When the San Diego Unified School District launched its supplemental early retirement program in late 2024, more than 950 employees opted in. Among them was Stacey Allen, a theater and technical theater instructor at La Jolla High School for nearly a decade.
Allen said his decision to leave after this school year was obvious, although not easy. SERP offered incentive payments to long-time employees to prevent many layoffs of younger faculty members as the district seeks to solve a projected $112 million budget deficit for the next school year.
And the development did not radically alter Allen's original retirement plans, as he was already preparing to end his teaching career in 2026.
“It wasn't a big emotional decision because I prepared myself, but there are things about this job that I will miss forever,” Allen said.
“There is something special about being a teacher, but also a theater teacher, where you can touch so many lives and share these great moments with the… parents, students and staff. It's just a really great thing that we can create as a group. “
For his final full-fledged musical production, Allen and his students take on “Into the Woods,” written by Stephen Sondheim and featuring iconic pop culture characters Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel, among others.
Allen chose “Into the Woods” over “Sweeney Todd” and “Les Misérables.” In addition to being a good fit for the cast's abilities, the show offers Allen the opportunity to incorporate a live orchestra into a pit previously used for storage.
Including an orchestra in a musical has been a dream of Allen's since he joined the staff at La Jolla High.
“I can check that from my list and say I think I've done everything I wanted to do in La Jolla or for any school,” he said.
The show, which runs January 24 through February 1 at 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, follows three other events – “An Evening of Verse and Prose” and honors authors, “A Night of Musicals,” the Broadway shows celebrate and a “Twilight Zone” Meetz Theater production.
As he enters his final show, Allen describes his state of mind as “more cold.”
“I'm not too frustrated about things,” he said. “Not to say I wasn't stressed – I was and I continue to be stressed – but it's not as stressful as others because I know that being my last high school musical is special for me. “
The Jolla term
Before being a mainstay at La Jolla High, Allen was a professional and semi-professional actor for more than a decade. But without the success and money he had hoped for, he drifted into teaching.
In the mid-1990s, Allen began teaching at Clairemont High School, where he remained for 20 years. A lack of performing arts at the school led Allen to join La Jolla High's theater department, he said.
Allen's debut production at La Jolla High in 2016 was a tone set. The play “The Diary of Anne Frank” is a piece of history that holds a special place in his heart and the way he created the show was unique.
For the harrowing story of a Jewish teenage girl hiding with her family from the Nazis during World War II, Allen wanted to create a sense of confinement and discomfort for the audience, set with a “black box” seat on the stage became.
At first, students were unfamiliar with his style. But once they bought into his vision, Allen knew La Jolla High was a good fit for him, he said.
La Jolla High's theater department puts on at least four shows per year. Allen said his tenure had “dozens and dozens” of highlights, including two shows that succeeded despite pandemic challenges.
It began with the cancellation of a production of “Chicago” in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic as school closed. When the students returned, Allen decided to do a production of “West Side Story.”
The cast performed the musical in masks with “lots of hand sanitizer” to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, Allen said. A few weeks before opening in early 2022, SDUSD's visual and performing arts department told the school it would have to hold the show outside due to a regional spike in coronavirus cases.
Without an outdoor stage, sound system and lighting, the school spoke with the Old Globe Theater in San Diego's Balboa Park before being informed the production could proceed indoors.
“If you ask anyone, they'll tell you that the…production of 'West Side Story' was probably one of the best we've ever done,” Allen said. “And that's because we've overcome all of these problems and these challenges.”
A show that was later pushed outdoors because of the pandemic became an outdoor staple. La Jolla High's summer game could not be held in a confined space due to the risk of indoor transmission of the virus. But in a week, the theater department was able to bring the production to a lawn on campus.
The outdoor summer game has remained in what Allen said is an “amazing” tradition.
Leave a legacy
La Jolla High Principal Chuck Podhorsky, who has known Allen for nearly a decade, said he will remember him as an “outstanding” instructor and an “amazing” person.
“He is truly one of the best educators I have ever worked with,” Podhorsky said. “He inspires kids, he does amazing things – he really is so passionate about theater. And he had the ability to convey that passion for all aspects of theater, from design to performance. He always turns to new and innovative things. “
“We will absolutely be looking for someone close to Stacey,” Podhorsky added. “We in our community truly demand excellence. And I think Stacey has set the bar so incredibly high. “
As his time at La Jolla High comes to an end, Allen hopes his legacy will be to be both a dedicated artist and a teacher. He hopes his current and former students will maintain their spark for theater.
“[After high school]Life takes over,” he said. “They want to do it forever and then they realize I have bills to pay, now in a relationship, we're going to be in a house and the drama goes into the background,” Allen said. “I hope they do continue to make drama in their lives, continue to be kind to each other and accept each other.”
Although his teaching career is near its end, Allen “isn't working,” he said. He plans to continue his weekly surfing, update his family tree page, and possibly do part-time work. He also hopes to spend more time with his wife, Rebeca and three children – Clinton, Ruben and Shvonne. Clinton is a high school art teacher, while Shvonne works in cosmetology and Ruben works in theater and television production.
Admission to “Into the Woods” is $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors and military service members. La Jolla High School is located at 750 Nautilus St. For tickets or more information, visit ljhStheatre.com. ♦