On Tuesday, Mar. 2, a press release from the Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) announced that Redwood High School has selected Barnaby Owen Payne as the next principal after current principal Stephen Sondheim officially announced his retirement. Payne will assume his new position on Jul. 1, 2022.

“Mr. Payne is a professional educator with 27 years of experience as a school principal and teacher. Driven by a vision for educational equity and striving to create anti-racist schools, he has a proven record of providing outstanding outcomes for all students in diverse contexts,” the press release said.

Payne previously worked as a principal at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and Abraham Lincoln High School in the San Francisco School District, winning the San Francisco Mayor’s Principal of the Year award in 2015. He also spent three years working at the Kaohsiung American School (KAS) in Taiwan to pursue his doctoral studies. 

Payne will assume the position of Redwood principal after the retirement of the current principal, Principal David Sondheim. Sondheim announced his retirement Jan. 2 in an email to the Redwood community.