About laura
A Parent. An Advocate. A Proven Record of Service.
I’m Laura Costelloe, a Huntington Beach mom, Edison High School graduate, and longtime advocate for our local schools. My two children attended Huntington Beach schools, and for more than a decade I’ve worked alongside parents, teachers, students, and community leaders to strengthen our schools and our community.
My involvement began as a parent and grew into years of hands-on leadership. I spent ten years serving on PTA Executive Boards, including as PTA President, and six years on School Site Council.
As PTA President, I believed strongly in putting resources directly into the hands of teachers. I established and led a teacher grant program that provided nearly $55,000 to teachers for the classroom enhancements, programs, and learning opportunities they wanted for their students. Our PTA also funded Project Lead The Way teacher training, helping expand STEM, robotics, coding, and hands-on learning opportunities for students.
I also chaired Peterson Elementary’s Fall Festival for six years, helping organize an event that drew approximately 2,000 people each year and became one of the largest school community festivals in Huntington Beach.
For nine years, I have helped lead Peterson Elementary’s Read Across America celebration in support of literacy proficiency, bringing more than 50 community leaders into classrooms to read with students and reinforce the importance of reading and literacy. That work was recognized with the Mayor’s Spotlight Award, and the event has been featured numerous times in the Daily Pilot / Los Angeles Times and covered several times by Matt Liffreing of the Huntington Beach Newsreporter.
2025 HBTV VIDEO — MATT LIFFREING
“Read Across America at Peterson Elementary: Inspiring a Love for Reading” — this is the one we chose because Peterson's student ambassadors help lead the story, welcoming guests and taking viewers through the event.
Read Across America at Peterson Elementary: Inspiring a Love for Reading
2025 DAILY PILOT / LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Huntington Beach leaders come together for Read Across America Day” — February 28, 2025. The article specifically says the annual Peterson event is organized by Laura Costelloe and Deanna Garza and describes it as a beloved Huntington Beach community tradition.
Huntington Beach leaders come together for Read Across America Day
ORANGE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NEWSROOM
OCDE HIGHLIGHTS PETERSON ELEMENTARY’S READ ACROSS AMERICA CELEBRATION
The Orange County Department of Education highlighted Peterson Elementary’s ninth annual Read Across America celebration, which brought approximately 60 community leaders, public safety personnel and guests into classrooms to promote literacy and a lifelong love of reading.
OCDE also highlighted Peterson’s student ambassadors and reported that students had collectively read more than 40 million words during the school year.
READ THE OCDE NEWSROOM FEATURE →
Weekly Roundup: Peterson Elementary hosts ninth annual Read Across America event, and more
CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION & THE SKILLED TRADES
Professionally, I serve as a Technical Education Advisor at Urban Workshop, where I help students and adults access career technical education, hands-on training, industry certifications, funding, and pathways into the skilled trades.
My work includes helping students who may not thrive in a traditional classroom find another path to success. I work with students with disabilities, alternative education students, at-risk youth, and others who need help navigating training and funding opportunities. I have helped secure grant funding so students can receive the training they need to move toward meaningful, well-paying careers.
Through Urban Workshop, I work closely with welding education and industry certification. Our training facility is an Accredited Test Facility for the American Welding Society and a testing facility for the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety. Urban Workshop is also a Career Connected School for OC Pathways through the Orange County Department of Education.
This work has given me a firsthand understanding of how important it is for schools to provide students with multiple pathways after graduation — including college, career technical education, apprenticeships, certifications, and the skilled trades.
UNDERSTANDING OUR SCHOOLS
For eight years, I have attended every HBCSD School Board meeting. I’ve also taken the time to study school funding formulas, district budgets, and how education dollars are allocated because I believe effective oversight requires more than simply showing up at election time. A School Board member should understand the decisions being made, how they are funded, and how those decisions ultimately affect students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers.
For several years, I also advocated for HBCSD’s Maintenance & Operations facility, working collaboratively with the District’s Director of Maintenance & Operations, Huntington Beach Planning Commissioners, and members of the City Council to help move the project forward. In 2024, I spoke before the Huntington Beach Planning Commission in support of the project and continued advocating through the approval process.
The project ultimately received the approvals it needed, creating a path for HBCSD to move its Maintenance & Operations operations into a permanent District facility. Once the District’s existing lease ends, the new facility is expected to save HBCSD nearly half a million dollars annually in lease costs.
I have advocated for our neighborhood schools, green space, transparency, responsible spending, and keeping parents informed about the decisions being made in our district.
READ ACROSS AMERICA 2026
WATCH LAURA ADVOCATE FOR HBCSD
Laura Costelloe speaks before the Huntington Beach Planning Commission on August 16th, 2024, in support of HBCSD’s Maintenance & Operations facility — part of several years of advocacy to help move the project forward.