I felt trapped. Those boys were subsequently sentenced to a juvenile institution for their crime. He couldnt fathom how the world continued to carry on while an innocent girl lay buried, and how quickly some young men were issued reprieves. I have nothing but good things to say about him in the settings I see him in., While George Scott fully acknowledged the magnitude of the tragedy for the victims of that days events, he also explained that in his view, his brother has done remarkably well, given the terrible thing that happened. Murchisons student body was overwhelmingly white and socioeconomically privileged. John, their quiet resident genius, had come out of his shell! It serves 1240 studentsin 6 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 13.8:1.Its teachers have had 9 projects funded on DonorsChoose. He was a Dallas eye doctor named John Eisenlohr, who was a prominent member (and later the president) of the Texas Ophthalmological Association, a group whose lobbyist was George Christian. It doesnt take any effort to stand in one spot and go in circles.Write soon,Love, John, Letter to former classmate Elaine Moore, from Timberlawn. Now a whole other generation gets to spend the next forty years of their lives dealing with this shit. They glumly acknowledged their own misbehavior. The perfume I sprayed on my T-shirt that day., Later, she began sharing her trauma with a small group of Christian women. We hung back and prayed the ball didnt come our way. He was a thirteen-year-old boy again, panicked that he was about to be killed. So as a result, I just have to process what Ive got. He was trying to get in touch with a former classmate, Rob Draper, who hed heard had just published a novel. His knee was healing from surgery, so he ambled to his truck and gave chase. AUSTIN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - The principal of Murchison Middle School has announced his resignation. Haden Beard 2018-2022. That afternoon, his math teacher, Anita Sybesma, reminded him that he was doing poorly in algebra. Just as quickly, he jolted back to the present. Murchison Middle School is a public school located in Austin, Texas. The former press secretary told the reporter that his son got the weapon here at the house, I guess. Write a Review. Nothing. Not in Austin. (512) 414-1700 Company Austin Independent School District Chara Harris Current Workplace Austin Independent School District Location 4000 S i-h 35 Frontage Rd, Austin, Texas, 78704, United States Description Read More Industry Education General Education Discover more about Austin Independent School District In 1984 the system asked 12 years in prison of a fifteen-year-old Colorado boy named Jason Rocha, who suffered from depression but had committed no prior acts of violence before he shot his thirteen-year-old friend to death. The family occupied a sprawling house on Rockledge Cove, a short walk from the Murchison campus, with an enormous magnolia tree in the front yard that had grown from a sapling given to them by Lady Bird Johnson. Lives were shattered, Smith said. To the astonishment of his classmates, the normally reserved John Christian proceeded to enter an alternate universe that bore no relationship to Stowes novel. Another brought flowers. Elaine Moore, a former student of Rod Graysons who witnessed the shooting, photographed at Murchison in February. Image:Murchison Middle School Austin Texas.jpg is being used on this article. Getting answers is what brings resolution, Armour said. After the bell rang, Raywho had stood helplessly off to the side while his classmate went on his manic riffmuttered, John, when Mr. Grayson hears about this, hes gonna kick our butts., Dont worry, John replied. It was jarring. Something in his psyche began to crack open. Murchison Middle School Reviews. Nor did it match in sheer bloodshed the later infamy bestowed upon campuses that we now recite as a mournful litany: Columbine. This Texan Was a Master of a Curious Midcentury Art Form, the Industrial Musical. Two years later, in 1981, the two sides settled for an undisclosed sum that included a trust fund whose proceeds Ian would receive on his eighteenth and twenty-first birthdays. The new Travis County district attorney, Ronald Earle, publicly announced that he intended to seek the five-year maximum if the boy is found sane. Though juvenile trials are not typically open to the media, an exception was made in this case (those with firsthand knowledge of why an exception was made have died, declined to be interviewed, or simply cannot recall). The population of 150 or so residents included about thirty juveniles, of whom no more than sixteen in Johns age range were housed in a separate dormitory. . That summer, he returned to the city of his youth and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Two of the students, John Christian and John Ray, would be giving an oral presentation of a chapter from Harriet Beecher Stowes classic novel Uncle Toms Cabin. Then came the deep workthe Okay, what do I do with this? Umpqua. The