Albany schools superintendent Sara Stone spotlighted for equity-focused leadership

Influential Women is recognizing Sara Stone, superintendent of Albany Unified School District, for a career built on classroom experience, inclusive leadership and student-centered decision-making. Stone, who began in education in 1995 and recently earned a doctorate from UC Berkeley, says trust, integrity and collaboration are essential to lasting school change.

Why it matters: - Sara Stone’s work touches preschool through high school students in Albany Unified School District, where leadership decisions affect academic readiness, belonging and postsecondary preparation. - Her career reflects a broader challenge in public education: improving student outcomes while navigating funding pressure, pandemic-era disruptions and new technology demands. - Her emphasis on equity and stable board-superintendent relationships points to leadership practices that can shape district performance beyond one school year.

What happened: - Influential Women recognized Sara Stone, superintendent of Albany Unified School District, for leading with integrity, equity and students at the center of every decision. - Stone has worked in education since 1995 and now leads the district’s preschool through high school programs in San Leandro, California. - She recently earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Education. - Influential Women published Stone’s article, “The First Year Matters: Lessons for New Superintendents and the Boards That Support Them.” - The article is available through Sara Stone’s Influential Women profile.

The details: - Stone began as a classroom teacher and taught kindergarten, third, fourth, fifth and seventh grades. - Most of her classroom time was spent teaching fifth grade. - She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Master of Education from John F. Kennedy University. - Stone has served as principal of three K-5 schools. - She founded one of those schools through Oakland Unified School District’s New Small Schools movement in the early 2000s. - Stone also served as a principal in Boston Public Schools before returning to Oakland Unified. - In Oakland, she later became network superintendent overseeing TK-5 schools and a middle school. - Her district leadership roles also included chief academic officer and assistant superintendent positions in districts of different sizes and communities. - Stone’s dissertation research examined how women superintendents navigate transformational leadership and sustain meaningful change. - She wrote that nearly every superintendent she studied described the role as lonelier than expected. - Stone says a network of mentors, colleagues and coaches is one of the most important investments a leader can make. - She argues that the first year in a superintendency should focus on listening, learning the community and building authentic relationships. - Stone has noted that the average superintendent tenure nationally is only three to four years. - She links strong board-superintendent relationships with leadership stability and district performance. - Her article urges governance teams to approach challenges with curiosity, communicate consistently and stay focused on shared responsibility for student success. - Stone says integrity is her most important core value. - She is a member of the Association of California School Administrators and Women Leading Ed.

Between the lines: - Stone’s career story is built around a simple argument: classroom experience should shape district leadership. - Her focus on listening, trust and relationship-building suggests she sees leadership as a long-term systems effort, not a top-down exercise. - Her comments on women in leadership also point to the isolation and pressure that can come with the role, especially for superintendents. - Her advocacy for collaboration over competition reflects a broader push to keep school leadership connected to community needs rather than personal authority.

What's next: - Stone says public education will continue to face uncertainty from funding gaps, political division, technology shifts and artificial intelligence. - She expects school leaders to rely more on partnership, shared responsibility and continuous learning. - She will continue leading Albany Unified School District while applying the research and lessons from her first year as superintendent. - Her broader message to emerging women leaders is to speak up, seek mentors, stay curious and not wait to feel fully ready before leading.

The bottom line: - Stone’s recognition highlights a version of school leadership rooted in integrity, equity and student-centered decision-making, with relationships and trust treated as core management tools rather than soft skills.