In an email to parents and students on May 22 through StudentSquare, Redwood High School Principal Barnaby Payne informed the community that he will step away from his position at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.
“It is with deeply mixed feelings that I want to let you know that I have accepted a position managing high school continuation programs in San Mateo County and I will not be returning to Redwood for the 2026-2027 school year,” Payne said in the email.
Payne, who started his role as principal in July 2022, will continue his administrative work at an alternative education school in the San Mateo Union High School District. As he finishes his fourth year as Redwood principal, Payne reflected on his next career steps.
“I’m at a point in my career where I want to continue to push myself and seek new opportunities and new challenges, and that’s what this is about. This is sort of about my own professional journey rather than being dissatisfied or unhappy with my Redwood experience in any way,” Payne said.
Payne expressed gratitude for the Redwood community and the Tamalpais Union High School District staff he has worked with during his four years at the school. Payne described students, staff and families as “focused,” “hardworking” and “conscientious” during his tenure.
“This community has been great to me, and my favorite part has been working with the students and families. Redwood students have been amazing,” Payne said. “I don’t think anybody could be at Redwood and not be changed by the passion of this school community.”
Payne explained what he has enjoyed during his 17 years as a principal across multiple districts, including schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. Payne said that directly helping students inspired him to work in a smaller continuation program for students lacking the credits necessary to graduate.
“My favorite part of Redwood, and certainly every principal job I’ve had, is the opportunities that I have to work directly with students on whatever, from academics to student activities to athletics to students who have ideas or initiatives, who are trying to create change within the community,” Payne said. “I’m the type of person who is always looking for new challenges, new opportunities, new ways to push myself professionally. This new job down in San Mateo is working with continuation students, and for a long time I’ve been interested in continuation programs, so when this opportunity came up, I looked into it and it was just too good to pass up at this point in my career.”
Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) Superintendent Courtney Goode updated Redwood families on the status of securing a new principal for the 2026-27 school year in a subsequent email.
“As we are so late in the school year and months beyond peak hiring season, it is not ideal to try to compress a months-long search process into a few short weeks. Instead, we will focus our efforts on identifying an interim principal(s) to lead Redwood for the start of the 2026-2027 school year. Then, in the fall, we will begin a several-month-long and comprehensive process to recruit a permanent principal to lead Redwood for the next many years to come,” Goode said in the email.
The district’s human resources department will initiate a selection process to find the next principal. The job listing will be posted on the recruitment platform EDJOIN, and candidates will be interviewed by a panel of students, staff, union members and administrators. Goode will have the final say in the decision.
