On Dec. 16, 2024, Saint Xavier High School announced that Dr. Daniel McCue had been delegated as the school’s 24th principal beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Dr. McCue is assuming responsibility for his predecessor’s role, Dr. Amy Sample, who was the school’s first female principal. Dr. McCue has had exposure to various positions at St. X, which has prepared him for his role as principal.
He began his journey at St. X in 2004 as a faculty member and coach. He started off teaching AP Calculus, Precalculus, and Algebra 2. Then, in 2007, he used his mechanical engineering degree from Notre Dame to start the engineering program, and he even had great influence in the STEAM program and innovation lab. He eventually taught physics and computer science as well.
Not only did he have a huge impact on the educational side of St. X, he also left his mark on the coaching aspect as well. Over the course of 2004 to 2016, he was the head coach of the freshman football team and helped coach varsity, while also coaching junior varsity baseball team from 2005 to 2011.
“I’ve been able to do so many different things here at St. X, and I’ve been able to see the same experience through a lot of different teacher lenses, through different coach lenses, that I feel like I can connect with just about everybody on campus,” Dr. McCue said.
Dr. McCue has contributed to St. X for a number of years and has had numerous role models to guide him to where he is now. During Dr. McCue’s coaching years, Coach Glaser had a significant influence on how he coached, taught and led. Glaser instilled in him the notion of controlling the controllables: attitude, effort and enthusiasm.
Dr. Sangalli, a former president at St. X, encouraged Dr. McCue to go back to school and get his doctorate in 2016. The assistant principal before him, Mr. White, mentored Dr. McCue and made sure he was ready to take his position as assistant principal. The list goes on and on.
“I want us to continue the mission of the school, forming young men and helping them grow in mind, body and spirit, just like the Brothers had done for over a century, 160 years at this point,” Dr. McCue said.
While Dr. McCue wants to continue the Xaverian Brothers’ ways, he also wants to implement a new way of teaching at the school. He plans to harness the use of artificial intelligence to the school’s advantage, and he plans on adapting to the rapidly changing pace of technology instead of disregarding it. He wants to leverage AI to improve learning and also speed up the learning process for students and teachers.
Improving opportunities for people to have input is Dr. McCue’s top priority for his first year at St. X. Dr. McCue wants to create more opportunities that are simpler and easier for teachers to submit their ideas. He doesn’t want to just limit this to the teachers — he also wants the students to communicate their own input. He wants to make sure that students have the opportunity to share their input through student-elected officials. The student-elected officials will then inform him of the students’ ideas, suggestions and concerns.
“I think the mission of the Brothers and the legacy that they left behind has laid the foundation for the school to continue being successful even in their absence,” Dr. McCue said. “As they start to fade away, it’s up to us to keep that going. We want it to be where students feel connected and continue feeling connected when they come back.”
Dr. McCue believes that the foundation and brotherhood of St. X is what makes it so successful. He wants to continue to strengthen the Brothers’ foundation and legacy. Relationships and brotherhood are what St. X prides itself on, and he wants to continue to make sure of that.
