San Marin High's New Principal is a Tech Expert

Adam Littlefield, principal of a high school technology program based at Sonoma State University, has been named to replace Robert Vieth as principal of . The trustees approved a contract Tuesday during their board meeting.

Littlefield, who starts July 1, has been principal of Technology High School, a nationally regarded program that originated at Rancho Cotate High in Rohnert Park. It was an employee at Technology, Laura Triantafyllos, who prompted Littlefield to check into the San Marin opening.

“She’s a parent of two kids at San Marin and was talking about her appreciation for the attention the kids get there,” he said, “so when the opportunity came open I thought I would come look at it. … San Marin has a reputation for high-achieving students and a real learning community.”

Littlefield has had two stints with Technology High, most recently helping it achieve an 884 score on the API, the highest of any school in the North Bay. Last year, the school earned a bronze medal in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best high schools in the country.

Littlefield has been an educator since 1984 and served as an electronics instructor at Arroyo Grande High on the Central Coast. He developed a model science and tech program for ninth graders and provided tech support for his district office. He served as assistant principal there before relocating to Petaluma and joining Rancho Cotate as assistant principal and helping to set up a model science program there.

In 1999, he was named program director for the new Technology High at his school, and it became so popular that it was moved to Sonoma State in 2002.

Littlefield served as principal there, but then decided he wanted experience with younger kids and accepted a principal job at Gold Ridge Elementary School. He helped the school score over 800 for the first time in its history before it closed in 2008 when he returned to Technology High.

Pam Conklin, Novato Unified’s interim superintendent, said newly hired Superintendent Shalee Cunningham — who starts July 1 — participated in Littlefield’s hiring during one of her recent visits to Novato. Littlefield's salary has been set at $127,018, the district said.

Vieth spent the past four years at San Marin and said the position as been as enjoyable as any job he’s had during his 37-year education career, which includes running the doctoral program in the education department at Sonoma State.