David McMurtry ’97: Education is a Gift

He wanted Marlon Brando’s role in the musical Guys and Dolls— and he was certain he’d get it. But when David McMurtry ‘97 checked the cast list after auditions…he’d gotten an off-stage role with just three lines.

“It was my Senior year, and I was so confident I’d get the lead role,” McMurtry says of the theater experience at Colorado Academy. “But I learned that I hadn’t put in my time…and, truth be told, I really was a terrible singer.” Now, more than 20 years later, McMurtry has earned multiple lead roles in life. With his wife, Allison McMurtry, he is co-founder and co-owner of the Goddard School Denver Highlands. He is a motivational speaker and coach with engagements around the country. And he still feels thankful for the many lessons he learned as a CA Upper School student, alumnus, and staff member: that you must earn your accomplishments, that life is a journey, and education is a gift. “Going to CA was a pivotal moment in my life,” he says. “Truly, I can look at my life and say that in my time there, things shifted for me. CA has been one of the most supportive communities in my entire life, every step of my journey.”

How to make failure worth your time

You might say that CA helped McMurtry learn about failure. In addition to the Guys and Dolls disappointment, he campaigned for and lost two student government positions. But when he got a small part in the musical, he pitched in as a back-up singer, dancer, and stage crewmember. And when the school elections didn’t go as planned, he leveraged the campaign connections he’d made for other initiatives. He co-led the spirit club and started a popular all-school Ping Pong tournament that continued for years after he graduated. Perhaps it was those early experiences in resilience that gave him the courage, in 2017, to take the risk—with his wife—of renovating a century-old building and opening a brand-new school in it. The Goddard School Denver Highlands is located in the Berkeley neighborhood and serves families with infants thru pre-K age children from Highlands, Sunnyside, Sloan’s Lake, Wheat Ridge, and downtown Denver. The school reached 100-percent student capacity within a year of opening, and now they are looking to add an annex with more classrooms and a gym.

Embracing a nonlinear career path

Long before he opened his own school, McMurtry served as a counselor for at-risk foster youth. He worked with children experiencing homelessness in India and volunteered at nonprofits in Denver.

Though the work felt meaningful, he hadn’t yet put his finger on exactly what he wanted to do with his life.

Leveraging the area in which he had found consistent success at CA—he played four varsity sports, stood out on the baseball and basketball teams, and was named Senior Athlete of the Year—McMurtry returned to his alma mater to coach athletics, as well as work in Admission. There, he found

the stepping stones to pursue his true passion: teaching. “I realized the one constant in my life has been a desire to learn and grow with others,” he says. He became a middle school teacher in South Carolina; later, a high school coach, life coach, and motivational speaker; and now the leader of a preschool. CA gave him the confidence to lean into his nonlinear career path. “I came into CA not knowing much about myself, and the school and its people shaped who I am today,” he says. “At CA, I learned that it will all work out.”

The day you realize you found your dream job

Not only has McMurtry found success in his career, but he also loves his work. “I somehow ended up in my dream job,” he says. “I own and operate a preschool, which meets two goals for me: to work in education and to run my own business.”

McMurtry has come a long way since his unfortunate Guys and Dolls audition. But he hasn’t forgotten that experience and everything else CA gave him. “I’ve been given an amazing education, with so many amazing teachers and mentors at CA,” he says. “I’m truly blessed to be a part of that community.” n