At first glance, the school store can feel like just another room in the school building. But behind the counter is a familiar face many students see without fully knowing her story; Mrs. Starlett Murray.
While her role often blends into the background of daily school life, her impact stretches beyond inventory lists and her wonderful service dog, Tallulah.
Mrs. Murray grew up in Columbia, Pennsylvania and attended Columbia High School. Life eventually led her to the eastern York area, where she has lived since the mid-1990s. She describes the move as a practical family decision, “it was best for our kids.”
Her personal story is closely tied to long-standing relationships, including her marriage. She has known her partner since she was 16 years old. In the beginning, she was a cashier and he was a frequent customer.
“When you live in a small town, you tend to run into the same people,” she said. They married in 1991 and are approaching their 35th anniversary.
Family remains a central part of her life. She has two children; her daughter, Jordan, who recently got married, and her son, who is currently serving in the Navy.
These milestones – from her children’s weddings to becoming a grandmother – reflect a life built around family and community.
Outside of family life, Mrs. Murray has had a wide range of career experiences.
Before joining LCDS, she built a career across several professional fields. After high school, she began working in retail at a wholesale resale outlet before moving into the medical field, where she remained for 19 years. She worked in several medical offices, including urology and ophthalmology.
Eventually, she reached a turning point. A shift in healthcare from patient-centered care to a more customer-service model led her to look for something new. She said she “had enough of the medical field” and no longer liked how things were changing.
When an opportunity at LCDS came along, she took what she described as a “leap of faith” and joined the school in December 2016.
At LCDS, her role is often misunderstood. While many people associate her mainly with the school store, she actually spends most of her time in the business office. About 70% of her job involves managing tuition, transportation accounts, invoices, and financial records, while about 30% is in the school store.
Her day-to-day work involves constant movement between responsibilities, including processing payments, sorting checks, data entry, and responding to teacher requests and store needs.
She describes her average day as, “Everyday there’s invoices that come through that we have to pay and I have to make sure that they are processed properly. Each day and week we get checks that we then have to research where they go. A lot of it is data entry! Also, anyone who needs help with either school store related stuff or teachers who need to order stock, I have to help them out.”
While she already holds a large amount of tasks, she also schedules time for her service dog Tallulah.
“You have to factor in Tallulah, because if we get a request for a class room visit, then I have to stop and bring her in.,” she said.
What stands out most to her is the sense of connection she feels within the school. Students passing by aren’t strangers to her but familiar faces she greets daily, creating a simple but meaningful rhythm of “hello” and “good morning.”
Mrs. Murray explains that in her office, the school store, she has a better opportunity to interact with the students. “I feel like I see anything that happens and I’m more in tune with the students,” she said.
One of the most significant parts of her presence at school is her dog, Tallulah, who has become a comforting presence across campus.
Mrs. Murray said she did not originally intend for Tallulah to become a therapy dog.
“I did not get her with the intention of making her a therapy dog. I didn’t know what that was,” she said.
Mrs. Murray adopted Tallulah in 2019, and as a puppy, she quickly showed an unusual calmness around children. During an early visit with a Girl Scouts troop, little Tallulah walked into a room full of energetic students and simply settled in, allowing them to interact with her.
“As a six month old puppy, I was amazed that she could walk into a full room of 7 year olds and just lay down and let them pet her,” she said. “At that moment, I realized she was special.”
The training process began through therapy dog certification programs during the COVID-19 period, when more time at home allowed for focused training. Soon after, Tallulah began visiting the school regularly, including a vaccination clinic event at LCDS.
“That’s where it exploded,” Mrs. Murray said. From that point on, she and Tallulah became a familiar and comforting presence in the school community.
Mrs. Murray likes to tell people, “I have the best job in the world because not only am I working here, but I get to bring my best friend to work everyday.”
Middle and upper school students describe Mrs. Murray as kind, approachable, and quietly supportive.
One student said Tallulah often draws people into the store simply because they want to say hello. Others mentioned that Mrs. Murray is the kind of person who makes the space feel welcoming, even during busy or stressful school days.
For many students, the school store is less about buying supplies and more about the brief, friendly interactions that come with stopping by.
August.G, a junior at LCDS, said, “Whenever I come into the store to buy LCDS merchandise to give to WIB, Women in Business, guest speakers as a thank you, she is always so kind. Every time, she carefully wraps the gifts in bags and nice tissue paper, which I really appreciate.”
Taken together, these stories paint a fuller picture of someone who is often seen but not always fully noticed.
While she may not always be in the spotlight, her influence appears in the daily life of the school community – one greeting, one task, and one visit from Tallulah at a time.
