Hinsdale Central principal reflects on journey with D86

By Anna Hughes  |  Photos Courtesy of Hinsdale Central High School

As the oldest of six children, Bill Walsh has always been a natural leader. His calm confidence and innate ability to take charge of chaos inspired his pursuit of a business management career. While studying at Illinois State University, with plans to make his mark in the finance industry, Walsh faced a significant setback: he ran out of money. With five kids still at home, his parents couldn’t finance his tuition.

Walsh, a self-starter and problem-solver, saw this as an opportunity to confront the issue head-on. To bankroll the remainder of his education, Walsh took a gap year and accepted a position teaching English as a second language in Seoul, South Korea.

“I think anytime you are sitting down with students,
there is just a joy that comes with it. It’s the best part of the day.”

– Principal Bill Walsh, Hinsdale Central High School

“[I] sort of fell in love with teaching,” Walsh said. “It was fulfilling, rewarding to me.”

When he returned to ISU, he switched his major from accounting to business education and accepted a position teaching at Waubonsie Valley High School after graduation. Despite worries that his leadership skills would not translate to a classroom, his doubts quickly disappeared.

“I just loved every moment of it,” Walsh said. “There is not a better career in the world than being in front of a classroom of 25 students and just teaching day in and day out.”

In 1999, after five years at Waubonsie, Walsh joined Hinsdale Central High School as a business education teacher. Over the next 13 years, he taught a wide range of courses, including accounting, business law, and consumer education. In his final year of classroom teaching, he stepped into a new role as the school’s technology and instruction coordinator, training fellow educators on integrating tech into their teaching.

This new responsibility jump-started the administrative side of his career: He was soon hired to be the dean of students, a role he held for three years before becoming the assistant principal for operations.

As principal, Walsh is passionate about creating positive and professional relationships with students and teachers.

When he was offered the position of principal in the spring of 2016, this promotion felt like a natural next step that perfectly aligned with the leadership career he had always envisioned for himself. Now approaching a decade at the helm of Red Devil Nation, Walsh feels more confident than ever that HCHS has been the perfect place for his professional journey. 

“It is an amazing district with amazing, brilliant students and such engaged parents,” Walsh said of District 86. “Our students come to class every day with high expectations, and those expectations they have of themselves transcend onto the teacher to just do amazing work and really push the boundaries on education and push the boundaries to get a child wherever they want to go.”

As principal, Walsh juggles countless responsibilities, but his top priority remains the same: the 2400 students that he sees in the hall every day. He takes pride in watching them grow into young professionals, ready to take their next steps into adulthood.

“I think anytime you are sitting down with students, there is just a joy that comes with it. It’s the best part of the day,” Walsh said. “Short conversations in the hallway, engaging in positive professional relationships for those students every day is just, it’s really rewarding.”

Walsh said that one of the hardest parts of his time as principal was leading HCHS through the pandemic.

The students help keep Walsh grounded and motivated, especially during the most challenging moments of his tenure. Two events in particular stand out to Walsh: the building referendum of 2019 and the pandemic. Although D86 voters eventually passed the referendum after unexpected challenges, the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the education field are ongoing.

“It probably still resonates deep inside of me, and probably makes me think about retirement more often than not,” Walsh admitted.

As a dad to three boys, he witnessed firsthand the struggles students faced when schools were closed. 

“That was a painful, extremely painful, two-plus years,” he said.

Five years later, HCHS is still dealing with abnormally inflated absenteeism rates — 19% in the 2024-2025 school year compared to 6% before the pandemic. Walsh is committed to lowering these numbers by working with teachers and families to re-emphasize the importance of classroom learning.

“We need parents and students to realize learning takes place with you,” Walsh said. “When you’re within the walls, and it can’t be online and it can’t be doing worksheets or whatever from home, you need to be in school, learning, to interact with people.”

Despite the lingering challenges, Walsh found that the pandemic also brought the Red Devil community together in new ways — despite the physical separation. Through thoughtful words, a friendly phone call, or an understanding email, Walsh was reminded of the kindness and community that make HCHS a place he’s proud to call home.

“You talk about a school being a family and a school being a village, [and] when our students are in need, when our staff is in need, when our community is in need, they step up,” Walsh said. “There’s a really tight bond.”

Walsh will be serving two more years as principal before passing the torch to a new leader in 2027. Although the transition will be bittersweet, he is honored to have been a part of Hinsdale Central’s lasting legacy.

“I have a number of graduates who leave Central, go off to do their good in the world, and return back so that their kids can attend Central. There is something very special about that,” Walsh said. “They know when their child crosses that threshold into Red Devil nation, that their child is going to be cared for, their child is going to be supported, and their child’s ideal future is going to be ready for them to seize when they graduate in that May.”