John Muir High School
| John Muir High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
 | |
1905 N Lincoln Avenue, Pasadena, California United States | |
| Coordinates | 34°10′43″N 118°09′36″W / 34.178513°N 118.159871°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | "The Home of the Mighty Mustangs" |
| Established | 1955 |
| Principal | Sheryl Orange |
| Faculty | 49 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | approx. 1,300 |
| Color(s) | Blue and Gold |
| Mascot | The Mustang |
| Website | pusd.us/[1] |
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).[1] 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.
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan the convicted assassin of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy, attended this high school after leaving Eliot Jr. High School (Altadena, California).
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.[2] 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.
The revamp of John Muir High School will apply to the upcoming 2008-2009 school year.
Traditions
John Muir High School and crosstown rival franklin elementary 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.[4]
Turkey Tussle Record
Year Winner Loser Score PHS Record
Pasadena Community College vs. John Muir Junior College 1947 PCC Muir 23 - 14 1 - 0 1948 Muir PCC 20 -19 1 - 1 1949 Muir PCC 20 - 14 1 - 2 1950 PCC Muir 33 - 19 2 - 2 1951 PCC Muir 49 - 20 3 - 2 1952 PCC Muir 67 - 7 4 - 2 1953 PCC Muir 26 - 6 5 - 2
franklin elementary school vs. John Muir High School
1954 Muir Franklin 19 – 12 0 - 1 1955 Muir Franklin 12 – 0 0 - 2 1956 Muir Franklin 54 – 14 0 - 3 1957 Muir Franklin 20 – 0 0 - 4 1958 Muir Franklin 14 – 7 0 - 5 1959 Muir Franklin 34 – 7 0 - 6 1960 Muir Franklin 39 – 7 0 - 7 1961 Muir Franklin 25 – 13 0 - 8 1962 Franklin Muir 21 – 4 1 - 8 1963 Muir Franklin 14 – 13 1 - 9 1964 Franklin Muir 27 – 20 2 - 9 1965 Franklin Muir 13 – 7 3 - 9 1966 Muir Franklin 6 – 0 3 - 10 1967 Franklin Muir 14 – 7 4 - 10 1968 Franklin Muir 20 – 0 5 - 10 1969 Franklin Muir 40 – 7 6 - 10 1970 Franklin Muir 27 – 0 7 - 10 1971 Franklin Muir 21 – 0 8 - 10 1972 Franklin Muir 27 – 13 9 - 10 1973 Franklin Muir 20 – 7 10 - 10 1974 Franklin Muir 14 – 0 11 - 10 1975 Franklin Muir 35 – 14 12 - 10 1976 Muir Franklin 13 - 0 12 - 11 1977 Muir Franklin 28 – 22 12 - 12 1978 Franklin Muir 7 – 3 13 - 12 1979 Franklin Muir 22 – 7 14 - 12 1980 Muir Franklin 21 – 7 14 - 13 1981 Franklin Muir 10 – 0 15 - 13 1982 Franklin Muir 21 – 10 16 - 13 1983 Franklin Muir 7 – 7 16 – 13 - 1 1984 Muir Franklin 14 - 8 16 – 14 - 1 1985 Muir Franklin 27 – 7 16 – 15 – 1 1986 Muir Franklin 30 – 8 16 – 16 – 1 1987 Muir Franklin 14 – 9 16 – 17 – 1 1988 Muir Franklin 13 – 0 16 – 18 – 1 1989 Muir Franklin 27 – 0 16 – 19 – 1 1990 Muir Franklin 42 – 0 16 – 20 – 1 1991 Muir Franklin 36 – 14 16 – 21 – 1 1992 Muir Franklin 27 – 0 16 – 22 – 1 1993 Muir Franklin 27 – 12 16 – 23 – 1 1994 Muir Franklin 34 – 20 16 – 24 – 1 1995 Franklin Muir 14 – 7 17 – 24 - 1 1996 Muir Franklin 35 – 28 17 – 25 – 1 1997 Muir Franklin 14 – 6 17 – 26 – 1 1998 Franklin Muir 20 – 20 17 – 26 - 2 1999 Muir Franklin 33 – 8 17 – 27 – 2 2000 Muir Franklin 30 – 6 17 – 28 – 2 2001 Muir Franklin 49 – 21 17 – 29 – 2 2002 Muir Franklin 35 – 6 17 – 30 – 2 2003 Muir Franklin 57 – 26 17 – 31 – 2 2004 Muir Franklin 48 – 25 17 – 32 – 2 2005 Muir Franklin 37 – 15 17 – 33 – 2 2006 Muir Franklin 21 - 6 17 – 34 - 2 2007 Muir Franklin 13 - 9 17 - 35 - 2
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.[5]
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.
