Murchison Middle School

3700 North Hills Drive

School District

Austin Independent
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Austin Independent School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on August 19, 2024

This is the worst school. The bathrooms are falling apart the sink is basically a table with sinks and the toilets are dirty and the doors are falling apart the ceiling is falling. they think they are an excellent school but they aren't they also support pride and teach kids about pride they even ask if you need assistance with changing the gender or name of your child the library is full of pride flaggs.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2023

Murchison Middle School is an incredibly unwelcoming school with no interest in communicating with families or involving them in their child's learning experience. It is actually the policy of teachers to not communciate with parents - my 6th grader was told, multiple times, "We don't believe in emailing parents." I reached out to everyone I could think of as my previously happy, A/B student began bringing home grades ranging from 0-50, and missing assignments. I could not get any one to respond to me, and she spent the entire year receiving failing grades. Administration never bothered to respond to my emails or requests for help. All of the school events and extracurriculars were similarly run. There is no interaction with parents or involvement with the family. Furthermore, all learning is done through the screen. Teachers do not seem interested in teaching, or in ensuring that their students are learning. If students sink, then they sink. We will be withdrawing our daughter from this school. I recommend looking into charter schools, or transferring to other schools in AISD, unless your student is a perfect student who never needs additional support or accommodations.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2022

The new principal is outstanding. Despite the pandemic, our child has had a wonderful time at Murchison. The campus is far better inside and out than 3 years ago.
Submitted by student on December 17, 2021

It's generally just great, the only problems are the Cliques. The VRC team is also world-class, and has two teams in Regionals.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2021

I believe the Vietnamese dual language program is lacking and it could be so much more than what it is currently. The Vietnamese program at my child's former elementary school was amazing which is why I wanted my child to continue it at Murchison. I hate BLEND with a passion. How can I hold my child accountable for classwork when TEAMS and BLEND would say to different things regarding grades and missed assignments? When I inquired about the discrepancies, I was constantly told BLEND and TEAMS dont communicate.My child has sat next to me and emailed teachers about assignments they had trouble with and they would go unanswered for weeks, if answered at all.My child has been ridiculed because they are a minority on several occasions and although some staff members handled situations to the best of their ability, others told my child they were being "too sensitive". It sickens me that adults would dismiss a child's feelings so easily because they don't share the same experiences.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2019

I would highly recommend visiting this school and if possible talking to other parents at this school before letting your child attend. My son dealt with gay bashing and bullying on a regular basis. The school itself is covered with drawings of penises because the kids think it is funny and the school literally has no control over the kids. My son went from being a sweet mild mannered kid to always angry because of the abuse he was dealing with on a daily basis. The things the kids said to him were horrible and it never stopped at school. It followed him home on his phone and Instagram to the point I had to shut both of them off. I had teachers tell me lies about behavior in class and when caught in the lies, they just disregarded, never denied. And to top it off, two kids from this school literally killed a high school student over nothing. NOT a safe place for you kid if they are in any way different for the general population. My son is still in therapy for the horrors he experienced at this school. Luckily, I pulled him out before it could become physical. But the emotional damage is still something we are working through.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2019

We love Murchison. My son loves Murchison. He is doing well academically, has a variety of extracurricular activities available to him, and loves the other students in attendance there. I feel so grateful he has such a positive experience. As I said, I went to two different middle schools, one in an inner city and one in a suburb. While both were academically challenging, I was challenged socially and it was not a good experience for me. The majority of students at Murchison really are nice and every time I meet parents there I am impressed with how supportive they are of their children and the children in the community.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2018

Horrible. I wish I would have looked at this site before bringing my child here. It's a great school for Caucasian kids with no learning disabilities.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2018

Terrible. Special needs children will be screwed in a class meant for children with behavior issues that are not addressed properly in that setting. Your child might even pick up negative behaviors from peers in this class, grades will slip, enthusiasm will disappear, etc. No one will really care, you will be told "your child is lucky to have the resources they get" and you might tend to believe that. Fact remains, IF YOUR CHILD HAS SPECIAL NEEDS AVOID THIS SCHOOL. It will only cost you down the road. This school undid YEARS of work in my child's formidable years because AISD wants to save money on children like this, and Murchison participates in those savings.
Submitted by parent on February 05, 2018

I have an 8th grader at Murchison and I am very impressed with the school. The new leadership is very forward thinking. The teachers really do care and have very interesting classes and assignments. I haven't heard of any real bullying and I'm impressed with the variety of classes offered. My child was constantly challenged and engaged. Great school!
Submitted by parent on October 19, 2017

I have really enjoyed my time at Murchison - and wasn't really expecting to encounter so many dynamic and dedicated faculty and staff. It's a wonderful community!
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2017

Mean kids, rude staff. The kids run the school. Lots of bullying!, and the staff does nothing about it. DO NOT send your kid here. It is horrible!!!
Submitted by other on March 23, 2017

