The school houses the TUHSD headquarters.[4][5][6]
History
By 1957, the school age population of the Tamalpais Union High School District had grown too large for
Tamalpais High School and
Sir Francis Drake High School to accommodate. With the pressure of students coming in from elementary schools from
Sausalito to
Belvedere to
Ross, voters chose to create a new school, and chosen for its site was the marshy area that extended east from the centrally located town of Larkspur to
U.S. Route 101, an area that townspeople had called "the slough" since Larkspur was settled. The importance of
wetlands was not yet widely appreciated (this was the era right before
Save the Bay was founded), and the land was seen as "waste." Beginning in early 1957, a large section of the marsh was flattened and filled, two roads were cut through from Magnolia Avenue out to the new school, and school buildings were constructed, along with a playing field and parking lot.
The school opened its doors in 1958. The first students who were to attend the new high school chose the name of the newspaper and sports teams: the Giants became their mascot in reference to the nearby
redwood trees. School publications followed the tree theme: the Bark became the school's newspaper, and the Log the school's yearbook. The colors red and gray were a source of much contention, but were finally accepted.
Redwood High School is set at the foot of
Mount Tamalpais on a 63.88 acre campus which has 81 classrooms, a library, theater, swimming pool, and athletics fields. The original campus was opened in 1958, with additions to the main building made over the next few years. Redwood's main school building (an original; see above) contains approximately 80 classrooms, the
Bessie Chin Library, four labs, and the theater. Other buildings on the campus contain industrial technology areas; photography, ceramics, and graphic arts studios; band room; and a cafeteria. Other sports and performance facilities include a large gymnasium and smaller gym, a 40-meter swimming pool, tennis courts, a track, athletic fields, and an outdoor amphitheater.
Between 2002 and 2006, Redwood High School undertook major modernization as part of a $121 million facilities bond measure approved by the Tam District voters. Approximately $40 million was spent to remodel classrooms, refurbish the gymnasium, tennis courts, and theater, and install new athletics fields. In 2007–2008 Redwood again rebuilt the often flooded parking lot. During the 2008–2009 school year, a new small gymnasium was constructed, the 40-meter pool was built, and new tennis courts laid. During the summer of 2011, an experimental classroom space was created to allow teachers the opportunity to explore new technologies, classroom management, and instructional strategies.
In the spring of 2006, Redwood art students created a 40-foot mural of the Marin County countryside. The mural was created on an exterior wall of the cafeteria.[9]