Shea to return as Discovery principal

Richard Shea will return to Albany High School to the post of Discovery Academy principal on Aug. 1.

The Board of Education approved his appointment on Thursday night.

Shea left Albany High in 2021 to become principal of Voorheesville High School, a position he held for the last year. He originally came to Albany High and the school district in January 2018 as an assistant principal at Discovery Academy. He was promoted Discovery Academy principal in 2019, a position he held until his 2021 departure.

Prior to that, he served as an associate principal and program coordinator for nearly four years at Warren Street Academy, an alternative program in Hudson for students in grades 7-12. He also was a social studies and special education teacher in the Berkshire Union Free School District.

Shea replaces Julie Barber, who retired at the end of the 2021-22 school year.