ENCINITAS — The San Dieguito Union High School District confirmed that Justin Conn will be the new principal at San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas beginning in the fall, followed by the news that the principal at Torrey Pines High School will depart at the end of the school year.
The SDUHSD board of trustees approved Conn’s appointment to the SDA principal role at their Wednesday meeting. Conn has served as the principal of La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad for the past four years and will remain there through the end of the school year.
Conn will be returning to SDA after formerly serving as an English teacher and athletic director at the school earlier in his career. At Wednesday’s meeting, he thanked the board of trustees for its decision and also shared his appreciation for the LCC community.
“This is a full circle moment for me, having started my career at San Dieguito Academy, and the opportunity to come back and lead the school is something I really look forward to,” Conn said. “It has been an incredible four years at La Costa Canyon High School and I just want to give my gratitude to our staff, our students and our community.”
In addition to leading LCC, Conn also previously served as the principal of Earl Warren Middle School.
The district said in an email to SDA families that Conn will work closely with the school’s interim principal, Kelly Gilbert, to ensure a smooth transition in the coming school year.
SDA’s former principal, Cara Dolnik, left the school at the start of the school year after reportedly failing to inform district administrators about an antisemitic incident that took place on the school’s campus in the spring.
During the incident in May 2025, a group of students lay on the SDA field in the shape of a swastika, and a Jewish student who was taking a flying lesson at the time captured an image of the formation. District leaders said they were not made aware of the incident until several months later, when the student’s family contacted them.
More leadership changes were shared the day after the board meeting, as Torrey Pines High School Principal Rob Coppo announced in a Thursday email to families that he will be stepping away at the end of the school year.
Coppo has served 10 years as the principal at Torrey Pines, located in northern San Diego along Del Mar Heights Road.
“It is time for me to enter a new role in education, but I have been forever shaped by my time leading this incredible school,” Coppo said in his email. “The search will soon begin for my successor, and rest assured that we will find a highly-qualified educational leader to carry on the proud tradition of excellence this school is known for.”
The Coast News has reached out to the district for comment on Coppo’s departure announcement. Coppo sent a response to The Coast News about how he came to the decision to leave.
“I’ve been an administrator at Torrey Pines for 17 years — 10 of those years as principal. I’ve had the longest tenure of any principal at this site, and I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done over the last decade. As I near retirement, it’s time for me to slow down,” he said.
The announcement comes as Torrey Pines has been under social media scrutiny over the past week. Earlier this month, conservative content creator Amy Reichert claimed that an TPHS student was suspended for one day in February for hanging flyers inside the school that read “We Love ICE” and signed “real Americans.”
Reichert claimed that the school was only disciplining students for certain political views and that it had not suspended other Torrey Pines students who held signs with statements like “If you‘re an ICE agent, ya mom’s a hoe” during a walkout protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late February.
In an email to school families on March 6, Coppo rejected claims that any student had been disciplined for their political views.
“Our priority is maintaining a campus that is safe, orderly, and respectful for every student. When behaviors cross the line into harassment or disrupt the learning environment, we must step in to ensure that school remains a place where everyone feels they belong. We apply our conduct rules consistently and fairly, without regard to a student’s personal or political viewpoints,” the email stated.
