West Orange’s Redwood School Will Get New Principal

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A new principal will take over at Redwood Elementary School in West Orange before April, school officials say.

According to administrators, Timothy Beaumont has officially been appointed as the new principal of Redwood Elementary School. He will take over the reins from Interim Principal Heather Carr on March 26.

Beaumont is currently on special assignment in the South Orange-Maplewood Central Office assisting in the district’s Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC). Prior to that he was an assistant principal at Clinton Elementary School in Maplewood, West Orange administrators said.

As a fourth and fifth grade teacher, Beaumont helped to bring Clinton school out of Focus School status in 18 months, West Orange administrators stated.

According to school officials:

“[Beaumont] was born in Wales and comes from a family of educators. As a teen, he had the opportunity to attend school in Swaziland with the children of politicians and diplomats, former youth soldiers from Mozambique and Angola, and Rwandan refugees, where he quickly realized that he ‘did not have a sense’ of his own privilege.”

Beaumont credited his history teacher, Mrs. Earnshaw, an African educated in Switzerland, with instilling the love of teaching in him.

“In the UK we always glossed over the study of Colonialism,” explained Beaumont. “Mrs. Earnshaw always challenged us to argue and discuss, challenge our assumptions, connect our realities and show different perspectives.”

Beaumont attended the University of Cambridge, where he received his B.A. in history and African-American studies. He then attended BPP Law School and worked as a corporate attorney in London.

He lives in Union with his wife Sarah and their three children.

Beaumont said that he realizes taking over at Redwood mid-year puts him in an uncommon situation for a new principal.

“For change to work effectively, people need a shared sense of vision and ownership,” Beaumont said. “It takes time to develop those relationships. I don’t expect teachers to do what I would not do myself. Redwood is already a school that runs well. I’ll be meeting with Dr. Carr and the staff to learn more about Redwood… You don’t go into someone’s house you’ve been invited to and begin to rearrange the furniture.”

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Photo: West Orange Public School District