headboard was old and tattered on one of the beds. I get no satisfaction from feeling like Ive found some secret. They proposed that the boy live with an unnamed physician in Dallas, who would become Johns legal guardian. murchison middle school shootingroscore resource not found: roslaunch. Several of his classmates who had been in the room that morning didnt respond to Rays invitation. AISD Police Chief Ashley Gonzalez said the campuses of. Did he have a family? Dear Elaine,It was really neat to hear from you. It was John. (A Dallas friend of Georges wrote him to say that her daughter worked on the staff of the Bagpipe and has mentioned how much she admires the work John did and how intelligent he is.) The Dallas media left John alone. (When I spoke with Coons recently, he told me, My feeling overwhelmingly was that he was depressed.) The prosecution did not contest the recommendation by Coons and Matthews that John receive treatment rather than incarceration. At night, according to George Scott, they sometimes argued heatedly. Still, there were so many questions about the shooting for which they had no answers. murchison middle school murchison website murchison matadors - murchison middle school the murchison middle school murchison matadors Murchison Middle School Global Presence: Search All Employees After years of counseling and prayer, John Ray decided he had finally developed the emotional fortitude to revisit the formative trauma of his youth. A few weeks before the shooting, Grayson was at home grading papers when he handed one of them to his wife and said, Tell me what you think about this. It was a short story written by John. According to the Washington Post, more than 240,000 U.S. students have experienced a school shooting since 1999. The shooting was on Nathers mind, he wrote in the email, because that day marked its fortieth anniversarya fact that he might have forgotten but for the reminder he received courtesy of the mornings horrific body count at Santa Fe High School. Gym class had been underway outside by the football field. Ive talked about it with my wife quite a bit. On the way to the police station, someone spontaneously led the group in singing church hymns. He had a notebook in front of him that he had been filling with random musings. For Mac OS users, there is a system setting that may not allow you to tab onto several types of elements in a web page. The principal at Murchison Middle School in northwest Austin has resigned from his position. Can you believe it? John asked, referring to the shoelaces and belt that the authorities had taken from him for fear that he might attempt suicide. He hadnt seen his old classmates in years, and they hugged and tearfully greeted one another. But our initial conversation had been twenty years earlier, just after the Columbine High School massacre. Laura Grayson has been back to the cemetery only once since Rods funeral. 3700 N Hills Dr, Austin, TX 78731 | (512) 414-3254 | Website. Reading, praying, counseling. Carlos Vasquez, 74, was arrested on . We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. Murchison Middle School placed in the top 30% of all schools in Texas for overall test scores (math proficiency is top 30%, and reading proficiency is top 20%) for the 2020-21 school year. Above all, after years on the government payroll, George had a private political consulting business to run. SAVE SCHOOL. Home > United States > Austin, TX > Murchison Middle School . As University of Texas professor Marilyn Armour, the founder of the Institute of Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue, told me, There are some people who believe that the amount of time served, the severity of the punishment, will bring some measure of closure or satisfaction. In 1978, an eighth grader killed his teacher. The two of them then walked across the hall into the classroom of Eichenbaum, who recalled, John went directly from that substitute teacher to me, and there was nothing at all memorable about his behavior.. At some point, one of Rods brothers began looking through his papers, and he happened to pick up the disturbing story John had written about the castrating robots. But he had yet to make peace with the incident. John and Mr. Grayson planned all this! Eventually, they drove together to Assumption Cemetery, on the south side of Austin. Ive had the conversation with other people in the family, but not him. I was on the field just outside the window when it happened.. Still, Ray kept talking. He brought it to Laura, who threw it away. There are 1408 students ranging from grades 6 to 8. The noises: the gunshots, the screams, the scraping of chairs. And that year, he was growing more and more bitter about his father.. They shouted out questions as Graysons students were herded into a school bus that would take them to police headquarters to be interviewed. John seemed caustic and above it allqualities that Bazar had, under very different circumstances, once found attractive. But others, including some who hadnt witnessed the shooting, thanked