Murray City School District took its first steps toward a high school in 1913, submitting plans to construct a new school, later called Hillcrest School, to become a junior high school. After it was built near present-day Hillcrest Jr. High, it opened its doors for the 1915-16 school year, serving grades 7 to 9.
Community members were still unsatisfied as older Murray students were commuting to Granite and Salt Lake High Schools. The distance and tuition costs were factors, so a year later, Hillcrest expanded to offer instruction through 12th grade. While the school’s official name would not come until 1919, the first graduating class of Murray High School consisted of five students in 1917.
Murray High School continued to grow over the years. In the 1920s, consolidation with Granite School was considered and rejected. The school’s first official colors, orange and purple, were a product of the nearby landmark smokestacks, which produced an orange glow and purple hue in the evening sky. At one point, a newspaper reporter dubbed Murray teams the “smelterites,” a term that stuck until the early 1950s. In 1926, the official colors were permanently changed to orange and black.
As the school and community population grew, the District improved the high school, including a new gym in 1940. That same year the Board approved the purchase of a 15-acre property on the west side of State Street that was to be used for athletic fields and a potential site for future high school buildings.
While the United States’ entry into World War II prohibited some growth, MHS was approved to construct a new lunch room and kitchen, which was completed in 1945. However, there was mounting pressure to build a new high school, which would separate the junior high and high schools.
Finally, in the early 1950s, committees were formed to study multiple sites, eventually landing on the property purchased in 1940. The new Murray High School officially opened before the 1954-55 school year.
Between 1961 and 1983, the high school was expanded and remodeled six times to accommodate growth and service offerings. This included a newly remodeled auditorium in 1983 and a more spacious gym built adjacent to the school in 1981. However, over the next two decades, as the community grew, it was determined in 2000 that the school was in serious need of modernization.
Within three years, plans and construction were approved and realized. Today’s current facility was completed in 2003. The only building remaining was the relatively new gymnasium. This updated facility opened up more opportunities for teachers and students to participate in modern curricula and experiences to meet the demands of Utah education standards and a dynamic Murray community population.
Today, the school features a robust selection of required and elective courses integrating technology and service-oriented learning. It also boasts active career and college-readiness programs and services, Career and Technical Education offerings, and a myriad of clubs, activities, arts, and sports programs.
In early 2024, the Murray Board of Education voted and approved a grade reconfiguration change, pivoting the district’s junior highs (grades 7-9) to a middle school model (grades 6-8). This prompted the Board to also propose a bond measure for the 2024 election that includes an additional wing added to the high school. If passed, construction will begin in 2025, with a target completion date ahead of the 2027-28 school year.
Parents actively participate in the school’s community council and the local Parent Teacher Association, which is part of Region 19’s (Murray) PTA organization. They also support events that celebrate student culture, achievement, and performance, attending in large numbers to an almost daily schedule of activities.
Presently, MHS has an approximate enrollment of 1350 students for grades 10-12. They employ award-winning teachers, support professionals, and other staff and administrators. The school’s principal is Quinn Linde. He is joined by assistant principals Jon Jensen and Emily Bird. You can learn more about the school and its faculty and staff at: https://mhs.murrayschools.org
