Sherman Heights Hero Teacher Juan Ulloa works to keep his community clean

By day Juan Ulloa, 37, is a bilingual English/Spanish history teacher at Chula Vista High School. By night he is pursuing his master’s degree in education leadership from San Diego State University. A positive person from a hardworking family, Ulloa and all his siblings have college degrees, although his parents had very little education.

Affectionately known as “The Pope of Sherman Heights,” Ulloa leads a community group that meets twice monthly with the neighborhood Police Crime Suppression Unit, and founded and organized the Sherman Heights Citizens Patrol to obtain a restraining order against prostitutes and drug dealers.

Ulloa is a member of a long list of community organizations, including the San Diego Police Chief’s citizen’s advisory board, the Southeast San Diego Planning Commission and San Diego Human Rights Commission. A historic preservationist, Ulloa and his wife restored their two-story 1905 house, and he is a member of a neighborhood team that is working with the San Diego Padres to assure that the coming East Village ballpark has a positive effect on the community.

Ulloa won two People In Preservation Awards from the Save Our Heritage Organisation: one for restoring his home, and the other for his involvement in the creation of the Sherman Heights Revitalization Plan.

A teacher, community leader and preservationist,
Juan Ulloa and wife Rosie restored their historic house.