him for initiating the collective remembrance. Gentle. I havent heard from you, so I dont really know what to write. Ive never spoken with him about it. According. The 1978 killing of Rod Grayson wasnt the first murderous intrusion into the sanctity of Americas schools. And Andre Terry, one of Murchisons few African American students, who was bused to school from the East Side, would one day credit his junior high school teacher for pushing him to follow his artistic impulses and become a fashion designer. The pilot programs coordinator, Marilyn Eichenbaum (now DuVon), saw his potential right away. Only later in the evening, when they gathered for beers at a bar in their old neighborhood of Northwest Hills, did someone ask the question that was on all of their minds: Has anybody heard from John? The event also featured remarks from Murchison Principal, Beth Newton, Austin ISD Superintendent, Dr. Paul Cruz, Austin ISD . Yet to those who experienced the shooting at Murchison Junior High School, it remains, even after four decades, mercilessly unforgettable. She sued the Christians for negligence a year after Rods death. What did Ronnie Earle do about it? He was this strapping young man with a keen mind and great energy.. Murchison is one of two middle schools in the Austin Independent School District to have the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program, which it has hosted since 2002. Theyd come over the hill and kill everyone around me. The sense of injustice overwhelmed Laura. The music Im into is the Doobie Brothers, Moody Blues, Pablo Cruise, Queen, Simon & Garfunkel, the Little River Band, and The Doorsplus another hundred like Santana, Kansas, Styx, Chicago, and Boston who I think are good. The institution offered a full academic curriculum as well as a rigorous daily regimen of group and individual therapy with multiple mental health professionals. Advertisement. Situated at what was, back then, the northern edge of the city, the neighborhood was populated with doctors, bankers, professors, restaurateurs, and pastors. After getting his teaching certificate, he had applied for the Murchison opening. He ran to the principals office and told the administrators at the front desk what had just happened. Homes with this school assigned For Sale (65) For Rent (96) NEW - 13 HRS AGO 1.01 ACRES $199,000 Rumors swirled around the quiet new student. But it never came. Cathy Olson Muths 1978 yearbook portrait. The overall square footage is approximately 82,730 sf. But she could see Rods cowboy boots poking out. Talking about it lessened the burden. 25 years ago, on May 18, 1978, John Daniel Christian walked into Murchison Middle School with a gun and in front of 30 8th graders shot their English teacher 3 times, killing him. Sitting on a stool, he would begin class with a meditation exercise. I felt lucky that he found any interest in me, because he was so much smarter and worldlier. April 13, 2018. 2 were here. He wasnt some monster you could easily explain away, Ray said later. Two other students turned in a project that Grayson considered sloppy, and he ripped our shit apart, one of them recalled. Screenshot of newspaper spread on Murchison Middle school shooting The Christian family hired Roy Minton, the city's most prominent criminal defense attorney. The principal of Murchison Middle School is Sammi Harrison. . John graduated from high school on schedule, in May of 1982. Johns older brother, George Scott, described him as a really fine family person. Cycling had become one of his preferred forms of therapy, and he went for a long ride that day, south to Barton Springs. Murchison Middle School. ), In 1990, Susie Gerrie Davis was living in Fort Worth and reading a book at home while her two young children napped when she inexplicably started to cry. Then the images resurfaced out of nowhere. Ray was among several Murchison alumni who went on to UT. Timberlawn, which opened in 1917, was a national model for inpatient treatment during the time of Johns residency. Peculiarities form the contours of the Murchison shooting. Someone saw him recently. Hes back in the neighborhood. But because his father was a public figure, the boys identity was splashed across the front pages. Ten years later, in 2009, Rays youngest daughter, Olivia, who was ten years old, was struck by a Cadillac Escalade and killed at a street crossing on Razorback Road while her sister Hannah watched. Leave them blank to get signed up. Phone (512) 414-3254. District Austin Independent School District. Home; Contact Info; My Other Website; Find a Home. You know, I consider myself to be a pretty strong-minded person. Ray, in the meantime, had continued to spend his post-Murchison years in a state of what he would tactfully term self-anesthetizing. A wayward path took him to Central America, where he was inspired to later attend seminary and become a spiritual directoressentially a roving ordained minister gravitating to those who had experienced trauma. Someone posted a chart that Mitsuno Baurmeister, now living