Imagining Our Future Together with the Altadena Community

For 115 years, Polytechnic School has offered a dynamic educational program for students in grades K-12 from our campus in Pasadena.

In 2022, Poly was presented with a unique opportunity to acquire an 80-acre property in Altadena off Chaney Trail that will allow us to elevate our programs and keep pace with changing needs. The Nuccio family has decided to wind down their longstanding business, Nuccio’s Nurseries, in the coming years and has entrusted Poly as the next generation owner of this remarkable property.

We are excited to envision the future of this site together with our new neighbors, and develop a thoughtful plan that supports our students and creates a true community asset for Altadena.

Our Vision

Poly has pursued this opportunity to advance our mission of providing a well-rounded education. While we are still in the early stages of planning, we intend to preserve the majority of the site as open space, allowing for direct, hands-on learning in environmental science, sustainability, and wellness.

Sportsmanship and athletics are also an important part of a Poly education, and this site will offer us the opportunity to provide athletic facilities and a home for teams that currently practice and compete off-campus.

Guiding Principles

At Poly, we instill in our students a strong sense of commitment to their community and the larger world. As we embark on this new opportunity, we will be guided by the following principles:

We are committed to being a superb neighbor and steward of this land

We are committed to being a superb neighbor and steward of this land, as demonstrated by our intention to only utilize the same general footprint as the current nursery and preserve the majority of the site as open space.

We are committed to ensuring the property remains a valuable resource for the community

We are committed to ensuring the property remains a valuable resource for the community, which includes maintaining -- if not improving – access to hiking and equestrian trails and protecting native undeveloped land along with the plant and animal species living within it.

We are committed to prioritizing public safety and delivering a best-in-class fire safety program

We are committed to prioritizing public safety and delivering a best-in-class fire safety program for the protection of our students, our neighbors, and the Angeles National Forest.

We are committed to being a superb neighbor and steward of this land

We are committed to a proactive, inclusive, and transparent process, working in partnership with the community to hear their views and priorities to help guide the development of our plan.

The Process

We are at the earliest stages of a comprehensive, multi-year process to shape our plans for the site. We have begun meeting with community members to share our goals, listen to feedback, and engage in a meaningful dialogue to help us create a plan that achieves the priorities of our school and the community.

Once a plan is developed, we will file an application that will kickstart an extensive public review and approval process under the California Environmental Quality Act, led by L.A. County. This will include an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and detailed studies of any potential impacts, such as noise and traffic, along with mitigation measures.

We are fully committed to a transparent and inclusive process that will involve neighbors, community members, government agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure we develop a project in harmony with the broader Altadena area.

We look forward to sharing updates with the community as this process moves forward.