BOSTON -- Boston College High School announced Nov. 7 that principal Stephen Hughes will be retiring as principal at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year. Hughes, a 1973 graduate of BC High, has spent more than four decades at the school as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and administrator.

"Our culture is fostered and nurtured by dedicated servants like Steve, who live their faith and pursue a more fair and just world by impressing upon our students the values of the Jesuit tradition and the education of the whole person," said BC High President Grace Regan. "Steve has challenged and inspired almost every young man who has walked through our doors over the last 40 years, teaching each one the importance of becoming a man of integrity, educated in faith and for justice, and dedicated to academic excellence and service to others."

"Devout in his faith and committed to our mission, Steve is the very definition of 'a man for others.' His efforts to help our students achieve their full potential will undoubtedly be remembered for generations to come," Regan said.

"I am humbled to have had the opportunity to serve this school that means so much to me," said Hughes. "Although I am stepping down as principal at the end of the school year, I will carry with me the many kindnesses extended to me by the students, faculty, staff, administration, parents, alumni and members of the Board of Trustees. They not only have made this journey possible, but they have made it a blessing. I am in their debt."

Hughes has been a member of the BC High community for almost his entire life. After graduating from BC High in 1973, the Savin Hill native went on to receive his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 1978 before returning to Morrissey Boulevard later that same year to begin his professional career as a social studies teacher and football coach.

For the next 25 years, Hughes was a fixture in the classroom and on the athletic fields. During this time, he served the school and its students in various capacities, including chair of the social studies department, assistant football coach to the great Jim Cotter, athletic director, and vice principal of student affairs. In 2002, Hughes was appointed principal of BC High.

BC High said Hughes will support the school's search for his successor, which will begin immediately.