Polytechnic High School opened in 1897 as a "commercial branch" of the only high school at that time in the city,
Los Angeles High School. As such, Polytechnic would be the third oldest high school in the city, after
Abraham Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights, (founded in 1878), and the fourth oldest in the LAUSD, after
San Fernando High School., which was founded in 1896. 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, Metropolitan Polytechnic moved to the south side of
Washington Boulevard at the corner of Flower Street in
downtown Los Angeles, across Washington from old
St. Vincent's College.[2][3][4] Poly was the first school to offer studies in multiple class subjects, which is now modeled by many high schools, as “periods.” In 1935, its name was changed to “John H. Francis Polytechnic” to honor 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.
^Libby Clark, "Collection on View in USC's Louis Hall: Fay M. Jackson, Hollywood's First African American Publicist/Film Specialist" Los Angeles Sentinel (March 8, 2000): C9. via
ProQuest
^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. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
^"Farewell". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. 1 May 1967. p. 8. Retrieved 21 April 2024 – via newspapers.com. Taylor, first Negro principal of a predominantly white school in Los Angeles system, begins assignment today as principal of new Alain LeRoy Locke High School in Watts.