Chuck Podhorsky has served as principal of La Jolla High School in San Diego since 2014. He comes to this role with more than 20 years of experience in the city's school system, having entered the district as an eighth grade teacher in 1996 and five years later become a district program specialist for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment. Chuck Podhorsky became coordinator of the program in 2002, at which time he also became a lecturer in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University.

Chuck Podhorsky remains committed to quality teacher development and has received close to $200,000 in grant funding to support newer teachers in San Diego. He has appeared on National Public Radio in a program on supporting teacher development and was a featured teacher in Creating and Maintaining Effective Learning Environments, a video released by the San Diego City Schools in 1999. Most recently, he coauthored a chapter on lesson study as an opportunity for teacher-led professional development for the textbook Globalization, Standards and Professionalism: Teacher Education in Times of Change.

An accomplished school administrator, Chuck Podhorsky became vice principal of Hoover High School in 2005 and by the 2007-2008 school year had assumed the role of principal. In this position, he developed a building-wide goal to increase student achievement as well as a comprehensive plan for professional development across the faculty. In his current role at La Jolla High School, he remains focused on promoting student achievement through multifaceted student support and quality teaching.