Category: Education

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / June 26, 2026 

The new principal of Point Loma High School, set to start this coming school year, is returning to a school where his career in education began. In 2002, veteran educator Michael Santos worked as an AVID tutor in 2002.

In the nearly 24 years since, Santos taught biology and AP biology for 10 years, followed by 13 years in administration, most recently as principal at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, where he has worked since July 2022.

He is a native San Diegan and graduated from Morse High School in 1997 before attending college at UC San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos.

A mounting wave of pushback against ed tech has sprung up recently including from some Ocean Beach parents. San Diego Unified’s board just took steps to rein it in.

by Jakob McWhinney / Voice of San Diego / June 24, 2026

San Diego Unified’s board on Tuesday, June 23 unanimously passed a resolution that places new limits on screens in classrooms and how students will be able to use district-issued laptops. It also lays the groundwork to restrict the use of AI-enabled software that hasn’t been specifically approved by the district.

By the start of the school year, students will no longer be able to access video-streaming or gaming platforms on district-issued laptops. The resolution also sets a timetable for other changes, like more comprehensive regulations on screen-usage based on grade level. Officials will create a committee to usher in the changes.

But not everyone’s stoked. Los Angeles Unified recently passed restrictions that went even further. Some of the activists who pushed for local restrictions are disappointed San Diego Unified’s action didn’t do more to limit screens.

The new restrictions are the local front of swelling, nationwide pushback against the ubiquity of educational technology in schools.

By Jillian Butler

As technology advances, it is injected into the educational curriculum for children. Naturally, many parents have questions, concerns, and convictions. A national coalition of parents and educators called Schools Beyond Screens is advocating for research and evidence-based guidelines to be put in place for educational technology.

Ocean Beach mother, lawyer, and administrative judge, Angelika Oliver, is one of the parents leading the fight in San Diego, and there’s at least one other woman from OB involved. Below is an interview with her, conducted via email.

1) I have read up a little bit on your background and why you got involved with Schools Beyond Screens. Please tell me in your own words why you got involved in the movement.

My initial concern was screen and internet use at home. I believed that if we could agree as a community to limit our kids’ access to devices and the internet, we could help safeguard childhood. This thinking came largely from The Anxious Generation, the idea that kids need more supervision online and less in the real world, so they can take on independent tasks, explore freely, and develop grit and resilience.

But then I realized even if we limit screens at home, kids are on them too much at school. At first, I hoped our school site would respond to what parents clearly wanted and make changes at our elementary school. When I kept hearing that Chromebook use couldn’t be addressed at the school level and would have to be decided at the district level, I felt obligated to push for change there.

By Madison Beveridge / Point Loma-OB Monthly / June 11, 2026

Noel Pomerleau of Point Loma High School, the San Diego Unified School District’s 2026 High School Teacher of the Year, teaches yoga, physical education and human body systems and has served in a variety of other roles, including coach, adviser and department chair.

Pomerleau, an educator for 14 years, has spent her entire career at Point Loma High.

“Students at this age often need the most support, and I love helping them understand how they learn best so they can move into the next phase of their lives with confidence,” she said.

The district annually honors award-winning teachers and other staff members at the “Stars in Education” event, which this year was May 20.

Pomerleau says the High School Teacher of the Year award is special to her because it sums up all she loves about her school.

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / June 3, 2026 

The sun shone brightly as the 100th graduating class of Point Loma High School was presented with diplomas during a 5 p.m. ceremony on May 28.

But along with the solar glow came mischievous gusty winds that sent some caps flying off the heads of Class of 2026 members.

While it was the final event for the 383 students, it was also the end of a 34-year career for Principal David Jaffe who was applauded enthusiastically by his final class.

By Katie Anastas / KPBS /  May 28, 2026 

On an April morning in downtown San Diego, Elizabeth Johnson and a half-dozen other parents with children in the San Diego Unified School District gathered to protest.

Johnson stuck letters onto a piece of cardstock to spell “teachers over tech.” Other signs read “less screens, more humans” and “ed tech is the biggest grift in education.”

The group is part of the local chapter of Schools Beyond Screens.

They stood in front of the Manchester Grand Hyatt outside of a sold-out conference, where school district leaders, college presidents, tech executives and startup founders were speaking about the latest in artificial intelligence and educational technology.

Johnson and a growing number of other parents are asking the district to reevaluate the role technology plays in its classrooms. They’re concerned about kids’ learning, attention spans, eyesight, privacy and social skills.

