DOVER — Eddie Cregar of Elizabeth W. Murphey School updated Capital City Rotarians about the facility March 17, as it approaches its 100th anniversary.

Founded in October 1922 by Sanford S. Murphey as a tribute to his mother, he called the facility a school because “I wish it to be free from those unhappy associations which so often have been connected with children’s homes because I conceive the rearing of children in all aspects as an educational work,” he said.

Today, the school is a nonprofit organization providing residential group care and transitional care for homeless children ages 6-18 (and sometimes to age 22). Contact between children and their families is encouraged. Each youth beyond 16 is offered a mentor to address job skills, money management, interpersonal skills, transportation and educational planning.

The Murphey School’s independent/transitional living program also works with high school graduates to continue these services. The school has two homes in Dover dedicated to providing up to eight 18- to 22-year-old young adults who need housing as they work toward independence.

“We build relationships that last forever,” said Mr. Cregar of the way students help one another. He told of a 17-year-old teaching a 6-year-old to tie his laces and help with homework.

The keynote of the Murphey School is the individual child who has a distinct personality. Its residential programs are designed to provide supervision and direction to youth referred for care throughout Delaware. Referrals for admission are accepted from the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, which monitors and licenses the facility.

Residents of the program must be eligible to attend area schools, with participation in school-related activities encouraged. Children are professionally assessed, and tutoring is provided as needed. Murphey also contracts with resources for therapeutic support services.

An appointed board of directors who serve without compensation provides financial and program guidelines to the executive director. The assistant director, program managers, family reunification specialist, direct-care personnel and support employees work closely with the executive director.

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