A remarkable turnaround at Pasadena's John Muir High School -- latimes.com:
"With each click of his mouse, Sam Picture wondered if John Muir High School was a good career move.
Stories of high dropout rates, low test scores and violence popped on his screen when he researched the 55-acre campus in northwest Pasadena in January 2008.
He didn't see it as a deterrent, but rather, a challenge.
Picture, now the school's athletic director, is one of the many teachers, administrators and counselors hired to turn around the troubled high school, which since 2001 has cycled through five principals. This year is the first in five that the state is not monitoring the school for failing to increase test scores."
"With each click of his mouse, Sam Picture wondered if John Muir High School was a good career move.
Stories of high dropout rates, low test scores and violence popped on his screen when he researched the 55-acre campus in northwest Pasadena in January 2008.
He didn't see it as a deterrent, but rather, a challenge.
Picture, now the school's athletic director, is one of the many teachers, administrators and counselors hired to turn around the troubled high school, which since 2001 has cycled through five principals. This year is the first in five that the state is not monitoring the school for failing to increase test scores."