Polytechnic High School - Polytechnic Student Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 25 text:

John H. Francis, founder and first principal of Poly- technic High School; superintendent of city schools; founder of junior high schools. Died July 9, 1934. 2 1 JOHN H. FRANCIS

Page 24 text:

InM emoriam The memory of John H. Francis is enshrined at Polytechnic High School, for he was one of those rare leaders who combine great power and ideals with great sympathy and tenderness. Education and life must be brought close together, was his slogan. He saw that the old classical high school served the needs only of the few; so he developed a curriculum which would foster skills other than academic, side by side with academic learning. He saw that many young people lost interest in education between the eighth grade and high school; so he estab- lished junior high schools to bridge the gap. These two contributions to educational ideas give Mr. Francis a high place in the minds of those who study educational tends and develop- ments. But his place in the hearts of those who were privileged to study or teach with him was created by personal qualities. Vital, robust in mind and body, interested in everything, un- derstanding everybody, old or young, he was a daily and hourly inspiration to his associates. Adele Humphrey JOHN H. FRANCIS 2

Page 26 text:

CAMPUS 1935 2 2