If you are white, fairly affluent, somewhat to very Conservative, and your child is sporty you'd probably like Mater Dei. It's pretty one note.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. I am going to call. I had read some of the stuff in St Albans and wondered if this was the Catholic version and we are not fancy people.

1. Plenty of 'Not fancy' people at St. Albans.
2. Just as much money/club membership at Mater Dei as at St. Albans. Hockey and lacrosse are the two biggest sports there -- neither cheap.

Anonymous wrote:The drive from Arlington to that part of Maryland is awful in traffic and only getting worse. Your kid would be spending quite a lot of time in the car and would live far away from most of his friends which is tough socially.

I agree.

Our boys had a great experience at Mater Dei and I'm a supporter.

But as good as it was, I wouldn't sign up to drive them morning and night from Arlington. There are so few kids at Mater Dei from that areas that carpooling is a low probability. The great majority are from Bethesda-Potomac-Kensington. If they are from Virginia, it's Great Falls or McLean.


My boys didn't enjoy Mater Dei every day. The almost all male teacher group is relatively tough on them. Or maybe a better word is "demanding". They are not as sensitive as some other places. They are far less likely to accept excuses and listen less to complaints. I thought that was good preparation for life.

The drive from Arlington to that part of Maryland is awful in traffic and only getting worse. Your kid would be spending quite a lot of time in the car and would live far away from most of his friends which is tough socially.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he is not super athletic I would not send him.

They will ask you to redshirt. You can say "no", but few do. 25% in K but 75% by 8th grade.

Son doesn't have to be super athletic. He does need to like sports. Not everyone can be the star athlete. Also disagree on reshirting.

You disagree that they will ask?
You disagree that you can say 'No"?
You disagree that 25% of K is redshirted?
You disagree that 75% of 8th is redshirted?

What do you disagree with?

Some but not a lot of VA families. Definitely a strong middle class at the school. Of course, a lot of wealth too. Many families do belong to clubs but that means nothing. Kids swim and do other things there. You just bring your friends too as guests. It doesn't mean anyone is excluded.

Anonymous wrote:If he is not super athletic I would not send him.

They will ask you to redshirt. You can say "no", but few do. 25% in K but 75% by 8th grade.

Son doesn't have to be super athletic. He does need to like sports. Not everyone can be the star athlete. Also disagree on reshirting.

Anonymous wrote:average academics (most teachers don't have a MA) poor facilities. very old school curriculum

excellent in character development.

most who graduate have generation ties to the DC area.

Research really doesn't show a consistent correlation between having an MA and teacher quality or student achievement, so I wouldn't worry too much about that one.

If he is not super athletic I would not send him.

They will ask you to redshirt. You can say "no", but few do. 25% in K but 75% by 8th grade.

Thank you. I am going to call. I had read some of the stuff in St Albans and wondered if this was the Catholic version and we are not fancy people.

average academics (most teachers don't have a MA) poor facilities. very old school curriculum

excellent in character development.

most who graduate have generation ties to the DC area.

http://www.materdeischool.net/


Cool link. Check out the graduation video.

Best school my son went to at any level.

Mater Dei was a life-changing experience for our boy and we wish we had chosen it for his older brother. His younger brother definitely will be going to Mater Dei. We have even a further commute than you and we would do it again in a heartbeat despite the commotion it caused for our schedules.

Mater Dei seems to attract all types of children and families. If it helps, we did not notice any stratification because of CC and actually are unaware of any child's family CC affiliation. When we did car-line pick-up it appeared as though the cars were equally Honda/Toyota as well as Suburbans/Mercs/etc. We are in the Toyota/Honda category and never felt out of place. We also always felt part of the group even though we lived pretty far away compared to some. Families and staff were very accepting and welcoming at all the events, and even to both sets of our parents who would attend events in our stead or on Grandparent's Day, etc.

Our son is now in high school and the friendships he made at Mater Dei stand strong. I don't think that I'm exaggerating when I say that even in 50-60 years, with no prior contact, one of those boys will be able to pick up the phone and call a classmate and the classmate will come running no questions asked.

It isn't easy, though. Even for our boy the teachers were able to keep the coursework challenging and he was always engaged. They supported the value system with which we are raising our family and actively engaged the boys with their faith. Basically, at Mater Dei, they really know boys. They provide an awful lot of structure and tough love but also lots of space for fun, rambunctious behavior. Our boy thrived.

If you are interested in the school then you should certainly check it out. It may not be for every boy or every family but it was perfect for our middle son and we look forward to our third son being there soon.

Hi-We are an Arlington family and wondering how many Va families? Also would love to hear about the vibe of the school. Are most families country club folks. Any middle class?