More than just a school

Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895, has grown into one of the most historic, and influential schools in Southern California.
Long Beach Polytechnic High School first began offering classes way back in 1895, the first classes were held in the Methodist Tabernacle Chapel, before expanding into its own campus, and the first principal was Walter S. Bailey. The first graduating class was in 1897, which just had one student, whose name was Ernest Shaul.

On March 10, 1933, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Long Beach, and other surrounding areas, causing destruction across the city. The earthquake severely damaged Long Beach Poly’s campus, along with over 200 other school buildings in the region, at Poly the damage was significant enough that part of the structures had to be rebuilt or remodeled. Bricks salvaged from damaged buildings were sold to fund a memorial flagpole, which still stands on Poly’s campus to this day. 

On April 3, 1933, classes resumed, and on that day more than 3,200 students stood on Burchman Field for an outdoor assembly, which many people believe was a very powerful moment for Poly. The earthquake impacted many things, it was a moment in history for California, and this moment led to the Field Act, which mandated stricter safety standards for public schools. 

Polytechnic High School is very known for their athletes, especially the football team, and the first football game was played in 1908, and that actually makes Poly’s athletics one of the earliest organized high school sports in Long Beach. Poly was one of the earliest high schools in Southern California to field competitive teams in many sports which were football, track, baseball, and basketball.  Did you know that our rivalry with Wilson High dates all the way back to somewhere around 1932. Poly’s athletic success has been recognized nationally, people named Poly “Sports School of the Century.” in 2005, because of Poly’s long history of strong teams. 

Many people have attended Polytechnic High school, especially many famous people, and the most recognizable to attend , and graduate was the famous rapper Snoop Dogg. Did you know that he played football at Poly, before he fully committed to creating music. Another famous person is a Hollywood star, known as Cameron Diaz, she attended Poly during the late 1980s, before becoming the star she is known as today, she was often described as “Tall, fun, and an outgoing girl. At age 16 she left Poly to pursue modeling. There are way more stars that attended Polytechnic , but Cameron Diaz, and Snoop Dogg or the most recognizable .

Polytechnic is not just a school, it is a historic landmark in the community that has shaped the city for generations.