Murdock Elementary School

a over crowded school. I sent 4 of my children to Elk Creek to get them out of Willows School District. All schools in Willows including Murdock have bully problems. There are some good Teachers Mrs Disbrow was one but she is gone now. The School gives you lip service but does not serve all children.
--Submitted by a parent

As a father who has dealt with the principal and some staff, it has been my experience that they place more importance on making excuses for not doing their jobs than on doing the job in the first palce, especially in regard to keeping parents informed of situations arizing on campus that directly affect our children, such as bullying matters. They do a half baked attempt to tell the kids to 'get along and play nice' and do very little to discipline bullies or remove them from class to ensure that the victims of bullying can feel safe attending class. there is a tendancy on the part of staff to address matters to the children directly without consulting or informing the parent, which I am strongly against. A large number of students in the area have switched to home schooling for this reason as I have been lead to understand matters.
--Submitted by a parent

I think this school serves a very diverse socio-economic population that many perhaps do not appreciate the importance of parental involvement.I would like to see a few more available services for the student that is perhaps not yet in special ed. Although they do encourage a inclusion based education program that to me feels that it is perhaps working. The staff is very caring with the principal setting a great example of greeting the children each morning at the front of the school upon drop-off.
--Submitted by a parent

Our daughter has completed 5 years of education at Murdock Elementary School. We feel she had outstanding teachers & faculty surrounding her, not only in her classes but throughout the campus. The Music teacher, Mrs. Wagner is wonderful. She teaches music to every single class grades 1-4, the students have music for 1hr, 1-2x / week and they get to perform several times during the year for the parents and staff. There is a 4th grade honors chorus program the students practice 1hr-2x/week after school. Our daughter's life was greatly impacted in a positive way from her participation in the music & drama activities. We were very disappointed when the funding for the extracurricular drama program was cut by Butte Community College, Ms. Kim Rodgers is great. We highly recommend Murdock Elementary and the following teachers K-Mrs. Disbrow; 1st-Ms. Judy Taylor; 2nd-Mrs. Capriola, Mrs. Schonauer; 3rd-Mrs. McClain, Ms. Rodgers; 4th-Mrs. Cameron
--Submitted by Wendy Ward, a parent