Devine Named New Loyola Academy Principal As Heintz Takes Job In NYC

WILMETTE, IL — Loyola Academy has hired its next school chief from within, naming Loyola social studies teacher and former Walter Payton College Prep High School principal Timothy Devine as the successor to outgoing Principal Charlie Heintz.

Devine, a third-generation Loyola graduate, spent nine years leading Payton College Prep, the Chicago Public Schools selective-enrollment high school ranked by U.S. News & World Report best in the state and No. 5 in the nation. He said he was honored to have been selected by Loyola President Rev. Greg Ostdiek and the school's Principal Search Committee.

"Loyola instilled in all of us a commitment to serving others, and it is a privilege to share my gifts to serve the mission, people, and programs of Loyola Academy. I look forward to the work we will do, together," Devine said in a statement.

During his time at Payton College Prep, Devine added a new black box theater and five new arts classes, created "substantive and effective programs" for Black, Latino and first-generation students and added 25 honors and Advanced Placement courses to the curriculum, according to a release announcing his hiring.

Before that, Devine taught at Northside College Prep, another selective-enrollment high school, and Bowen High School in Chicago. He also worked for the city of Chicago's Office of Management and Budget as a budget and policy analyst, lectured at Northwestern and DePaul universities and helped develop the Great Debates curriculum.

"Loyola Academy is a place like no other," Devine said. "While constantly evolving to meet the unique needs and challenges of each new generation, Loyola is deeply rooted in the timeless Jesuit values of faith and service that continue to guide young people to lead lives of meaning and purpose."

Devine, a fellow at the Golden Apple Foundation, won the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award for six years in a row ending in 2018. He was also named principal of the year at the 2017 Scholastic Press Association of Chicago High School Media Awards and was awarded the Chicago Public Schools Principal Achievement Award by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2015.

According to school officials, Devine will start work as principal at the end of the 2022-23 school year. In the meantime, he will work with Heintz, outgoing principal, administrators and school leadership.

In April, Heintz was appointed principal of Regis High School in New York City, a Manhattan Jesuit school where he is due to begin in the summer.

“I hope my colleagues at Loyola have felt like we stood shoulder to shoulder together on a mission to help students become the people that God created them to be,” said Heintz, a New York native, at the time. “Our faith ought to animate the work that we do. I’ve been so blessed to be able to do that in great organizations.”

During his time as principal, Heintz, who took over for Kathryn Baal in 2018, established the Bowman Scholars for first-generation and under-resourced students and has lead a more diverse group of faculty and staff, according to Regis representatives.

“Our school community extends its gratitude to Mr. Heintz who, for more than two decades at Loyola, has been an exemplary leader, a positive collaborator, and innovative problem solver,” Ostdiek said. “We wish him Godspeed as he takes his outstanding talents to Regis High School.”

Heintz also introduced updated theology and science curriculum, eight new courses in either science, technology, engineering, arts or mathematics and implemented a new grading scale.

“We are indebted to Charlie for the tremendous work he has done here," Ostdiek added, "we anticipate, with gratitude and excitement, all that Tim will accomplish with us; and, most of all, we give thanks for the blessing of all that God is inviting us to be and to do together here at Loyola Academy.”