A resolution on the issue could go before the school board as soon as next month.

Winners Part of C-SPAN’s Annual Student Cam Competition

by Dave Schwab / Peninsula Beacon – Times of San Diego / May 27, 2026

Correia Middle School students were honored for their prize-winning documentaries in C-SPAN’s annual Student Cam competition.

C-SPAN, a public affairs network created in 1979 as a nonprofit public service, and Cox Communications run the annual Student Cam competition, which presents awards and recognizes winning students, grades 6-through-12, and their teachers, who serve as the StudentCam advisers.

In recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary, C-SPAN, in cooperation with its cable and satellite television partners, challenged middle- and high-school students across the country to examine the enduring power and relevance of the Declaration of Independence.

For the challenge, students had one of two options: They could explore the Declaration of Independence’s influence on a key moment from America’s 250-year history, or focus on the Declaration of Independence’s impact on them or their community.

Through this project-based learning experience, students competing in the StudentCam competition conduct in-depth research, critical analysis, and original storytelling to explore matters of both personal and national importance.

On May 19 at Correia Middle School, Rachel Katz of C-SPAN recognized prize-winning students for their work.

by Ernie McCray

Attending a
Community College league of California
Trustees Conference
with Maria, my querida,
a trustee,
I happened upon
a session that very much interested me,
one regarding
protecting campuses
from ICE
who a while back
became a concern
to Santa Barbara Community College
when agents, nevertheless,
although they didn’t harass or arrest
any students,

By Lynne Miller

Ocean Beach Historical Society on May 21 hosted a celebration for Larry Zeiger’s 50-year anniversary of Musical Theater at Point Loma High School. “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance” became a rite of passage for seniors.  Larry Zieger, often known as ‘Zeiger’, sometimes known as ‘Larmo’, moved to California and got his Masters in Film at San Diego State University.  He applied to the PhD program at USC, but luckily for us, the L.A. smog and the policies at USC changed Mr. Zeiger’s plans.

He decided to listen to the voices of professors and film experts who encouraged him to become a teacher. He stepped into the role of teacher at a time when Required Courses like English could be created, pitched and approved.  Larry offered credited English courses at PLHS  that taught film.  Students watched films, read screenplays and books about film production, wrote their own play, sometimes wrote songs, made the sets, learned to sing and dance and act, and then they rehearsed and rehearsed. Their marketing resulted in sell-out crowds and eventually to nationwide acclaim.

Zeiger’s presentation last week included a slide show that included each graduating class, from the first performance without a stage or auditorium to his 2007 swan song in a beautiful theater now labeled The Larry Zeiger Performing Arts Center.

Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 7:00 pm, at 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., OB Joyfull, the Ocean Beach Historical Society presents: Gotta Sing – Gotta Dance! with Larry Zeiger.

Coming up is the 50th Anniversary of the first Gotta Sing Gotta Dance production at Point Loma High. Over 3,000 PLHS alums participated in this program, and many have gone on to become actors in theater, film, on Broadway – and even won Academy Awards and Tony Awards. And many have become famous musicians as well as doctors, lawyers, teachers, politicians, and lots more – but they all still sing and dance!

by Scott Hopkins / Times of San Diego / May 19, 2026

A first-time occurrence of any kind is big news at a 101-year-old school and Point Loma High’s boys volleyball team accomplished the feat May 16.

Playing in the San Diego CIF Div. V finals, the Pointers defeated Hoover High 3-0 to win the school’s first volleyball title.

The Pointers entered the playoffs as a No. 4 seed with a first-round bye. Next was a match against No. 5 seed Southwest of El Centro. The Pointers defeated them 3-0 before winning 3-1 in a huge match at No. 1 seed Del Lago Academy, sending them on to the finals against the No. 2-seeded Cardinals.

Both the Pointers and Cardinals had to travel to Oceanside’s MiraCosta Community College, site of the finals. But the Pointers arrived ready for action, led by head coach Ethan Phung and assistant Justin Phung.

By Michael Chen / 10News / May 14, 2026

A 16-year-old San Diego teen is on the island of Saipan distributing supplies — many of them donated by ABC 10News viewers — a month after a super typhoon devastated islands near Guam.

Devi Balachandra, a junior at High Tech High International, spoke via Zoom from central Saipan, part of the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku made landfall a month ago, destroying and damaging thousands of homes across the islands. Balachandra, who was born in Saipan, was first interviewed in late April as she helped launch an online fundraiser and donation drive.