Longtime San Pedro community leader Camilla Townsend tells the story of how the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce played a key role in launching Port of Los Angeles high school in downtown San Pedro.
April 14, 2023
Stories of Los Angeles Harbor Area – For Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
SOLAHA Vol. III, No. 33
Educator Camilla Townsend Campaigns Recounts Founding of Port of L.A. Charter High School (POLAHS) in downtown San Pedro (SP)
Camilla seems like a “native” of San Pedro residing in the seaside town for nearly four decades, though she was born and raised in Los Angeles.
An educator for more than 40 years, she has taught high school, adult school and college students. She was an assistant professor of education in the graduate schools of California State University, Los Angeles; California Lutheran College; Loyola Marymount University and UCLA Extension School, Now retired, she worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District for 38 years; serving as a teacher, Administrator of Public and Private Partnership Programs to the Deputy Superintendent of Schools, and as former principal of Harbor Community Adult School.
Her extensive community involvement has resulted in the creation of the annual SPTeen Conference, the Harbor area’s Parent Education and Family Literacy Programs, and the establishment of the new Port of Los Angeles Charter High School (specializing in academics, international trade, and maritime studies); and founding board chair emerita Altasea.
She is ever energetic, and maintains relationships as founding President Emerita POLAHS Board of Trustees, Executive Director of the Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation (retired), among other commitments.