Mr. Stephen Dacey, Xaverian’s Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning and 1995 alumnus, remembers his first time on campus as a young child—he and his father were sitting in the bleachers for a football game and the score was 3-0. However, he wasn’t rooting for the Xaverian Hawks; rather, he was on the visiting team’s side. Mr. Dacey and his father were at the home of the Hawks to cheer on the BC High Eagles, as was family tradition. His father and uncles were all BC High grads and it was assumed that young Mr. Dacey would be an Eagle someday, too. That is, until he looked at both schools in eighth grade and fell in love with Xaverian’s science program. His father gave his approval and eventually became enamored with the school himself. Now after nearly three decades of affiliation with Xaverian, Mr. Dacey has been awarded the highest honor given to an adult in the school community, the Ryken Award. 

Though he is known for being a talented administrator, Mr. Dacey says he is a teacher at heart. “I love teaching; it’s my passion,” he says. “When you see those ‘a ha’ moments, no matter what class it’s in, that makes it all worth it.” After graduating from Xaverian, he went onto Stonehill College where he earned a Bachelor of Science in biology. He started teaching at the Red Cloud Indian School at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He went from there to NASA, working at the Goddard Space Flight Center to improve educational use and access of NASA data applications in the classroom. “It was an amazing job, but it was also a systemic job,” says Mr. Dacey. “It was more training teachers than teaching students, and I missed the teaching aspect.” With a desire to return to the classroom, Mr. Dacey planned to move back to Massachusetts and applied for positions at a variety of schools. As luck would have it, his mother ran into Mr. Domenic Lalli, P ’98, Xaverian’s former principal, while out grocery shopping. Mr. Lalli asked how her son was doing and she said he’d be returning home soon. One thing led to another, and Mr. Dacey’s career on Clapboardtree Street began in 2003. He has since earned his Master of Education from Boston College (2008) and is presently a doctoral candidate (2022) in BC’s Professional School Administrator Program.

In his 17 years working at Xaverian, Mr. Dacey has taught a variety of subjects, served as a department chair, and held two administrator positions (while continuing to teach). He also served as a volleyball coach (two years at the JV level and six years at varsity) and has been active with campus ministry, coordinating Xaverian Global Encounter trips to South Dakota, Ecuador, New Orleans, and Chicago. “No matter the request, Mr. Dacey always says ‘yes’ for the benefit of our school and our students,” says Dr. Jacob Conca ’94, Ph.D., Head of School. “He demonstrates a particular zeal for Xaverian education and has a can-do, upbeat attitude. These are among many reasons he was selected as this year’s Ryken Award winner.” 

The Ryken Award is bestowed annually as part of Xaverian Brothers High School’s Founder’s Day liturgy, which celebrates Theodore James Ryken, founder of the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier (more commonly known as the Xaverian Brothers). It signifies an exceptional commitment to Ryken’s vision and dedication to the core values of a Xaverian Brothers education. This year, the liturgy was held virtually due to COVID-19. However, as is tradition, the name of the Ryken Award winner is kept secret and the winner’s family members are brought on campus as a surprise. When Mr. Dacey’s name was called, he walked into the main office and was greeted by his family. There were his children, Sabrina and Stephen, his wife, Renee, and his mother, Jane Dacey, P ’95, ’98. And while his father passed away 15 years ago after a long battle with illness, Mr. Dacey says he was there, too: “I broke the rules and gave my mom a hug for the first time since March, and I think we both knew in that moment that my dad was present in spirit.” 

Though he could never have known it that day as a young boy sitting on the visitors’ side of the bleachers with his dad, now decades later Mr. Dacey is an integral part of the Xaverian story. In his humility, he acknowledges this blessing:

“At the risk of sounding corny, I have my family, my students, and my colleagues. They all put a smile on my face,” he says. “Mr. Lalli (former principal) would walk down the hall asking faculty, ‘How is your ministry going today?’, and it truly is a ministry. I have never 'gone to work' a day in my life at Xaverian. I consider it a blessing to be a teacher and to serve in the field of education, and there is no better place to carry out that ministry than at Xaverian Brothers High School.”