Welcome!
Duncan Poly is rich in tradition uniquely devoted to offering each student access to future choices. Visitors to Duncan will see a school with good and continuously improving test scores, authentic assessment projects, student and staff accountability, and an integrated career technical education and academic programm. Our staff is dedicated to working with our students to prepare them to be successful adults. The Duncan community envisions a high quality program that prepares every student for entry into both the world of work and postsecondary education.
Our Mission Statement
The Duncan Polytechnical High School staff is committed to developing successful lifelong learners with positive attitudes. All graduates will be critical thinkers equipped with the academic, social, and technical skills necessary to be productive citizens.
Our Story
Duncan Polytechnical High School is located in an inner city urban environment in east Fresno. The school is a comprehensive (9-12) magnet school that attracts students from throughout the Fresno Unified School District. Duncan Poly was created in 1985 as a four-year career technical education magnet school organized around five career pathways: Agriculture, Health, Public Service, Business, and Industrial Technology. Instructors from the academic subject areas are integrated within the five pathways. Duncan is considered a model school for career technical education.
Duncan's 1000 full-time students are ethnically, linguistically and socio-economically diverse: 45% Asian (predominantly Hmong, Khmer, and Lao), 45% Hispanic, 7% Caucasian, and 3% African-American. In addition to English, Hmong, Spanish, Khmer, and Lao, several other languages are spoken on our campus. Most of Duncan's students come from families whose incomes place them in the low-middle to low socioeconomic levels. Duncan students have one of the highest poverty rates in the school district. And yet, they have the highest graduation rate, one of the highest percentages of students entering college (over 80%) and the lowest dropout, suspension, and expulsion rates of any high school in the district. Duncan's certificated staff averages over 19 years of experience. Duncan is a school of choice where success breeds success. The highest compliment paid to the school is made by families who, after having one child attend, send all of their children to Duncan. In 1996, Duncan was selected as a California Distinguished School and, in 2006, we were named a Breakthrough High School - one of nine in the nation - by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
As a magnet school, Duncan's program is closely tied to the Fresno Regional Occupational Program (ROP), which is a department of the Fresno County Office of Education. This program also brings additional part-time students from all over the Fresno metropolitan area. The program provides students, 16 years through adult, the opportunity to explore different careers, to develop job skills, and to prepare for continuing education and training after high school. The student population averages over 1000 full-time students and over 300 part-time students from Fresno area high schools. Adult students are included in the part-time population. Duncan juniors and seniors select one of seventeen ROP courses offered each year. Upon completion of a course, each student receives supervised worksite learning experiences (on-the-job training), articulated college credit, and job-seeking skills. The strong academic foundation acquired through required core courses coupled with the high quality career training opportunities provided through ROP, prepares students for the ever-changing needs of the community dictated by rapidly changing technology, increased employer demands, and the necessity of lifelong learning.