I'm a 7th grader at Murchison Middle School and I absolutely love it there. The teachers are wonderful and the classes are interesting. I recommend this school 110%
Submitted by teacher on October 29, 2014

@disgruntled parent. I completely understand your situation with bad teacher aides or special education programs that you feel are inadequate. I would suggest talking with an administrator about this, we have a great administrative team who will listen attentively to your concerns and do whatever they CAN do about it. With regard to your comments on the teachers. While it may be said that SOME teachers are not up to date on their websites/email communication, there is no need to throw ALL teachers under the proverbial bus. Just as in life, there are some good and some bad. Making broad generalizations are dangerous. Murchison has some VERY dedicated and nurturing teachers who have very current websites and who respond to parents quickly. I am one of them. In the 3 years your child was here, did they NEVER have a good quality teacher? I would seriously doubt that claim. Murchison offers 5 languages, we are an IB world school ,we offer advanced classes, AVID program and we have MANY great teachers and administrators. As one who has worked here for a long time, I would not lying to say it is ONE OF THE BEST middle schools in Austin.
Submitted by parent on October 21, 2014

Teachers don't care one bit about students. Your child has a disability? GOOD LUCK!!! They offer, almost pander, programs and teachers aides that will be on call to help your student. They are not attentive, nor do they advise, but rather sit in the room checking their phone. Teachers will say "Email me anytime, I am quick to respond!" Days later, zero communication. ZERO. Good luck figuring out what homework there is, when it is due, etc., as the info on the school website is never updated and you must wait till grades are entered 2 weeks later to see what projects haven't been completed. AHHH, just enough time to get a students grade way past failing! Very clever! Also, good luck figuring out how to login to check the grades as they give the information to do so to the students and not the parents. *plays sad trombone here* This school is poorly managed with all sorts of broken systems in place and I am sure the teachers are a reflection of that. You should run -- not walk -- to another school where teachers don't just go through the motions, but make an effort to teach and not leave your child behind.
Submitted by other on November 27, 2013

This school has lot of cursing and bullying going on.The school management is bad and overreacts most of the time and fabricates to put blames on others and is there to please the parents only.Most students have no respect for teachers and most get away because the school management doesn't care and will do anything to get the school going.had a very bad experience in Murchison middle school.
Submitted by other on March 26, 2013

WELL I GO TO THE SCHOOL AND GET BULLIED EVERY DAY THERE ARE TONS OF FIGHTS, CURSING AND MANY OTHER THINGS. DONT GO TO THIS SCHOOL. YOUR KID WILL COME HOME EVERYDAY CRYING BEGGING TO SWITCH SCHOOLS
Submitted by parent on November 29, 2012

My daughter is in 6th grade at MMS this year and thriving. Two of her 4 core classes are Advanced level, and she comes home several times a week talking about how much she LOVES school, and exceited about learning. She raves about her math class! It hels that she's always liked school, even when she struggled with some learning delays, but this year is exceptional, thanks to excellent teachers. She tried to get into the Kealing Magnet School program, but now we're so glad that didn't work out. A best friend did and is losing her love of learning under the constant deluge of heavy homework loads. My daughter is learning just as fast and her hunger to learn is being expanded at MMS. I'm very pleased with the school so far.
Submitted by other on September 28, 2012

This school was a terrible experience for me. NEVER enroll in such an atrocity of micromanagement and disiplinary corruption such as this military state of a school. The special education program there goes out of its way to single the student out as autistic or challenged; by having a teacher follow the student to every single class. They believe in punishment over education, and will send you to In School Suspension for anything from dropping a pencil to talking to your friends. If you value yourself as a person, your children and their future, STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL. It is a horrifying and traumatic experience and the utmost inane system of management I have ever dealt with in my life. As a high-schooler I realize how much of what they did was never a necessity, nor was it actually teaching anybody anything. Listen, this school is the breeding ground for bullying and intolerance. Don't believe what they say about "no place for hate", we were forced to sign those things in eighth grade just to win the title. Get away from this abomonation and just pick a different school. Do not torture your children with such an environment, spare them the pain, spare them the agony...
Submitted by parent on June 19, 2012

I m not sure if the definition of 'Advisory' has changed over the years, I (perhaps mistakenly) thought it was created to encourage social connections through the creation of a small group that meets throughout the year. To me, this seems important esp. for a school with a large student population. It would be easy to feel lost in the crowd. It would be simple to say, let s just focus only on academics. Students at this age have a strong desire to fit-in and want to feel that they belong (not just tolerated.) I would support the idea of continuing to encourage a campus climate that reflects the world, not just our neighborhood, closest friends, or even demographics in advanced classes. As suggested by the parent below, I don t think the idea of separating 'at risk' students from others in Advisory would be the best idea. If given the chance, I think all students can benefit from getting to someone that they may not have otherwise gotten the chance to relate to. I think MMS does a great job considering its current challenges (budget, testing, crowded spaces). I personally would consider MMS one of the best middle schools in the city.