John Muir High School (Pasadena, California)

Infobox_School
name = John Muir High School


established = 1955
type = Public
principal = Sheryl Orange
grades = 9-12
faculty = 49
students = approx. 1,300
mascot = The Mustang
colors = Blue and Gold color box|Bluecolor box|Gold
motto = "The Home of the Mighty Mustangs"
location = 1905 N Lincoln Avenue, Pasadena, California
country = USA
coordinates = coord|34.178513|-118.159871|region:US_type:edu|display=inline,title
website = [http://www.pusd.us/staticpages/index.php?page=20030825124109188 pusd.us] / [http://www.johnmuirhs.org/]

John Muir High School is a four year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir.

History

The school's buildings were originally a part of "John Muir Junior College" (not to be confused with John Muir College in San Diego, CA).cite web|url=http://www.johnmuiralumni.org/campus_historyl.htm|title=History of John Muir High School: Site locations|publisher=John Muir Alumni Association|accessdate=2006-04-12] The junior college merged with Pasadena City College, and converted to a two-year high school in 1955. (The senior students of the first graduating high-school class in 1955 were freshmen of the previous two-year junior college in the prior year.) It later become a full four-year high school, located on Lincoln Avenue, named after Lincoln, Nebraska.

Prior to 1964, mostly White and Asian students from the communities of La Canada Flintridge, California joined the historically black neighborhood of North Pasadena and the racially mixed community of Altadena, and enrollment was nearly 3,000 students. In 1965, La Canada Flintridge, California built its own school system and removed their students. Shortly after that, the Pasadena City School District created Blair High School, siphoning off another large portion of the school's population.

Current

Approximately 1300 students attend each year. The student body is 42% Hispanic, 47% black, 9% non-Hispanic White, and 2% "other", including 1.1% Asian. The school maintained an average class size of 27 students and a pupil-to-teacher ratio of 21:1 in the 2002-03 school year, during which a total of 49 fully credentialed teachers were on staff.cite web|url=http://www.pusd.us/staticpages/sarc/johnmuir03-04.pdf|format=pdf|title=2003-2004 School Accountability Report Card] Beginning in 2004, John Muir has received failing Academic Performance Index (API) scores by the state. Consequently, John Muir has been under scrutiny to demonstrate notable improvement to state standards.

In the Fall of 2004, approximately 100 students at John Muir were removed from the regular school system due to poor grades and placed at the remedial Rose City. However the number exceed the school's capacity, and 'Rose City North' was created on the North Western part of the campus, annexing a portion of the classrooms.

As a result of continued under performance, the Pasadena Unified School District has begun restructuring the school, as well reevaluating the current faculty.

Thirty-eight teachers and five counselors who reapplied for their jobs as part of a restructuring of John Muir High School will return next school year, officials said Friday. A total of 55 Muir employees reapplied for their positions, a requirement imposed by the school district under the overhaul plan...Muir is entering its fourth year of state monitoring after posting low Academic Performance Index scores, the state's main measure of school performance. Last year, district leaders decided to completely revamp the high school to avoid a possible state takeover of Muir.

cite web|url=http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_8737758|title=Muir Staff Reshuffling Continues]

The revamp of John Muir High School will apply to the upcoming 2008-2009 school year.

Traditions

John Muir High School and crosstown rival Pasadena High School hold the annual "Turkey Tussle", during which their football teams play a game at the Rose Bowl, the winner taking possession of a ceremonial bell. In 2005, the bell was stolen. It was found on February 7, 2006 near a road in the Angeles National Forest. [cite web|url=http://www.cpwf.org/fire/060207/060207.htm|title=Victory Bell Recovery|date=2006-02-07]

Controversies

In 2000 a teacher, Cyrus Javaheri, pleaded guilty to engaging in group sex with minors. The teacher lured two students from the school in addition to another minor through the internet. Furthermore, numerous instances of cyber sex were conducted between the teacher and various minors as young as 12. [cite web|url=http://da.co.la.ca.us/pok/realcases.htm|archivedate=2005-12-28|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051228065351/http://da.co.la.ca.us/pok/realcases.htm#2|publisher=Los Angeles District Attorney|title=Protecting Our Kids]

In 2002, white teacher Scott Phelps was the center of controversy when he asserted that the majority of the students who are failing and disruptive were black.