in Northern California, had painstakingly diagrammed, days after the tragedy, of where each of them was sitting when the shooter stepped through the doorway. That same day, John reportedly destroyed a map he had designed for a school assignment. . Jumping out of his truck and grabbing the boy, Schirpik barked, What did you do?. But if I allowed anger to control me, what kind of life would I have made for Ian? she said. Everything was a gnawing mystery. Still, as a juvenile, he could not be charged with murder and tried as an adult. They were among the many Murchison alumni who would later recall the Columbine tragedy as a moment when they felt engulfed by their own past and became, in effect, witnesses again to the loss of their innocence. Home; Contact Info; Find a Home. I dont know. He also said, I dont want to say anything that might hurt my boy.. A former Austin school district bus monitor is accused of touching a student inappropriately on three occasions last November, according to an arrest affidavit. Murchison Middle School is in the Austin Independent School District. They had spent the previous two years together, and their abrupt separation constituted a kind of loss unto itself. Much of it had been buried in the far reaches of his subconscious, where over the years it had massed like a tumor. Some of them have searched for answers themselves. Everyone knew Johnhe cut a figure, said Logan Bazar, one of his closest friends at Murchison. The two of them spoke late into the night, and their conversation resumed the next morning. 14-year-old student James Newman brought a .38-caliber revolver to Pine Middle School in Reno, . Patrick Baylor 1981-1985. Samantha Bermudez 2018-2022. The Christians hired the citys most prominent criminal defense attorney, Roy Minton. According to the research Ive done, thats not what happens at all.. Hed done some reading on Hitler and the Nazis, which wasnt uncommon for boys our age. Austinites enjoyed Sunday's winter weather, skiing and sliding down a hill at Murchison Middle School. For an hour, five of them stood on the dry, unshaded ground, offering words of thanks to the man who had remained frozen in their memory as their 29-year-old teacher. Murchison Middle School And Cofer concurred with Mintons two experts. At the same time, I dont think the opposite of that is to deny what happened to us. Earlier that same year Minton had managed to get a drug charge thrown out against Cofers estranged son. Ive talked to my therapist about this. According to his classmates, he was the smartest one in the whole group, a great student and a really good artist with a wry wit who drew political cartoons that could have been in any newspaper. His preternatural maturity meant that he always got cast as the older person in the school plays, and he dressed like a grown-up (often in striped short-sleeved shirts and crisp slacks). Austin, TX (Travis Co.) - Work will consist of the renovation to an existing middle school and a new 38,000 sf addition for Austin ISD. Coldwell Banker Realty can help you find TX real estate, homes and apartments for rent near Murchison Middle School. Middle School Football-Austin ISD 2022 - 2023 Sport: Football Level: Middle School Division 1 - North Zone 8th Grade A Team Overall District Division 1 - South Zone 7th Grade A Team Overall District Division 1 - South Zone 7th Grade B Team Overall District Division 1 - South Zone 8th Grade A Team Overall District After 20 months in a psychiatric facility, he was freed. Armour is among the criminal justice reformers who have pressed for opportunities in which all stakeholders in a tragic event can come together and articulate their discontents and needs in the interest of restorative justice. (John went on to study at the universitys prestigious law school. Scaled Score: Student Achievement: 87 . John Ray came home to a shattering quiet. Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. View listing photos, review sales history, and use our detailed real estate filters to find the perfect place. Jokes over., John held the gun at his hip, pointed at his teacher. A gurney rolled past her, a sheet pulled over the body. Murchison Middle School Austin, TX Houses for Rent Page 1 / 2: 33 houses for rent $2,550 3 beds, 2.5 baths 4505 Destinys Gate Dr Austin, TX 78727 Home for rent $3,450 3 beds, 2 baths 2604 N Shields Dr Austin, TX 78727 Home for rent $2,295 4 beds, 2 baths 3407 Ambleside Dr Austin, TX 78759 Home for rent $2,700 3 beds, 2.5 baths 4109 Kilgore Ln But after talking about all this, Ive been in a very weird state of mind. Then: Where is John, anyway?. One of them, Daniel Matthews, has since been recognized as a pioneer in the therapeutic treatment of pathologically violent juveniles. Hes a really great brother. In 1992 Texas sentenced Edwin Debrow to 27 years for killing a cab driver during an attempted robberydespite the fact that the twelve-year-old was too young to stand trial as an adult. Murchison Middle School Unclaimed 3700 North Hills Drive, Austin, TX 78731 Contact info Website 5 /10 