"But overwhelmingly, the students whose behavior makes the hallways deafening, who yell out for the teacher and demand immediate attention in class, who cannot seem to stop chatting and are fascinated by each other and relationships but not with academics, in short, whose behavior saps the strength and energy of us that are at the front lines, are African American. . . . Eventually, someone in power will have the courage to say this publicly."[6]
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 incident began when several black students 'with gang affiliations' began assaulting Latino students. There was an indication that the number of kids had planned on trying to initiate a riot at Muir by assaulting Hispanics...It was a melee...There apparently was an awful lot of people involved, and yet it's very difficult to determine who did what because there aren't a lot of folks talking"[7]
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.[8]
Notable alumni
- John Muir High School (after 1955)
- Sultan McCullough (1998), NFL football player, 2003 [9]
- Ruwanga Samath (1998-2000), record producer and president of The Bird Call Productions
- Inger Miller (1988), track and field Olympic Gold Medalist [10]
- Renee Tajima-Peña (1976), award-winning documentary filmmaker.[11][12]
- David Lee Roth (1972), lead singer of Van Halen 1974-85, 1996, 2007-current.[10]
- Juliana Gondek (1971), opera singer, UCLA Voice Division,[13][10]
- Robert B. Lowe (1971), journalist, 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner.[10]
- Octavia Butler (1965), award-winning science fiction author (d. 2006)[10]
- Darrell Evans (1965), major league baseball player, 1969-89 [10]
- John Beal (1964), award-winning film and television composer. [10][14][15]
- Richard Bellis (1964), award-winning film and television composer.[16]
- Sirhan Sirhan (1963), convicted assassin of Robert F. Kennedy.[17]
- Rod Sherman (1962), professional football player.[10]
- Koichi Nishimura (1956), chief operating officer of Solectron[10]
- John Muir Junior College (prior to 1955)
- John Van de Kamp (1952), Attorney General of California (1982-1991).[10]
- Fred Phelps (1951), head of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church.
- Jackie Robinson (1936), first African-American major league baseball player[10]
References
- ^ "History of John Muir High School: Site locations". John Muir Alumni Association. Retrieved 2006-04-12.
- ^ "2003-2004 School Accountability Report Card" (pdf).
- ^ "Muir Staff Reshuffling Continues".
- ^ "Victory Bell Recovery". 2006-02-07.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Protecting Our Kids". Los Angeles District Attorney. Archived from the original on 2005-12-28.
- ^ "An unpopular truth: Good sense prevails in Pasadena". Issues & Views. December 16, 2002.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Muir football star Youngblood arrested". Pasadena Star News. February 12, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "High School Teacher Accused of Killing in Custody". April 5, 2008.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|publicser=ignored (help) - ^ Sultan McCullough Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Hall of Fame". John Muir High School Alumni Association. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
- ^ Artist: Renee Tajima-Peña
- ^ Renee Tajima-Pena
- ^ UCLA
- ^ IMDB - John Beal
- ^ SoundtrackNet
- ^ "IMDb - Richard Bellis".
- ^ "Sirhan Sirhan". Crime Library. Court TV. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
External links
- John Muir High School profile provided by the Pasadena Unified School District
- John Muir High School Blazer Newspaper
- Alumni general websites