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Baltimore Polytechnic Institute High School
1400 W Cold Spring Ln, Baltimore, MD, 21209-4904 -  Map
tel: (410)396-7026
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School Overview:
Definition of Terms Baltimore Polytechnic Institute High School
School Level High school
Grades Offered Grades 9 - 12
County Baltimore City County, MD
Students & Faculty
Total Students 1187 students
% Male / % Female 52%  /  48%
Total Classroom Teachers 58 teachers
Students by Grade
Grade 9 - 354 students
Grade 10 - 324 students
Grade 11 - 259 students
Grade 12 - 250 students
This School ( MD ) School Average
Teacher : Student Ratio 1:20 1:16
Students by Ethnicity
This School ( MD ) School Average
% American Indian n/a n/a
% Asian 3% 5%
% Hispanic 1% 8%
% Black 70% 40%
% White 26% 46%
Additional Student Information
This School ( MD ) School Average
% Eligible for Free Lunch 25% 23%
% Eligible for Reduced Lunch 10% 8%
% Migrant Students Enrolled n/a n/a
School Performance:
( MD ) Statewide Testing Performance
School Statewide Performance View Education Department Test Scores
School District:
School District Name Baltimore City Public s School District
This School's Agency ( MD ) District Average
Number of Schools Managed 197 27
Number of Students Managed 92,248 students 16,524 students
District Total Revenue $1,036,293,000 $159,214,000
District Expenditure $970,898,000 $153,923,000
District Revenue / Student $11,234 $9,539
District Expenditure / Student $10,525 $9,315
District Graduation Rates 61% 86%
School Notes:
  • Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (known to locals as Poly or BPI) is a magnet high school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1883 when Joshua Plaskitt petitioned the Baltimore City authorities to establish a school for instruction in engineering. The original school was named the Baltimore Manual Training School, and its first class was made up of about sixty students, all of whom were male. The official name of the school was changed in the 1890's to the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. The first principal, Dr. Richard Grady, along with his successor, Lt. John Ford, helped to strengthen and develop the curriculum of the school, while it gained even further notoriety during the tenure of William King, the third director of the school, after which King Memorial Hall is named.
  • Due to continued growth of the student population at Poly, the school relocated in 1913 to Calvert Street and North Avenue. While at this location, the school expanded both its academic and athletic programs under the supervision of Dr. Wilmer Dehuff, arguably the most famous principal of the Institute. Dehuff later served as the president and Dean of Faculty at the University of Baltimore. Dehuff, who was principal from 1921 to 1958 also oversaw the voluntary racial integration of the school in 1952, the first instance in City of Baltimore public schools.
  • In 1967, then-principal Claude Burkert (1958-1969) oversaw the relocation of his school to its current location at 1400 West Cold Spring Lane, a fifty-three acre tract of land bordering Falls Road and Roland Park. Also occupying this site is the Western High School, an all-girl school founded in 1844. Notable buildings on the campus include Dehuff Hall, also known as the academic building, where students attend normal classes, and Burkert Hall, also called the engineering building, where students attend classes in the Willard Hackerman Engineering Program. Both Western High School and Poly students make use of the auditorium/cafeteria complex, and likewise share the large gymnasium and sports fields. While these two schools share grounds and buildings, that is all they share: their respective academic programs are completely separate from one another.
  • In 1974, Poly officially became coeducational when it began admitting female students. In the late 1980s, the title "principal" was changed to "director." After the retirement of Director John Dohler in 1990, Barbara Stricklin became the first woman to head the school, as she accepted the title of Interim Director. During Director Ian Cohen's tenure (1994-2003), Poly's curriculum was again expanded when it began offering AP classes.
  • In yet another progressive move, 2004 saw Baltimore Polytechnic Institute's first African-American Director when Dr. Barney Wilson, a 1976 Poly graduate became principal. A strong advocate for his students, and after only two years of work, Dr. Wilson helped the Class of 2006 achieve a ninety-eight percent college acceptance rate, with over ten million dollars in scholarships awarded; fifty thousand of which came from Poly's own Alumni Association.
  • The Baltimore chapter of the Algebra project is active at Poly and many other Baltimore-area high schools.
  • Poly-City Football Game: Poly and Baltimore City College share the oldest public high school football rivalry in the United States, with the first competition between Polytechnic and Baltimore City College taking place in 1889. The Poly-City game is still a regular November tradition in Baltimore City with people on each side of the divide hoping for bragging rights.
  • Notable alumni: H. L. Mencken.
  • Edward Garmatz, U.S. Congressman representing Maryland's 3rd District, 1947-1973.
  • Andrew Bartolini.
  • Samuel Ditman.
  • Dashiell Hammett.
  • Alonzo G. Decker of the Black and Decker Corporation.
  • Daniel Zimmerman, 2004 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana.
  • Antonio Freeman, former Wide Receiver for the Green Bay Packers.
  • Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL
  • Add information about this school (e.g., awards, news stories, notable alumni, fun facts)
 
School Zip Code:
About This Zip Code (21209)
School Zip (21209) (MD) State Average
Population (Approximate) 23,683 people 5,071,990 people
% (age 25+) w/College Degree 65% 32%
Population Average Age 38 years old 36.0 years old
Average Household size 2.2 persons 2.5 persons
Median Household Income $51,531 $52,064
Avg. # of Rooms in Household 5.5 rooms 6.0 rooms
Median Age of Housing Structure 38 years old 42 years old
View current housing listings in 21209
% Owning / % Renting 59% / 41% 65% / 35%
School Map:
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  Nearby Schools:
1. Western High School - 828 students - view location
2. George W. F. Mcmechen Middle/high High School - 176 students - view location
3. Northwestern High School - 1137 students - view location
4. Home Assignment-secondary - n/a - view location
5. Carver Center For Arts & Technology - 700 students - view location
View all schools in: Baltimore Town, Baltimore City County, Zip 21209 
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Note: Data has been gathered from several government and commercial data sources. School data reflects years 2002-04 statistics (most recent years available). Area and demographic data reflects year 2000 statistics. Public School Review does not ensure the timeliness or accuracy of the information on this site.

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