Opinion was divisive with whites and blacks from the community on both sides. While some students and teachers defended that his assertion, that the majority of the under performing students were black, was accurate others took offense to it. Subsequently he was placed on administrative leave but allowed to return to the school a few days later. In 2005, Phelps was elected to a four-year term on the district's Board of Education.

Racial tension and violence across the campus has become increasingly more common. On December 14, 2007, a fight broke out amongst several students, with a total of eleven students detained and charged. According to the Deputy District Attorney the incident

The demographics of John Muir High School, almost nearly half black and half Hispanic, reflect similar conflicts between the two communities.

On April 5, 2008, History teacher Brandon Michael Landreth was detained and held on $2 million bail for allegedly killing Justo Cesar Morales, a man believed to have been in a relationship with his ex-wife. [cite web|url=http://www.knbc.com/news/15802496/detail.html|title=High School Teacher Accused of Killing in Custody|date=April 5, 2008|publicser=KNBC.com]

Notable alumni

;John Muir High School (after 1955):
* Sultan McCullough (1998), NFL football player, 2003 [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McCuSu00.htm Sultan McCullough Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com ] ]
* Inger Miller (1988), track and field Olympic Gold Medalist
* Renee Tajima-Peña (1976), award-winning documentary filmmaker. [ [http://www.freewaves.org/artists/r_tajima/ Artist: Renee Tajima-Peña ] ] [ [http://imdb.com/name/nm0846967/ Renee Tajima-Pena ] ]
* David Lee Roth (1972), lead singer of Van Halen 1974-85, 1996, 2007-current.
* Juliana Gondek (1971), opera singer, UCLA Voice Division, [ [http://www.music.ucla.edu/People/Faculty%20bios/JGondek.html UCLA] ]
* Robert B. Lowe (1971), journalist, 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner.
* Octavia Butler (1965), award-winning science fiction author (d. 2006)cite web|url=http://www.johnmuiralumni.org/hall_of_fame.htm|title=Hall of Fame|publisher=John Muir High School Alumni Association|accessdate=2007-04-12]
* Darrell Evans (1965), major league baseball player, 1969-89
* John Beal (1964), award-winning film and television composer. [ [http://imdb.com/name/nm0003395/ IMDB - John Beal] ] [ [http://web2.soundtrack.net/composers/database/?id=396 SoundtrackNet] ]
* Richard Bellis (1964), award-winning film and television composer.cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006661|title=IMDb - Richard Bellis]
* Sirhan Sirhan (1963), convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. [cite web|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/assassins/kennedy/4.html|title=Sirhan Sirhan|publisher=Court TV|work=Crime Library|accessdate=2007-06-18]
* Rod Sherman (1962), professional football player.
* Koichi Nishimura (1956), chief operating officer of Solectron

;John Muir Junior College (prior to 1955):
* John Van de Kamp (1952), Attorney General of California (1982-1991).
* Fred Phelps (1951), head of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church.
* Jackie Robinson (1936), first African-American major league baseball player

References

External links

* [http://www.pusd.us/staticpages/index.php?page=20030825124109188 John Muir High School profile] provided by the Pasadena Unified School District
* [http://my.highschooljournalism.org/ca/pasadena/muir/ John Muir High School Blazer Newspaper]

; Alumni general websites
* [http://vplex.com/johnmuirdb/nav.php Alumni registration for all class years]
* [http://www.keyconnect.com/alumni/index.shtml Alumni registration for all class years, operated by Glendale Online]
* [http://johnmuiralumni.org/ John Muir High School Alumni Association (1950s-2000s)]