Anonymous
06/18/2025 08:55
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Who are the academic stars at Prep? Is it actually the public school kids?
And where do they get into college? Sometimes it seems like the athletes get the elite schools, not you don't hear about the braniacs being at MIT, ivy etc. Is Georgetown University and Notre Dame the goal for them?
This is an example of a poster who appears to have little understanding of Catholics and the tradition and culture.
You’re not going encounter many of the Ivy-obsessed that seem populate this forum.
Frequently there are family connections to these Catholic colleges. And both BC and Georgetown are Jesuit schools as are Prep and Gonzaga and there’s a level of familiarity and comfort there that Ivy, NESCAC and other “top” schools aren’t going to offer.
Any see GU, ND and BC as being at least equal to Brown, Penn, etc. and they are not dominated by one particular political ideology.
Anonymous
06/18/2025 08:48
Subject: Mater dei
MD is for the MAGA crowd
Produces Opus Dei non thinkers
Produces Opus Dei non thinkers
Anonymous
06/18/2025 08:48
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Who are the academic stars at Prep? Is it actually the public school kids?
And where do they get into college? Sometimes it seems like the athletes get the elite schools, not you don't hear about the braniacs being at MIT, ivy etc. Is Georgetown University and Notre Dame the goal for them?
Lol
These schools do not send kids to MIT that is public school
Anonymous
06/18/2025 08:46
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:For those who know MD (you went or your kids went there) is the curriculum rigorous for an advanced learner? Do they cohort by ability? For example, if your son is advanced in math skills, can he be in algebra 1 level in 7th grade? Or will they not have the option and the entire grade does it together in 8th grade? How about in language arts?
Omg no
It’s teaches religion it’s not academically rigorous that’s absurd
Anonymous
06/18/2025 08:40
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Who are the academic stars at Prep? Is it actually the public school kids?
In my experience it was usually boys from the many parishes that supply students to Prep. There’s a tradition that the brightest boys in these parish schools end up at Prep. Not all of them, of course, but this happens frequently. It’s occasionally a public school kid, but the boys from the various parishes seem to dominate this group.
Anonymous
06/18/2025 05:55
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Who are the academic stars at Prep? Is it actually the public school kids?
And where do they get into college? Sometimes it seems like the athletes get the elite schools, not you don't hear about the braniacs being at MIT, ivy etc. Is Georgetown University and Notre Dame the goal for them?
Anonymous
06/18/2025 05:13
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Who are the academic stars at Prep? Is it actually the public school kids?
Anonymous
06/17/2025 12:59
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Well, this intensive preparation doesn't seem to translate into results in high school. The Mercy grads at Prep are rarely the academic stars of the class.
Anonymous
06/16/2025 20:51
Subject: Mater dei
Just like everyone else they loved Prep. It’s as close to an idyllic experience as you can imagine. They liked the teachers and the staff and formed relationships with them that were more like friendships than what I had with my teachers.
Mater Dei not so much. Maybe because they chafed a little under the expectations and direction. But if they were local, which they aren’t, my guess is they would send their own sons there because they recognize it helped them.
They both went to very good Catholic colleges. They remain close to their Prep friends and still communicate with some of their teachers and coaches.
I’m surprised at how much the values they were exposed to at Prep are evidenced in some of the decisions they make.
Prep is not just four years where all you are doing is preparing for college when your real life begins.
Both boys played sports in college all four years. They both felt that their high school teams were better organized and more efficient than their college ones.
Mater Dei not so much. Maybe because they chafed a little under the expectations and direction. But if they were local, which they aren’t, my guess is they would send their own sons there because they recognize it helped them.
They both went to very good Catholic colleges. They remain close to their Prep friends and still communicate with some of their teachers and coaches.
I’m surprised at how much the values they were exposed to at Prep are evidenced in some of the decisions they make.
Prep is not just four years where all you are doing is preparing for college when your real life begins.
Both boys played sports in college all four years. They both felt that their high school teams were better organized and more efficient than their college ones.
