De Smet Jesuit Announces Principal's Retirement After 31 Years

Another school tied to Creve Coeur will see a new principal come fall.

Monday morning, De Smet Jesuit announced that Dr. Greg Densberger, who has served in that capacity for 31 years, will leave the post effective May 31. Dr. Densberger told Patch by phone Monday afternoon that he made the decision with his wife in the fall and had been in discussions with De Smet Jesuit President Fr. Wally Sidney, S.J. since then.

"I've never really looked at this as a job," Dr. Densberger said. "I just love being here." Still, after being in the job since he was 31 years old, he said it had reached the point where it was "time" for someone else to have the job.

The school released a statement from De Smet Jesuit President Fr. Wally Sidney, S.J.:

Over the past three decades, Dr. Densberger has tirelessly served thousands of students andtheir parents in the Jesuit tradition of education. Young men who attended De Smet Jesuit overthe last 30 years are now business owners, entrepreneurs, CEO’s, professional athletes, priests,legislators and ‘Men for Others’.

We will begin planning immediately for a search for a new principal. Dr. Densberger has agreed to help in a seamless transition of leadership.”

Dr. Densberger will also stay on and assist with long-term planning at the school in a role that has not been precisely identified. De Smet Jesuit is in the middle of evaluating the possibility of adding a middle school program, with a decision expected before July.

The move at De Smet Jesuit follows decisions by administrators at Chaminade, Parkway Northeast Middle School and Ladue Horton Watkins High School to retire or resign. 

Read: Creve Coeur Principals Retiring At Year's End

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