Riverside Polytechnic High School

Riverside Polytechnic High School is a four-year public high school in Riverside, California, United States, and part of the Riverside Unified School District. The current facility, located on Victoria Avenue, was opened in September 1965; the traditions of the school go back to 1887, then known as the Riverside High School, making Riverside Polytechnic the oldest high school in the city. Riverside Polytechnic High School traces its heritage from 1887, when the newly formed city of Riverside needed higher education for the community. The first joint elementary and high school's first graduating class in 1890 comprised seven students—four girls and three boys. Eugenie Fuller was its principal. When classes grew too large in 1902, a new co-educational high school building was constructed on Ninth Street between Lemon and Lime Streets, and the original 14th Street building became the Grant School, serving grades 3–8. In 1910, Riverside High School's enrollment was approximately 500 students, and new facilities were required. In 1911, the genders were separated, creating a Girls High School at the Ninth Street building, and the Polytechnic High School for boys at a newly constructed campus on Terracina Avenue. Fuller continued as principal of the Girls High School, and Mr. J.E. McKown was appointed principal of the Riverside Polytechnic High School. In 1916, the Polytechnic High School began offering postgraduate classes. The Riverside Junior College District was formed in 1920, and the Riverside Junior College moved out of the high school to an adjacent property. World War I brought changes to both high school campuses. The earlier enrollment explosion waned as young men joined the armed forces. In 1924, the school board created a junior high school level and consolidated the senior high schools into one co-educational school. A new Applied Arts Building provided Home Economics and "other facilities for the girls." The old Girls High School now served as a Girls Junior High School, while the Boys Junior High School was located at the old Grant School.