John Muir School

Peace Pole
John Muir School, a California Distinguished School, attracts students from throughout the city of San Diego. Transportation is provided for students who live more than 2 1/2 miles from the school. Muir spans grades K–12 and has a maximum enrollment of 440.

Muir has a small, friendly, and family-like environment. Classes are limited to 24 students in grades K–3 and 30 students in grades 4–12. Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) instruction is a strand throughout all our classrooms, enabling students to be challenged at all grade levels. The K–12 configuration allows elementary students (K–6) to have the benefit of a credentialed physical education teacher, a professional librarian, and a “hands-on” project-based science program. We also offer instrumental music at grades 4–6. Secondary students participate in the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program. They also have the opportunity to take on-line classes in our new virtual high school lab. Our graduates are college ready, technologically savvy, and world wise.

Muir was awarded a three-year, $1.3 million Magnet Assistant Grant, which has enhanced our curriculum and technology integration related to our Global Citizen/ Paideia magnet. The grant enabled us to hire two additional resource teachers and a network media technician. In addition, all faculty members are trained in the Paideia philosophy, which fosters student engagement and student discourse. Environmental issues are another major topic of discussion and action.

Muir's K-12 grade span and smaller class sizes promote a family atmosphere in which students are both teachers and learners in multiple-grade groupings. Our graduates are college ready, technologically savvy, and world wise.

Visit our campus

Muir's permanent site is 4431 Mt. Herbert Avenue in the Clairemont area. A  2.5 million dollar renovation that includes school-wide classroom and playground transformations, a new science lab and a K-12 library with plenty of room to think, read, write and present student team and individual inquiry projects is completed.

Join us

To apply to John Muir School, fill out the online form. John Muir School is a SDCS integration program. All students must complete an Enrollment Options Application in order to attend. Call Muir for further information at (858) 268-1954.

Expected School-wide Learning Results

Students will become:
  • informed and effective communicators,
  • complex critical thinkers and problem solvers,
  • collaborative workers who contribute to, interact with and lead in the worldwide community,
  • well-rounded individuals who recognize and address local, national, and international responsibilities

Mission Statement

The mission of John Muir School is to create a community of empowered learners who are productive global learners.

Vision Statement

John Muir’s program equips students with the knowledge, skills, and values to achieve academic excellence through a focus on global responsibilities. Utilizing Paideia learning strategies, technology, and project-based learning, we prepare our students to become life-long learners who collaborate effectively, work creatively, and think critically to benefit themselves, their communities and the world.

Free Public Education

Section 5 of Article IX of the State of California Constitution guarantees students a "free public eduction." The State Supreme Court concluded in the 1984 case of Hartzell vs. Connell "that all education activities carried on by public school districts, extra-curricular as well as curricular, must be without cost to the students who participate in such activities." This same ruling found that "mandatory fees for participating in such extra-curricular activities as drama, music, and athletic competition were illegal under the State Constitution." Furthermore, they also rejected the argument that "fees could be charged so long as the district waived fees for students who were financially unable to pay."