact that Luthra implemented several effective systems and a model for collaboration among teachers so that he didn’t have to worry about making a big culture change upon his arrival.

“The staff was very welcoming,” Murphy said. “They’re great people and their willingness to work with me and my learning about what’s going on here was great. I can’t say enough for the work that the staff and Sue did prior to that.”

Murphy was named interim principal after an initial candidate search did not yield the right candidate. Murphy was then one of three finalists in the latest hiring cycle.

“Scott has built support and solid relationships with the staff at Edwards,” LeBlanc-Esparza said. “Parents could not say enough about how much he has meant to students and the school community at Edwards. I am pleased he will be taking on this role.”

Murphy received his master’s degree in education from Montana State University and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Eastern Montana College. He earned his administrative credentials at Portland State University.

Before working in Astoria, where he also served as director of title programs for the district, Murphy also worked as a classroom teacher in The Dalles and in Montana, and taught in an English language program in Japan.

In addition to implementing literacy models and improving writing instruction, Murphy said leading students and parents through the new Smarter Balanced state testing will be important challenges in the future, as will helping students adopt a mindset focused on growth not grades.

“It’s not about getting an A here or a B in this,” he said. “It’s more about pushing themselves and building that stamina and tenacity to le