Columbine High School Principal Frank DeAngelis, who led the school through the tragic shooting in 1999, announced he'll be retiring at the end of the 2013-14 school year, CBS Denver reported.
He scheduled a news conference at Columbine High School on Wednesday morning to formally announce his plan to retire. DeAngelis wrote a letter to Columbine parents, alerting them of his departure and thanking them for their support.
"I want to take this opportunity to inform you that I have decided to retire after this school year," he wrote. "It has been my privilege to lead this wonderful school through the best and worst of times."
He even joked, "It has given me great pleasure to see many of my former students' children attending and graduating from Columbine High School. I felt it might be time to retire before a student informs me that I taught their grandparents."
DeAngelis' closed his heartfelt letter by emphasizing that his heart "will always be with Columbine."
On April 20, 1999, a shooting at Columbine High School left 15 people dead and 21 injured. After seeing one of the gunmen open fire, he led 20 students to safety and avoided injury. However, he suffered from severe anxiety attacks that reportedly led to the end of his marriage, according to The Associated Press.
After the harrowing event, DeAngelis promised to remain in his principal position until the kindergarten students at the time of the shooting graduated high school.
The kindergarten class of 1999 graduated from high school in 2011.
When people reflect on the infamous shooting, DeAngelis said he hopes they think about the lives that were taken and the legacies they left behind.
"Hopefully that'll be inspiration for others to know it doesn't matter how much tragedy enters your life, there's hope for a brighter future," he said.
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