Following three years of service in Williamsburg, Virginia, as chief of staff for Williamsburg-James City-County Public Schools, South Carolina native Dr. Corey Murphy was intrigued by the possibility of returning to the Palmetto State in a new leadership role.
Aiken County Board of Education members unanimously approved Murphy’s appointment as the District’s new Chief Officer of Operations and Student Services for the 2020-21 school year during the school board’s July 14 regularly scheduled meeting. Dr. Shawn Foster, the school’s former leader of operations and student services, previously accepted a new position as superintendent of Orangeburg County Public Schools.
“For the last several years here in Virginia I have been living and working in a wonderful area and in a beautiful part of the world, but I began to notice that I was driving back to South Carolina more and more frequently,” stated Murphy, who was raised in the Spartanburg area of the Upstate. “I decided during this time in my life I needed to be a little closer to my family so I decided to come back to South Carolina.”
Dr. Murphy’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, and a Masters of Education degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. He also holds an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Administration, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
According to Dr. Murphy, the nature of the position of Chief Officer of Operations and Student Services in Aiken County is very close to the role he currently serves in as chief of staff. As part of his current responsibilities, Dr. Murphy oversees strategic planning, student services, athletics, human resources, equity initiatives, communications, long-range master planning, principal mentoring, school board relations, school board policy revisions, the department of human resources, special education, health services, gifted services, social work, and psychological services among others.
“The duties of the Chief Officer of Operations and Student Services align very closely with what I am doing now as Chief of Staff here in Virginia,” commented Dr. Murphy. “When I saw the position, it was very attractive. It was in a beautiful part of the state and in a place located almost perfectly between the two areas where I’ve been spending the majority of my time right now.”
During his time as chief of staff, Dr. Murphy led the school system through an extensive Five-Year Strategic Planning Process, led an equity-focused initiative which culminated in a professional development conference for over 900 certified educators, and implemented the school system’s first Long-Range Facility Master Plan which incorporated a diverse group of leaders from the surrounding community.
Prior to his time in Virginia, Dr. Murphy served as a building principal for 10 years at Beaufort High School and Great Falls High School, respectively. During his time at Beaufort High, Dr. Murphy led instruction at the largest school in an award-winning district, and designed an overhaul of the academic program which led to the highest number of career completers in district history. He also Initiated a 1:1 technology program for over 1,400 students.
Under Dr. Murphy’s leadership, Beaufort High posted the highest graduation to dropout ratio in school history. The school was awarded Palmetto Gold for General Performance every year and earned the only Blue Star for Financial Literacy award in the state of South Carolina. During his time as principal of Great Falls High, the school was Awarded Palmetto Gold for Closing the Achievement Gap, and reached the highest graduation levels with the lowest dropout rate in school history.
He began his career in education as a Biology and Chemistry teacher before transitioning to administration as an assistant principal at Camden High School.
Dr. Murphy has also served in a number of important roles in the United States Army Reserves, including that of a military police officer, Systems Integration Officer, Company Commanding Officer, Battalion Human Resources Officer, and his current leadership role as a Battalion Executive Officer at Fort Jackson. He was deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan, from 2010 to 2011.
He says his military experience has taught him how to thrive and win in challenging situations.
“Becoming adept at rapid transition is important in the military and that’s basically what I am doing right now,” stated Dr. Murphy. “Basically, I am making a permanent change of station moving from Virginia to South Carolina, so I already know some of the things I need to do right now and what to expect. I’m very excited to meet everyone in Aiken as well as the folks in my departments.”
Dr. Murphy will begin his new role with Aiken County Public Schools in July.
LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2020 PR CHIEF OFFICER OPERATIONS/STUDENT SERVICES