Jeff Camarillo: Building the School He Wished Had Always Existed

by Domeyko Sergio May 13, 2015

Some people talk about changing education for Latino youth. Jeff Camarillo built a school.

He is the Founding Director and Principal of Luis Valdez Leadership Academy — a college-prep charter high school in East San Jose serving first-generation students from disadvantaged communities. A Stanford graduate. A former classroom teacher in Compton. A mentee shaped by his father's example. A leader who has spent 14 years proving that zip code is not destiny.

The Root

Jeff Camarillo's story begins with his father — Professor Al Camarillo of Stanford University, a pioneer in Mexican-American studies who broke the cycle of poverty through education and opened doors for generations of students and faculty to explore their history and identity.

That example never left Jeff. It became his north star.

The Journey

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Camarillo walked into a classroom in Compton Unified School District as an 8th grade U.S. History teacher. He coached basketball, football, and baseball. He stayed three years — three of the most formative years of his life.

Then he went back to school himself.

At Stanford University's Teacher Education Program he earned his Master's degree and teaching credential — and discovered the Mural, Music and Arts Project in East Palo Alto, an economic and education empowerment program using the arts to inspire Latino teens. He directed their Teen Mural Program for five summers.

From there — the June Jordan School for Equity in San Francisco. Back to Compton. East Palo Alto Academy as Assistant Principal, where he reduced school suspensions by over 40% in his first year and earned a Teaching Ambassador Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Education — helping bridge the gap between federal education policy and what actually happens in urban classrooms.

In 2014 he was given the opportunity of a lifetime — to build something from scratch.

The Contribution

Luis Valdez Leadership Academy in East San Jose is not just a school. It is a declaration.

Under Camarillo's leadership LVLA has achieved suspension-free school years, a college-going culture, and a mission rooted in culturally sustaining pedagogy, bi-literacy, and four-year college preparation for first-generation students. The students who walk those halls see themselves in the curriculum. They see their history. They see their future.

In 2006 Jeff and his brother Greg — a former NFL wide receiver — founded Charging Forward, a mentoring program rewarding student-athletes in Compton for their achievements in the classroom and in their sport.

Education. Mentorship. Community. That is the Camarillo blueprint.

The Call

Jeff Camarillo is proof that the ladder gets rebuilt — one student, one school, one generation at a time.

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