Bronx principal retires after serving entire 53-year career at all-boys parochial high school

When Principal Bill Lessa first walked through the doors of Cardinal Hayes High School as a social studies teacher in 1971, he never envisioned that he would one day become the school’s longest-serving educator.Hundreds of students, faculty, alumni and friends packed into the Bronx school auditorium Thursday to celebrate Lessa’s retirement, a cap on an incredible 53-year career served entirely at the all-boys Catholic institution.The Mass in his honor started and ended the same way — with a standing ovation that lasted several minutes as “Principal Lessa” chants echoed throughout the room.“These kids are the only kids I ever wanted to be with, the only kids I wanted to work with,” Lessa, 75, told The Post after the ceremony.

“During my career, I had many opportunities to go other places, but somehow or another, I always found the wherewithal to stay here because you can see how much they appreciate what you do for them.And those kids don’t have a lot of support in a lot of areas.

And I always felt that if I could be just a bit of a change agent in their lives, I would be doing something really noble.”Lessa is the longest-serving educator at a single Catholic institution in the Bronx, according to the Archdiocese of New York — and one of the few who boast more than five decades at a school in all of New York State.The educator started his storied career at Cardinal Hayes upon graduating from Iona College in 1971 — marrying his wife Mary Anne during the few short months in between.He served as a social studies and religion teacher for three years, when he scooped up the additional responsibility of being a guidance counselor, spending decades helping his students navigate the college admissions system.It was in 2008 that Lessa was asked to serve as the interim principal — a job that quickly became clearly his calling in life.“I always wanted to be a teacher, but this has put me in a spot where it could be so impactful,” he explained.Les...