Announcing the Retirement of Dr. Peter Imperial

Dear Saint Mary’s Community,

When Dr. Peter Imperial became Principal of Saint Mary’s College High School in 2005, he brought to the role a deep commitment to Catholic education and a vocation that has shaped the lives of students and educators for forty-five years. On June 30, 2026, Dr. Imperial will complete his service as Principal and conclude his remarkable career in Catholic secondary education.

For more than two decades, Dr. Imperial has guided Saint Mary’s with vision, integrity, and faith. His leadership has strengthened the school’s Lasallian mission and fostered an environment where students are formed in mind, body, and spirit. A respected teacher, mentor, and colleague, Dr. Imperial has left an enduring mark on generations of students and educators who have benefited from his wisdom, humility, and devotion to the Christian Brothers’ educational mission.

We will begin the process of identifying the next Principal of Saint Mary’s College High School in the coming months. Updates regarding the search will be shared with the community as information becomes available.

We are profoundly grateful to Dr. Imperial for his many years of faithful service and for his steadfast commitment to the mission and community of Saint Mary’s College High School.

To read more about Dr. Imperial’s reflections on his vocation and years of service, please see his letter to the community below.

With Panther Pride,

Azure’D Nunley ‘00

President & CEO

Dear Saint Mary's Families and Friends,

June 2026 will mark the end of my forty-fifth consecutive year in Catholic secondary education, twenty-one of which have been as Principal at Saint Mary’s. I’ve decided that this will also be my last. I’m taking off my badge and riding over the horizon, disappearing in the haze, toward new adventures. I never intended to make teaching the entirety of my working career, even less so administrating, which—if you haven’t been paying attention—is a hard job on its easiest days.

But teaching is important, more so today than ever before. Education, despite how our society has commoditized, warped, and mis-shaped it, remains the most liberating catalyst for hope in our children’s lives. And Catholic education, when hewing to its original mission, is far more effective and fulfilling than any other form of institutional education. So, I stayed, happily and enthusiastically. I regret none of it, and I’m proud I was a part of it.

But it's time to go.

I am blessed to be a part of the Lasallian mission, which is, countercultural. The Brothers of the Christian Schools were born of Jesus’ call to educate the less fortunate of the world, and while social and economic currents have pulled schools into waters they should not want to navigate—our desires for money and status are perilous maelstroms—the Lasallian mission remains central at Saint Mary’s. Lasallian educators work wonders for young people, foregoing money and status for something greater. Imperfect as we teachers are, we are driven by the call to help young people. My colleagues in this calling, while on occasion driving me nuts, inspire me every day. Your kids are blessed to have the teachers they have, and I’ve been blessed to work with them.

I have been a Dean, a Director of Academics, a Vice Principal, a Principal, a teacher, and a coach. All were important. Of them all, my role as a classroom teacher was the one that never once felt like a burden. I’ll miss that one the most. But the fat lady is singing.

I will leave Saint Mary’s College High School in the care of educators who are smarter, more patient, and wiser than I. Cherish and support them.

PI