Innovation Academy’s roots date back to 1995 when we were chartered as the “Chelmsford Public Charter School.”  Linn Murdoch was a founding parent and Board Member who helped create the vision captured in our charter, making her a true “Founding Mother” to IACS.  Linn passed away far too soon in 1999 and our then 5-8 Middle School was renamed Murdoch Middle School until 2006. 

IACS Middle School Social Worker Nancy Tripp, who worked at the school when Linn was an active volunteer remembers,  “Linn’s capacity for caring and kindness, as well as, her volunteerism endured despite her failing health.  She refused to allow herself to be derailed from the vision and mission of the school which she helped create.”    IACS Head of School Greg Orpen praised Linn’s vision for, “seeing that schools could and should be much more student-centered, believing that schools could and should be helping students to ask better questions about the world around them, and imagining a school where students came up with ‘more creative and more global’ answers to their questions.”

 

(pictured front row: Linn’s daughter-in-law Maria,  son Matt Lowe, brother Gary Murdoch, mother Irene Murdoch, husband Craig Lowe, and niece Katie Boyd.  Back Row: IACS staff members Nancy Tripp and Greg Orpen)

 

The quote in the dedication plaque comes from the book, Inside Charter Schools by Bruce Fuller (2000).   The fourth chapter in this book profiles the work of our original founders and included this quote from Linn.