John Muir High School

[5][6] In 2002, Caucasian teacher Scott Phelps was the center of controversy when he said that the majority of the students who were failing and disruptive were black.

[7][10] In 2005, Phelps was elected to a four-year term on Pasadena Unified School District Board of Trustees, where he remains as of 2018.

[14] Muir students participate in one of three "College and Career Pathways": Arts, Entertainment and Media; Engineering and Environmental Science; Business and Entrepreneurship.

During their high school career, students fine-tune their creative energy, master self-expression, and hone their critical thinking and problem-solving in classes like graphic design, animation, and film/video production.

Each course of study provides an in-depth analysis of business, financial, and corporate trends and strategies in the marketplace.

On-campus clubs, student activities, and group projects provide extensive, hands-on training in the business and financial system that governs our society.

[20] The reform effort soon received support from ConnectEd, an organization partnering with the Irvine Foundation to implement Linked Learning in districts across California.

[21][22] John Muir High School's implementation of the Linked Learning reform effort was featured in an extensive two-year study by Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE).

[23] According to the SCOPE study, "by many accounts, in just 3 years, Muir High School has, in fact, very credibly demonstrated the success of the Linked Learning model.

Early indications are that Muir, still with more than 90% of its students identifying as either African American or Latino, has made impressive gains during the initial years of implementation of Linked Learning.

[25] From 2011 to 2018, a team of volunteer teachers and students began converting 1.5 acres of the John Muir High School campus into an urban farm.

Muir Ranch also provides paid internships to students, which are funded by private donations, special events, farmer's market sales, and subscriptions to the Produce Box Program (CSA).