Anonymous
06/16/2025 16:49
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:We had two boys go through MD from the 5th grade on. Both went to GP. Both were above average athletes.
The all-male teachers they had at MD understood boys much better than the all women teachers they had had at parish and public schools. The MD teachers were demanding in the classroom and on the playing fields. They seemed to me to be much less prone to listen to excuses or alibis.
There was one incident where one of the boys was being maltreated by a large group. They put a stop to that quickly and definitively involving the president, headmaster and the teachers. It’s small enough so that everybody knows everything that is going on.
But MD is an all boys, all Catholic school with a significant interest in athletics and a student population that almost all going to go to Prep, Gonzaga or St Johns for high school.
Do your boys look back positively on MD and GP?
How did your kids do after GP? College and beyond that is... Did it prepare them for life? Great colleges?
Anonymous
06/16/2025 16:46
Subject: Mater dei
For those who know MD (you went or your kids went there) is the curriculum rigorous for an advanced learner? Do they cohort by ability? For example, if your son is advanced in math skills, can he be in algebra 1 level in 7th grade? Or will they not have the option and the entire grade does it together in 8th grade? How about in language arts?
Anonymous
06/16/2025 15:15
Subject: Mater dei
We had two boys go through MD from the 5th grade on. Both went to GP. Both were above average athletes.
The all-male teachers they had at MD understood boys much better than the all women teachers they had had at parish and public schools. The MD teachers were demanding in the classroom and on the playing fields. They seemed to me to be much less prone to listen to excuses or alibis.
There was one incident where one of the boys was being maltreated by a large group. They put a stop to that quickly and definitively involving the president, headmaster and the teachers. It’s small enough so that everybody knows everything that is going on.
But MD is an all boys, all Catholic school with a significant interest in athletics and a student population that almost all going to go to Prep, Gonzaga or St Johns for high school.
The all-male teachers they had at MD understood boys much better than the all women teachers they had had at parish and public schools. The MD teachers were demanding in the classroom and on the playing fields. They seemed to me to be much less prone to listen to excuses or alibis.
There was one incident where one of the boys was being maltreated by a large group. They put a stop to that quickly and definitively involving the president, headmaster and the teachers. It’s small enough so that everybody knows everything that is going on.
But MD is an all boys, all Catholic school with a significant interest in athletics and a student population that almost all going to go to Prep, Gonzaga or St Johns for high school.
Anonymous
06/16/2025 07:25
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
I liked Prep and did very well academically and got into a great college. I expect my sons will attend. (Nothing is certain but the older one has very good grades so far.) But I’m not insisting on it. It’s just an option I’m willing to pay for if they want and get in.
I thought I got a good education at Mater Dei but struggled socially. I came in middle school, was a summer birthday and not held back and didn’t play lacrosse. There is a clique, and I wasn’t in it. I had friends in elementary, high school and college so the common denominator was MD not me. I am guessing from internet gossip the culture is still similar. Because there is a mold, I would avoid it unless you know your kid fits it. Parochial schools don’t necessarily have a mold and that has advantages. Plus my kids like it, get good grades and have friends. Since everything is working fine, there’s no reason to pay more money and risk a bad fit. It’s a different calculation if your current school isn’t working well. (I know there are many people that love it, this is just my experience.)
Prep recruits the top couple kids (who are interested) from pretty much every parochial school on the western side of MoCo. That’s why I didn’t provide a specific list before. Blessed Sacrament, St. Barts, Little Flower, Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Redeemer, De Chantal, St. Elizabeth’s, St. Raphael’s and Mary of Nazareth all feed regularly. There are granular reputational differences that wax and wane over time (IMO, if the principal is good/not good the school will rise or fall accordingly). If you narrow your list you will get more specific feedback as to current conditions.
They take students from DC, VA, eastern MoCo, PG too, I am just listing the most likely suspects. These are community schools and most people live close by, so you and your kids will have a better experience if you pick one close, go to mass there and sign your kids up for the after school activities.
If they are one of the top 2-3 boys academically at any of these schools, and you can pay and are a known good member of the local community, your kid has an excellent shot of admission to Prep. Historically they went lower in the class for Mater Dei kids, but I just wasn’t convinced that marginal difference (if it still exists) is worth it or necessary for my kids.