GreatSchools Rating 22 reviews 1,408 Students Grades 6-8 5 /10 GreatSchools Summary Rating 8/10 Test Scores above average 5/10 Student Progress average 2/10 Equity below average Last updated: Jul 07, 2022 ACADEMICS Student Progress 5/10 Instead of going to trial and serving time, John Christian was sent to a private mental health facility in Dallas, TX. Should I do that? Im just a scaredy-cat. Who could possibly relate to their experience? | Austin, TX 78727 | P: 512-594-2200 | F: . But two other things happened that might have signaled Johns downward spiral. He was like no other teacher I ever had, Terry said. Ratings & Designations of Murchison Middle School. At a charity gala in downtown Austin in 1992, Peyton Smithby then a 28-year-old attorneylooked across the dance floor to see a smiling and tuxedo-clad John coming his way. . School List List. You look at the jigsaw puzzle, and there are huge pieces that are not there., Thinking back to that distant morning, Smith began to describe his proximity to his teacher; he had been the nearest student to Grayson when the shooting began. His father was George Christian, a legendary figure in Texas politics who had served as President Johnsons press secretary and later became a top adviser to Governor Dolph Briscoe. Today, because of the absence of information, those who watched John shoot their teacher are still left wondering about a fundamental question: Has he ever expressed any remorse? That was such a traumatic time, a former student wrote. On Monday, June 5, 1978, Jo Anne and George flew with their son and a probation officer to Dallas, where John reported to Timberlawn. It struck me as odd that I had never heard about his sons having killed a schoolteacher, particularly since I had been a staff writer at Texas Monthly for most of the nineties. He knew only that he couldnt confront the past alone. 2 stars . Laura Grayson holding a framed photograph of Rod. (530) 529-7900 (530) 529-7933. Ray spent the rest of the evening at the home of a former classmate whod settled in Northwest Hills. The names engraved on two granite slabs include teachers from Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Santa Feand, yes, Wilbur Rod Grayson, from Murchison Junior High. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools. Mr. Grayson was shot in the titan, chest and forehead and was dead on arrival at a local hospital. 6:22 a.m.: The two boys allegedly threatened a clerk with the gun, demanded money and also stole beer and other items during a robbery at the DK convenience store, 1733 Brown St. and Murchison. Christian fled the school building and was subdued by gym coach Larry Schirpik. . She saw him instead in dreams, and when she lit candles, she remembered how he once laughed at her Catholic rituals and then said, Were doing a pact. . Eichenbaum was outside the office when she heard the screams from the classroom and at first laughed to herself: Oh, Lord. The worst John could expectunder state juvenile laws that would be toughened during the ninetieswas to be judged guilty of delinquent conduct and confined to a Texas Youth Commission facility until he turned eighteen. The notes were the beginning of a book manuscript that a literary agent was urging him to write. And one of them isnt talking.. On February 19, 1980, the judge granted the request. Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, in pink, arrives at the scene of a shooting at Austin-East High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Monday, April 12. Both were busy during all hours of the day. Updated: 10:45 AM CST February 7, 2019. The teachers receive an average of $46,008 per year. He toggled between hedonism and religion, each in zealous doses. Rolling past the high school, wandering through the memorial sites and services, Ray felt curiously at home with the grieving, as if his own trauma had been given permission to voice itself. Laura had been a teacher before Rod became one, and she continued that work long after he died. Reached by phone, Earles assistant district attorney Jacqueline Strashun could not recall for sure if Cofer, who died in 2016, had disclosed the association but added, Judge Cofer was a very, very straight guy, probably the most ethical judge at that time.). Rod had once told Laura that when he died he would like to be ferried in a boat downriver in the manner of a Viking funeral or maybe sent off into space. He spends much of his time offering spiritual solace to those who have experienced traumapeople who, according to Ray, have suffered and know my suffering and will call me on my bullshit.. According to the Texas state assessment result, 56% of students are proficient in Math learning and 61% of students are proficient in English/language arts learning. Grayson fell from his stool and collided with the student desk in front of him, where Peyton Smith sat. The anguish that has plagued the Murchison students presages the kind of long-tail trauma that many of today's witnesses to shootings will be burdened with for the rest of their lives.