For someone who never planned to lead the school, David Hursty, 63 has made a big impact on Bridgton Academy.

Hursty is retiring this week after six years as headmaster and 18 years with the school.

After spending summers in Bridgton since 1958, Hursty, 63, and his wife, Cyndy moved permanently to Bridgton in 1990 after Hursty suffered a heart attack at age 46 while working as headmaster of Suffield Academy in Connecticut. His plan was to take a break and figure out what was next.

“I didn’t want to be headmaster,” Hursty said, but he started working for the academy the same year he moved to Bridgton as the assistant to the headmaster for external affairs.

When the board of trustees asked him to become interim headmaster in 2002, Hursty checked it out with his doctor, who consented. Hurst said the academy was such a fascinating institution it would have been hard for him to turn down the job.

Bridgton Academy provides a one-year, postgraduate program for high school graduates to prepare them for college. Students split their time between academic classes and a competitive sports program.

For the past 40 years Hursty has worked in numerous roles in private education, from history teacher to tennis coach to headmaster. Even during the last 18 years at Bridgton Academy, he has filled many different roles.

Susan Cole, controller and director of human resources at the academy, remembers Hursty crawling in basements with his tool belt to wire the campus for Internet service. “He’s done everything here,” she said.

As a historian, Hursty has watched and made note of how schools have changed throughout his career. One of the biggest recent changes has been a shift from parents making decisions for their children to young people making their own decisions about their education. Hursty said he has also seen a remarkable shift in women using the educational environment to their advantage and has seen a large growth in technology.

Hursty said schools offer more student services now than in the past. “Colleges and high schools have become social institutions, not just academic institutions,” Hursty said, adding that this has dramatically changed how schools operate, as students expect more services and it costs more.

At the academy Hursty has enjoyed watching students grow. “What amazes me most is how they shift from being nonstudents to students,” Hursty said. “That jock culture precluded academics in high school.” But at the academy there are no fans and their classmates are as good as athletes or better. “I find that a very interesting twist from high school to here,” Hursty said

Grady Vigneau, the incoming headmaster, comes to the academy from Stowe, Vt., where he owns two youth group lodging facilities and a football camp with his wife, Meredith. “I look at this opportunity to move to Bridgton as the next step in my evolution,” Vigneau said. ” Though he hasn’t worked in traditional educational settings, Vigneau has been a business owner, coach, and consultant. “I feel like I’ve always been in education,” Vigneau said.

Vigneau, who has been working with Hursty for several months, will start at the academy on July 1. “I’m so impressed with the people here,” Vigneau said. “These people care so much about the mission of the school.” He said his first job is to not screw up what Hursty and others have done well.

David and Cyndy Hursty plan to relax in Maine over the summer and fall before taking to the road in their new recreational vehicle to head south and west, deciding where to go from day to day.

For the majority of their lives they have worked and lived together on campus at private schools. “It’s fun to get to know different schools and different people,” said Cyndy Hursty, though she added that she looks forward to being released from the intensity of such all-encompassing jobs.

“We’ve lived our professions in ways couples don’t,” Hursty said. “It either strengthens your marriage or breaks it.”

After spending some time traveling and relaxing, Hursty hopes to start an institute to gather data and help young men transition from high school to college. Pointing to low college graduation rates for young men, Hursty said, “it’s a cultural issue.” He would like to track statistics and gather information in order to plan how to intervene.

In the meantime, Hursty’s advice for Vigneau is to take his time getting to know the institution, value the students, and cultivate the “ability to smile behind the scenes.”

David Hursty, who retired as headmaster at Bridgton Academy last week, never expected to become involved with the academy after moving to Bridgton from Connecticut in 1990.