As a career academy, Farragut emphasizes a curriculum that combines academic instruction with work-study experiences and vocational training.

In addition to education-to-careers clusters, Farragut is also home to the General Patton JROTC program, which functions as a school-within-a-school.

The Chicago Board of Education named the school after Admiral David Farragut and appointed George R. Plumb as principal.

[8] The dedication ceremony included speeches by representatives of the Chicago Board of Education and the Grand Army of the Republic and the singing of "patriotic songs" by Farragut students.

[9] In the early years of the 20th century, the population of Chicago's southwest side continued to grow, and overcrowding at Farragut became a problem.

To ease this overcrowding, the Chicago Board of Education approved $150,000 to build a sixteen-room addition and assembly hall for Farragut.

Cox believed that the primary reason Farragut students did not complete their high school education was a lack of facilities in the area that could accommodate them.

Classes for girls fell under the category of "domestic sciences" and included beginning and advanced sewing, food study and cooking, sanitation and hygiene in the home, and industry history.

In addition, the school organized adult education classes to teach sewing, millinery, cooking, and typing.

That year, Peter B. Ritzma became principal following Isabella Dolton's election as Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the district.

Harry Hopkins, director of FERA, realized there was an opportunity not only to return teachers to work but also to provide educational programs to other unemployed workers.

Unemployed adults could attend classes in typing, dictaphone, shorthand (advanced and beginning), sewing, millwork, and printing.

[16] Elizabeth Anders, author of "Everybody run Farragut," a 1971 work, stated that the school administration, then dominated by White Americans, was not prepared for the change in demographics and that some teachers had no interest in serving black students; [17] by 1971, according to Anders, discord among teachers and students and problems with gangs occurred by 1971.

[18] On June 8, 2010, Kanye West performed a private concert for Farragut students for having won the third annual "Stay in School" contest.