John H. Francis Polytechnic High School
Coordinates: 34°13′22″N 118°24′24″W / 34.2227818°N 118.4067144°W
| John H. Francis Polytechnic High School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
|
12431 Roscoe Boulevard Sun Valley, California 91352 United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | "Victory with Honor" |
| Established | 1897 |
| School district | Los Angeles Unified School District |
| Principal | Elidia Vazquez |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 2,929 (2014-15)[1] |
| Color(s) | Blue and gold |
| Athletics conference |
East Valley League CIF Los Angeles City Section |
| Mascot | Parrot |
| Newspaper | The Poly Optimist |
| Yearbook | The Polytechnic Student |
| Website | John H. Polytechnic High School official website |
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School is a secondary school located in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Despite its name, Polytechnic is a comprehensive high school.
History
Polytechnic High School opened in 1897 as a "commercial branch" of the only high school at that time in the city, the Los Angeles High School. As such, Polytechnic is the second oldest high school in the city. The school's original campus was located in downtown Los Angeles on South Beaudry Avenue, the present location of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education headquarters.
In 1905, Polytechnic moved to the south side of Washington Boulevard at the corner of Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles, bordering old St. Vincent’s College.[2][3][4] After St. Vincent’s moved, Polytechnic High School expanded south into its old campus. Poly was the first school to offer studies in multiple class subjects, which is now modeled by many high schools, as "periods". In 1935, “John H. Francis” was added to its name, honoring the founding principal.
In February 1957, Polytechnic moved to its present site in the San Fernando Valley and opened its doors to new students for the then fast growing suburb. Since Poly's relocation, the former site has been the campus of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. The school mascot is a parrot named Joe Parrot, and he now has a female companion named Josie.
In 2006, the establishment of Arleta High School[5] and Panorama High School[6] relieved much of the overcrowding at Polytechnic. The 2009 opening of Sun Valley High School additionally relieved overcrowding.[7]
Poly's football and track stadium is named for NBA Hall-of-Famer Gail Goodrich, a Poly alumnus. The Parrots have had a longtime rivalry with both Van Nuys High School and North Hollywood High School.
Notable alumni
- Carl David Anderson: recipient of the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics[8]
- Tom Bradley (1937): 38th Mayor of Los Angeles (1973–1993)[9]
- Helen Gurley Brown (1939): author, publisher, and businesswoman; founded Cosmopolitan magazine and was its editor in chief 1965–1997[10]
- Bill Davila: first Mexican-American to preside over a supermarket chain[11]
- Marcellite Garner (1928): voice actress of Minnie Mouse[12]
- D. J. Gay (2007): basketball player[13][14]
- Jean Paul Getty, International Petroleum Businessman, "World's Richest Man".
- Gail Goodrich (1961): basketball player in the NBA, attended UCLA[15]
- William Hung (2001): "American Idol" singer[16]
- George A. Kasem (1938): Democratic US Representative for California's 25th congressional district (1959–1961)[17]
- John W. Olmsted (1915): Professor Emeritus at University of California, Riverside[18]
- Stephen Paddock: Mandalay Bay Hotel sniper-perpetrator of the massive 2017 Las Vegas shooting
- Greg Palast (left for college in 1969): investigative journalist[19]
- Peter Senge (1965): author, scientist, and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT
- Vaino Spencer (1938): judge[20]
- Herbert R. Temple, Jr. (1947): Lieutenant General and Chief of the National Guard Bureau, 1986–1990[21]
- Sloppy Thurston: starting pitcher in Major League Baseball[22]
- Danny Trejo: actor[16]
Notable faculty
- Arthur E. Briggs: Los Angeles City Council member, 1939–1941, taught law at night
- Ralph Jesson: football coach at Polytechnic (1924–1928)
References
- ↑ "John H. Francis Polytechnic". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
- ↑ School history
- ↑ [https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19050107.2.86&srpos=1&e=------190-en--20-LAH-1-byDA-txt-txIN-Polytechnic-ARTICLE---1905--- “RUSH WORK ON NEW BUILDINGS WALLS OF THE POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL COMPLETED,” Los Angeles Herald]
- ↑ “Exterior view of the Polytechnic High School on Washington Street, Los Angeles, ca.1898-1905,” USC Digital Library.
- ↑ Arleta High School
- ↑ Panorama High School
- ↑ "Proposed Changes to Sun Valley High School Area Schools," Los Angeles Unified School District. Retrieved on March 17, 2010.
- ↑ Anderson, Carl David (1999). Weiss, Richard Jerome, ed. Early Years as a Curious Child. The Discovery of Anti-matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize. World Scientific. p. 3.
- ↑ Tom Bradley Bio
- ↑ Scanlon, Jennifer (2009). Toff, Nancy, ed. Bad Girls Go Everywhere: The Life of Helen Gurley Brown. Oxford University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-19-534205-5.
- ↑ http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sgvtribune/obituary.aspx?pid=169772409
- ↑ Peri, Don (2008). Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-934110-67-1.
- ↑ http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/gay_dj00.html
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ↑ Gail Goodrich bio
- 1 2 http://www.polyhighschoolclassof1982.com/
- ↑ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000015
- ↑ F.M. Carney; N. Ravitch; L.M. Van Deusen; R.V. Hine (1986). Krogh, David, ed. "John W. Olmsted, History: Riverside". University of California: In Memoriam: 225–227. Archived from the original on 2015-10-18.
- ↑ "Greg Palast" (PDF). Current Biography. June 2011. pp. 73–80.
- ↑ Jessie Carnie Smith, ed., Notable Black American Women Volume 2 (VNR AG 1996): 612. ISBN 9780810391772
- ↑ Turner Publishing Company, The Military Order of World Wars, 1997, page 60
- ↑ "Sloppy Thurston". Baseball-Reference.Com. Retrieved October 6, 2012.