Last piece of advice. When I applied to Prep, the librarian apparently called the admissions director and told him I was always very polite to her and loved reading. This was unsolicited but I heard about it from the admissions director later. So keep in mind there are all sorts of community connections at play here. The best way to have that work in your favor is to join the community - get involved, go to mass, meet your priest, coach rec soccer, volunteer at the food drive and teach your kids to be hard working, polite and enthusiastic. If you do that it will work out at Prep or Gonzaga or SJC or anywhere else.
Thanks. Very helpful. Assume the culture at Prep was more welcoming than MD (by the fact that you had friends)? But can you speak more to what is a fit there?
Anonymous
06/14/2025 04:03
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
Mercy is rigorous. The 4th graders read books that are read in the 8th grade curriculum at MD.
Anonymous
06/13/2025 21:36
Subject: Mater dei
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:After mater dei, who feeds the most into Georgetown Prep?
Also, who feeds most into Gonzaga? St Johns?
I went to MD and Prep. I’m sending my kid to parochial school (and probably Prep but who knows).
There is no one feeder parochial school. There are many parochial schools that send some but not all boys to Prep. Go look at the ones near your house and pick one that’s a good fit. Where you think your kid will fit in and get a rigorous education.
Was there a reason you chose parochial over MD for your own kids? Did you think MD/Prep was a good experience?
Do you have a sense which parochial in this area near Prep are rigorous (I agree with you on that point and it is very important to me)?
Also, does anyone have feedback on staff and headmaster leaving MD? Similarly, I saw the principal at St Janes is retiring and I heard she was very good at running the school.
I liked Prep and did very well academically and got into a great college. I expect my sons will attend. (Nothing is certain but the older one has very good grades so far.) But I’m not insisting on it. It’s just an option I’m willing to pay for if they want and get in.
I thought I got a good education at Mater Dei but struggled socially. I came in middle school, was a summer birthday and not held back and didn’t play lacrosse. There is a clique, and I wasn’t in it. I had friends in elementary, high school and college so the common denominator was MD not me. I am guessing from internet gossip the culture is still similar. Because there is a mold, I would avoid it unless you know your kid fits it. Parochial schools don’t necessarily have a mold and that has advantages. Plus my kids like it, get good grades and have friends. Since everything is working fine, there’s no reason to pay more money and risk a bad fit. It’s a different calculation if your current school isn’t working well. (I know there are many people that love it, this is just my experience.)
Prep recruits the top couple kids (who are interested) from pretty much every parochial school on the western side of MoCo. That’s why I didn’t provide a specific list before. Blessed Sacrament, St. Barts, Little Flower, Our Lady of Mercy, Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Redeemer, De Chantal, St. Elizabeth’s, St. Raphael’s and Mary of Nazareth all feed regularly. There are granular reputational differences that wax and wane over time (IMO, if the principal is good/not good the school will rise or fall accordingly). If you narrow your list you will get more specific feedback as to current conditions.
They take students from DC, VA, eastern MoCo, PG too, I am just listing the most likely suspects. These are community schools and most people live close by, so you and your kids will have a better experience if you pick one close, go to mass there and sign your kids up for the after school activities.
If they are one of the top 2-3 boys academically at any of these schools, and you can pay and are a known good member of the local community, your kid has an excellent shot of admission to Prep. Historically they went lower in the class for Mater Dei kids, but I just wasn’t convinced that marginal difference (if it still exists) is worth it or necessary for my kids.
Last piece of advice. When I applied to Prep, the librarian apparently called the admissions director and told him I was always very polite to her and loved reading. This was unsolicited but I heard about it from the admissions director later. So keep in mind there are all sorts of community connections at play here. The best way to have that work in your favor is to join the community - get involved, go to mass, meet your priest, coach rec soccer, volunteer at the food drive and teach your kids to be hard working, polite and enthusiastic. If you do that it will work out at Prep or Gonzaga or SJC or anywhere else.