Murrow had famous company in February, as Caroline Kennedy visited the school.

On February 12th, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, and her colleagues toured Murrow and its Music, Fine Arts, and Theater Arts programs.

“I've been working at the Department of Education to develop a tool we can, and all the different schools can use to evaluate their own arts’ programs, and see how the kids are getting the right things out of it and if they're engaged,” said Kennedy. “We work to make sure that arts around the city are being well taught, and exciting and interesting students.”

Kennedy and her colleagues are attempting to develop an “Arts’ Quality Rubric,” which according to Mr. Paul King, the executive director of the project, is an instructional tool for the Arts citywide. To perfect this rubric, Principal Mr. Anthony Lodico toured with Kennedy and the other visitors to classrooms participating in the arts.

Their first stop was to observe The Madrigal choir, who performed two songs for Kennedy's group, in the Joseph Anzalone Theatre.

“It was actually exciting because it's John F. Kennedy's daughter, so we didn't know what to expect,” said senior David Kirshner, 18, a member of the Madrigal Choir. “She was sitting right in the audience and she came up and congratulated us and told us we sang well.”

Much attention was paid to the Fine Arts department, with paintings from Murrow students on display in the Principals Conference room and two art classes were observed.

“I think it's extremely exciting that she's here. I love the fact that we get to showcase our wonderful school and one of the wonderful programs and our wonderful students,” said Ms. Spy Kontarinis, AP of the Fine Arts Department. “Hopefully it will validate around the city the importance of the arts and hopefully it will open everyone’s eyes to not only how important it is, but how imperative it is to include the arts in every single school as heavily as we include them here.”

The visit lasted B through C bands, and Ms. Kennedy enjoyed her trip to Murrow, and was impressed by the performance of Murrow's art programs.

“Everything went well. They were able to see what they set out to see,” said Mr. Lodico. “I think it's exciting for the students, and more importantly it's good to have people like Ms. Kennedy, Paul King and all the other people who are in charge of the arts in education here to see what we do to make sure we continue to get the support that we need.”

“There was a lot of variety and a lot of kids participating, so it was a very valuable visit,” said Ms. Kennedy. “I can tell you that compared to other schools I've seen this is a very strong program. The kids seem really engaged, and I was really impressed with the student activities that we saw.”