Principal Ari Bennett's Welcome Message
Polytechnic High School has undergone significant changes over the past several years which have led to remarkable results. Poly’s improvement over the course of California’s introduction of the Academic Performance Index (API) has been greater than any other high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 1999, Poly was the lowest performing high school in the San Fernando Valley portion of the LAUSD. Poly’s growth rate of student achievement has put us in the top 3% of all high schools in the state of California during the last 12 years.
Our reform efforts started with the culture changing and innovative leadership promoted by Dr. Janis Fries-Martinez, beginning in 2003, which led to the implementation of the Freshman and 10th Grade Centers and a unique 4x4 block schedule. Gerardo Loera took over in the fall of 2007 and was able to accelerate growth with focused and innovative practices related to program evaluation using data metrics not commonly used at that time. The question remains for me as I take over with enormous shoes to fill: How do I follow the inspirational and unquestionably effective leadership that came before me? My answer simply is... from the heart. I have been at Poly since 2000, witnessed first hand what the school was like before reform efforts were put into practice and had the great fortune to learn from these two outstanding leaders that preceded me. One thing I’ve noticed through this era of reform and improvement is that the human resources exist within this community. We have bright, talented, dedicated students in addition to parents and community members committed to supporting our students and school. I will continue to tap into this talent and strengthen our bond that collectively makes each of our contributions that much stronger. There is no doubt that at Poly we have improved educational outcomes for our students; however, we will not rest as we continue to strive for excellence in: curriculum and instruction, differentiated support provided by our Small Learning Communities, athletic performance and leadership, donations to the community, and building positive relationships between all of our stakeholders. We steadfastly support the district’s goal of proficiency for all, 100% graduation, 100% attendance, 100% parent engagement, and safe and positive school environments.
Polytechnic High School was the flagship school in a number of reform initiatives including the Freshman and Tenth Grade Center and the 4x4 Block Schedule. We believe and practice the tenants of “Second to None.” Our three career-based Small Learning Communities in the 11th and 12th grades build on the strong foundation from intensive math and English instruction during 9th and 10th grades. The goal that we will tirelessly work towards is for 100% of our students to achieve college and career ready status. We have more than doubled the amount and percentage of students meeting this metric as tested on the 11th grade CST, but we still have a long way to go until every student at Poly graduates without having to take even one remedial math or English class in college.
Setting the bar for our students is the Poly Math-Science-Technology Magnet. Our Magnet program led by Jayne Couchois serves about 400 students on our campus and has distinguished itself with an API of 904, ranking in the top 3% of highest performing high schools in California. Helping us to lift these students in addition to the hundreds of students in our comprehensive high school, Polytechnic High has a very strong partnership with Los Angeles Valley College. Students have multiple opportunities to enroll in a concurrent college enrollment program which has them taking courses that provide transferable units to 4 year universities on the Poly campus, while they continue to make progress on their high school requirements.
In the past several years, Polytechnic High School, through the hard work of our teachers and students, has accomplished some achievements that we are proud of: improved from being among the bottom 10% of schools to the top 20% of schools in California with similar demographics. English learner proficiency rate on the English CAHSEE is among the highest in California and continues to improve. For two out of the last three years, The Academic Decathlon team has made it to the state championship. Our high achieving parrots will fly to Sacramento again this March. Poly became of only three high schools in California to have ever exited Program Improvement Year 5 status in 2008. Our students’ scores on the CAHSEE continue to improve, and last school year, Poly 10th graders had the second highest first time pass rate on the CAHSEE of all LAUSD schools.
In the past four years about 70 high schools have visited Polytechnic High School. Additionally, Poly teachers and administrators are engaged in strengthening the teaching profession by presenting in workshop sessions at several national conferences including the Education Trust Conference in Washington, D.C., Education Trust-West conference in Los Angeles, the Talent Development High Schools Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, and as presenters at a Southern California QEIA conference. We have over 20 teachers now who have earned National Board Certification in various content areas including our entire 10th grade English department with the exception of one teacher who is in progress of earning this distinction.
Polytechnic High School has been featured several times in the Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times, as well as on KIIS-FM radio, KABC Radio, Fox 11 Television News, and KNBC Television News.
Of all the accomplishments we have to our name, like Mr. Loera before me, I am most proud of the students and staff who, time and time again, show we are the school with heart. Poly High School students feed hundreds of families at Thanksgiving, donate thousands of pints to blood drives throughout the year, and have consistently contributed (over $160,000 in a five year period) to the Spark of Love Toy Drive sponsored by KABC Television and the Los Angeles Fire Department. This is more than any other public or private organization each year.
Polytechnic High School has earned a reputation for doing things differently. The staff of Polytechnic High School is committed to being innovative and taking on new challenges in the interest of our students. Poly converted to a single track school during the 2010-2011 school year and led a cohort of three schools that implemented the Balanced Traditional Calendar. This calendar gave us the flexibility to provide 850 of our students credit recovery opportunities this past January during a time when funding for these opportunities simply does not exist for most public school students. Although Poly will convert to an Early Start Calendar starting next school year, you can rest assured that we will provide every possible opportunity and look to create new ones for the benefit of our kids, families, and stakeholders. We believe strongly in bringing value to the community of Sun Valley and will continue to do so in every possible capacity. It’s simply part of our Poly Pride!
I could not be prouder to be the principal of any high school in this great country of ours!
Ari Bennett
Principal
John H. Francis Polytechnic High School
