Polytechnic School (California)

For other uses of Polytechnic School, see Polytechnic High School (disambiguation).

Polytechnic School
Location
Pasadena, California
Coordinates
Information
School type	Private
Religious affiliation(s)	None
Founded	1907
President	Chris Poole
Head of School	Debbie Reed (2002- )
Grades	Kindergarten through 12
Color(s)	Orange & White
Mascot	Panther
Rival	Flintridge Preparatory School
Newspaper	The Paw Print
Website	http://www.polytechnic.org

Polytechnic School, often referred to as simply Poly, is a college preparatory private school in Pasadena, California. The school is a member of the G20 Schools Group.

History

The school was founded in 1907 as the first private non-sectarian, non-profit elementary school in California. It descends from the Throop Polytechnic Institute founded by Amos G. Throop, the same institution which grew into the present California Institute of Technology.

In the spring of 1907, the Institute decided to focus on the college level and closed the grammar school. Citrus tycoon and powerful eugenicist Ezra S. Gosney donated $12,500, a sum matched by twelve other donors. This money allowed them to purchase the property at the present site, originally an orange grove. The school opened in October 1907 with 106 students. At the time, the school was named Polytechnic Elementary School. The school added a ninth grade in 1918 and expanded to high school in 1959. After instituting a ninth grade, the name changed to Polytechnic Elementary and Junior High School. Polytechnic ended its pre-Kindergarten program in 2005.

Academics

File:Polysc.jpg

A portrait of Ezra Gosney on display in his namesake auditorium.

Poly offers Advanced Placement and honors classes as well as arts and athletic programs. According to a College Board report, Polytechnic School was named a world leader in student participation and performance on Advanced Placement exams. Furthermore, the report also named Polytechnic as the top small school in the world for having the largest part of its students achieve a 3 or above on the AP Calculus AB examination in both 2004 and 2005. In 2007, Polytechnic School was ranked 4th in the world by The Wall Street Journal in success rate in sending students to Harvard University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Williams College, Pomona College, Swarthmore College, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University, higher than many older, better known east coast prep schools such as Exeter and Andover. In the 2006-07 class, 42% of class were National Merit Finalists & Commended students and 84% of students were accepted to 'highly-selective' top tier universities. In the September 2008 issue, Los Angeles Magazine listed Pasadena Poly among the best high schools in Los Angeles. Poly was praised for its “national reputation for producing scholars, artists and athletes.”

Campus information and the capital campaign

File:Polysc2.jpg

The south campus of the Polytechnic School before the construction projects of 2008 and 2009.

The school is divided by Cornell Road into two campuses, north (lower and middle school) and south (upper school), and is adjacent to the Caltech campus. Most of the north campus buildings were designed by Myron Hunt, who also designed the Rose Bowl and The Huntington, and Elmer Gray, who designed the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Pasadena Playhouse. The Cornett Mansion, designed in 1907, in the south campus serves as the administration building and houses several classrooms for the upper school.

In April 2005, the city of Pasadena approved Polytechnic's Master Development Plan, which over the following ten years will permit the construction of an aquatics facility (opened in May 2006), an underground parking structure, and other facilities and new structures. Currently, a capital campaign is in the works to renovate and replace some of the school's older and outdated buildings. Changes include the modernization of Myron Hunt's historical buildings, the addition of a new library and administration-classroom building on the north campus and a new math and science building and the renovation of the administration building on the south campus.

Currently, the aquatics facility and the renovated "Haaga House" (the Upper School's administrative building) have been completed. The Middle School buildings and underground parking structure are set to be finished before the next school year begins in the fall. Renovations to the Garland arts facility and auditorium and the surrounding science building have begun and are expected to be completed within a year.

Athletics

Poly's playing field is named "Babcock Field," named after former Head of School Mike Babcock. The school's mascot is a panther. Poly's athletic rivals are Flintridge Preparatory School, casually referred to as "Prep," in La Cañada, California and Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Estates. This rivalry is over fifty years old, and as such certain traditions have stemmed from it. For example, the golf teams at both schools compete for the "mystic niblick" every spring, a trophy given to the team with the lowest overall scores over their two matches against one another. This tradition has its origins in the 1980s.

Despite the school's small enrollment, it competes in virtually every CIF sport except wrestling and added a co-ed, competitive fencing team in 2008. In the 2009-2010 school year, it fielded a total of 38 different teams. Poly also has a history of athletic success; the school has won over 150 Prep League Championships, 46 CIF Championships, and 74 CIF Academic Championships.

Notable alumni

• Alec Berg, screenwriter, actor, and film producer
• Otis Booth, billionaire investor and philanthropist
• Otis Chandler, publisher, The Los Angeles Times
• Charlie Paddock, American athlete, Olympic champion
• Julia Child, television chef and personality
• Steve Cohen, member of the United States House of Representatives representing Tennessee's ninth district
• Harriet Huntington Doerr, author
• David Ebershoff author of the international bestselling novels, The Danish Girl and Pasadena
• Kevin Greutert, film director and editor of the SAW series
• Ted Griffin, screenwriter, actor, and film producer
• R. Stanton Hales, former president of the College of Wooster
• Macky Makisumi, speedcuber
• Randall Miller - director, screenwriter, producer, actor
• Drew Pinsky, radio and television personality
• Rob Rasmussen, baseball player
• Jethro Rothe-Kushel, film director and producer
• Alison Sweeney, actress
• Mike White, film director, screenwriter, and actor

External links

• Polytechnic School
• Polytechnic Quick Facts (.pdf)
• The Paw Print