School

History

Adapted from https://www.polyhigh.org/apps/pages/About_Us

John H. Francis Polytechnic High School (PHS or Poly) had its beginning in 1897 as a commercial branch of the only high school in the city, the Los Angeles High School, located on the present site of the Board of Education (333 S. Beaudry Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017). In 1905, Polytechnic was moved to the corner of Washington Blvd. and Flower St. in what is now downtown Los Angeles. In 1955, it was decided to move Polytechnic to a new site where it could best serve the needs of the changing city. In February of 1957, Poly moved to its present site in the San Fernando Valley. Currently, PHS is undergoing campus modernization which includes a major site improvement effort and 175,000 square feet of new facilities. New educational facilities include: state-of-the-art science instruction classrooms, media facilities, gymnasium, administration building, cafeteria, and library.

Poly’s location serves not only the Sun Valley community, but the Arleta, Pacoima, Lakeview Terrace, North Hollywood, Panorama City, and Van Nuys vicinities as well. A large percentage of the area's population includes recent immigrants from numerous countries, mostly of Latinx origin, who are largely first-generation. Designated a National Title 1 school in 1999, approximately 92% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch with over 85% of students speaking a language other than English at home.

Mission and Vision

The vision of PHS is to provide a personalized educational experience that supports each student to achieve college and/or career readiness upon graduation.

The mission of PHS is to:

• Maintain high expectations and provide rigorous, standards-based, and real-world learning opportunities for all students.

• Provide a safe, personalized, and small-school learning environment for all students.

• Foster a culture, which builds the capacity of faculty and staff to serve all students.

• Provide community-based resources to students and parents with the objective of mitigating obstacles to student learning.

• Create a culture where stakeholders are empowered and actively engaged to affect change within the school and community.

https://www.polyhigh.org/apps/pages/MissionandVision

School Structure

Polytechnic High School currently operates on a 4x4 block schedule adopted in 2004. The school year is divided into four quarters of approximately 10 weeks and each school day is divided into four class periods of 88 minutes each with eleven minutes added to the first period of the day to accommodate the Breakfast in the Classroom Program. The 4x4 block schedule allows students to complete up to 16 classes each year as compared to the 12 classes possible on a traditional schedule that provides 6 class periods each day. This particular schedule allows flexibility for students to take a wider variety of classes in a shorter amount of time as well as providing both intervention and enrichment opportunities for students within the school day.

The Math, Science, and Technology Magnet, School for Advanced Studies, Career Technical Education (CTE) Program, and AP Capstone are among the notable programs implemented at Polytechnic High School. The Math, Science, and Technology Magnet began in 1994 and has an established tradition of excellence. The Magnet provides students with a rigorous college preparatory program designed to prepare them for university studies in fields that require a strong background in math and science. The program currently enrolls 400 students in grades 9-12. The School for Advanced Studies (SAS) is a program designed by Polytechnic High School and approved by LAUSD to support the development of High Achieving and Gifted & Talented students. This “school-within-a-school” was developed to provide students a high-level academic program serving the educational needs of LAUSD’s gifted/high achieving learners. SAS students are offered numerous opportunities in Honors, AP, and college courses, as well as a multitude of electives and extracurricular clubs, programs, and activities. Currently, SAS students in 9th -12th grade comprise approximately 20% of Polytechnic’s comprehensive school population. The Career Technical Education (CTE) Program offers a wide variety of career explorations to our Poly students. The following innovative coursework is offered: Information Support & Services, Business Management, Child Development, Software & Systems Development, Industrial Technologies, Food Service & Hospitality, Professional Sales, Ornamental Horticulture, Graphic Productions Technology, Networking, Entrepreneurship, and Family & Human Services. AP Capstone is a two-year advanced placement program focusing on research. PHS was one of only 5 schools in California selected to implement the program in the initial College Board rollout of the school year 2014-2015.

Demographics

PHS has a student enrollment of 2,475 with some of those students belonging to the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Program or School for Advanced Studies Program. The student population consists of:

Grade levels

Grade 9 - 700 students

Grade 10 - 595 students

Grade 11 - 598 students

Grade 12 - 582 students

Student body demographics: School staff demographics:

Hispanic or Latino - 91.9% Hispanic or Latino - 35%

Black - 0.9% Black - 6%

Asian - 2.2% Asian - 7%

Filipino - 2.5% Filipino - 0%

White - 2.1% White - 44%

Pacific Islander - 0.2% Pacific Islander - 0%

Two or More Races - 0.1% Other - 4%

English Learners - 13.7% Declining to state ethnicity - 4%

Students w/Disabilities - 13.4%

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged - 92.4%

Foster Youth - 0.4%

Homeless - 3.4%

PHS has 143 members speaking more than 10 languages with 21 Nationally Board Certified and 8 actively pursuing certification, 75 Master's degrees, 8 Juris Doctorates, and over 2000, yes, 2000 collective years of teaching experience. Several faculty members, including our principal, are Poly alumni, and some of the students’ parents graduated from PHS.

There are several marginalized and vulnerable groups who are struggling academically and considered “at risk.” Some of these students either have a learning disability, limited English proficiency, or struggle academically due to the rigor at our school.