Marshall Fundamental Secondary School

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Location
Marshall Fundamental Secondary School
990 North Allen Avenue, Pasadena, California
Information
School district	PUSD
Principal	Steven Miller
Type	Public, Secondary
Grades	6 to 12
Motto	Pride, Tradition, Excellence
Mascot	The Bald Eagle
Color(s)	White, Blue, and Red
Established	1925
Homepage	[1]

Marshall Fundamental Secondary School is a secondary school in which junior high and high school are together (Grades 6 - 12). The school is located in Pasadena, California at 990 North Allen Avenue, and is part of the Pasadena Unified School District. It is one of the renowned schools in Southern California for its work with underprivileged students from ethnic minorities and low-income families.^[1] They are known for their AP passing rates, graduation ratios, reduced lunch programs, and extracurricular activities for students from all backgrounds.

1 History
2 Curriculum
3 Activities
4 Performance
5 Notable alumni
6 Trivia
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Named after the honorable United States Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, ground was broken for construction in 1924, with several expansions in the 1930s (North Building), 1960s (Cafeteria), 1970s (Bungalows) and 2000s (Fine Arts Building). Marshall was a Junior High School from its opening until 1973, when the state of California opened several pilot "fundamental" schools (with a greater emphasis on academics and college prep) at which point, it was reopened as John Marshall Fundamental Junior and Senior High School. The sixth grade level was added in 1985.

[edit] Curriculum

Morning bell rings at 7:50 A.M. Tuesday through Friday. Marshall's scheduling consists of six 56-minute periods, a 14-minute homeroom class (Second Period), a 10-minute nutrition period, and a 35-minute lunch. The school has also adopted the shortened Monday schedule, as to provide faculty a chance to discuss student progress. However, instead of releasing children earlier as most other PUSD schools, Marshall starts 80-minutes later, opening at 9:40 A.M.

Marshall has numerous academic, elective, athletic, and extracurricular classes making it one of the most diverse schools in the Pasadena Unified School District. It offers English language (AP/Regular) and literature (AP/Regular) classes; In mathematics, General Mathematics, PreAlgebra, Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry, Advanced Math, AP Statistics, AP Calculus I, and AP Calculus II; In Science, Earth Science, Life Science, Physical Science, (AP/Regular) Biology, (AP/Regular) Chemistry, Physics, and AP Environmental Science; In Social Studies, (AP/Regular) World History, (AP/Regular) European History, (AP/regular) US History, AP Economics, and AP US Government. Its foreign languages include Spanish and Native Spanish 1-3, French 1-3, and Armenian 1-2.

It has also seen the introduction of numerous elective classes. They include (AP/Regular) Art, Computers, Drama, Choir, and the new Journalism, which publishes a school newspaper "The Marshall Flyer Herald".

[edit] Activities

Marshall hosts several intercity and interstate programs such as NHS, CSF, and Key Club. Many clubs are overbooked with applicants and volunteers, which creates both income and competition within organizations. Marshall also has several teams in academic competitions, such as regular participation in the AMC, Poetry Out Loud Recitation, Science Bowl, and more recently has created a Junior 8 Summit team.

Marshall Athletics include male football, baseball, soccer, volleyball, cross country, track & field, swimming, and tennis; and female softball, soccer, volleyball, swimming, cross country, track and field, and tennis. They are all named "Marshall Eagles" and their uniforms display White, Blue, and Red, which changes for some teams with away games.

[edit] Performance

Jay Matthews, an educator and education reporter for the Washington Post, listed Marshall Fundamental as the 130th best High School as of 2007, chiefly due to its vast number of underprivileged students, high graduation rate, and 70% free and reduced lunch program, almost unmatched by other schools. This was enough to be singled out for the cover of Newsweek, and was featured exclusively as one of America's best schools. Marshall was first posted in 2003 as 119th, but fell in the following years to 255 in 2005, and 286 in 2006. It saw a jump in the last school year, soaring 156 places, back into the top 10%.

[edit] Notable alumni

Some notable students who have attended John Marshall include:

[edit] Trivia

Frequently used as a filming location for television commercials and motion pictures, including 13 Going on 30, Max Keeble's Big Move and Transformers.
Marshall is rumored to have several ghosts in the basement, and B building bathrooms
The Drama Program read and practiced the play "Bang Bang You're Dead" for several months, and scheduled the play to be released in April, 2007. Coincidentally, this was preceded by the Virginia Tech Massacre within a week, which drew media attention to the play. Due to political pressure and parental complaints, the drama teacher, David Pitts, was forced to postpone the play until May of that year.