MIDDLETOWN – Mater Dei Prep., one of the Shore’s most prominent Catholic high schools with a storied athletic history, will close at the end of the current school year, officials announced Monday.

The announcement marks the second time this year that a Monmouth County school under the Diocese of Trenton revealed a plan to shut down. Mother Seton Academy in Howell told parents at the end of 2021 that the current school year would be its last.

“Since 2014, enrollment at Mater Dei Prep has declined by more than half,” a Mater Dei statement issued Monday said. “Fewer students and the resulting loss in revenue through the years has created an operational deficit that depleted the school’s reserve despite aggressive fundraising efforts.”

Look back:Justin Fumando hired as Mater Dei Prep head football coach

School leaders said enrollment had dropped from 300 students in 2018 to just 220 today, calling it a “dramatic decline.”

“Despite our best efforts, we cannot bridge the annual operational gap of over $1 million,” officials said in a release. “We concluded that further cuts would only compromise the quality of education for which Mater Dei Prep is known. The steady decline in enrollment, along with increasing expenses and the ongoing financial assistance we provide to our families has made this closure unavoidable.”

The announcement is the second time in seven years that a shutdown has been threatened, officials said. When administrators in February 2015 announced Mater Dei would close at the end of the 2014-2015 school year, alumni and parents fought the plan and lobbied for a reprieve.

“A dedicated group of alumni and parents stepped up and successfully lobbied the Diocese of Trenton and Bishop David M. O’Connell to spin off the former Mater Dei High School into an independent 501c non-profit corporation,” school officials stated about the last closing scare. “An ambitious and successful campaign raised over $1.5 million dollars to ensure continue operations.”

But it is unknown if such a rescue can occur this late in the current school year.

“The fact is that we simply do not have the funds to continue school operations after this academic year,” Kathryn A. McLaughlin, chair of the school’s board of trustees, said in a statement.  “Mater Dei Prep is a wonderful high school and a close-knit family. We have cherished the many years of excellent education led by our dedicated administration, faculty, staff and coaches, and we are grateful for the extraordinary efforts by the Mater Dei Prep School Board of Trustees, alumni, donors, and families who supported our mission.”

Related:‘We were blindsided’: Parents organize to try to save Mother Seton Academy in Howell

Mater Dei Prep first opened in 1961 and has served more than 8,000 graduates, officials said. The high school’s athletic programs have had their share of big moments during the school’s 61-season history.

The school’s football team became a powerhouse from 2016 to 2020 under former head coach Dino Mangiero, a former National Football League and Rutgers University player.

With the aid of transfers from both inside and outside the Shore area, the Seraphs went 43-10 under Mangiero. That included a 12-0 season with the NJSIAA Non-Public Group 2 championship in 2016 — the school’s only NJSIAA football championship. Mater Dei Prep also advanced to NJSIAA championship games in 2017-19.

Mangiero retired from coaching in February, 2020. The school did not field a varsity team in 2021 after several prominent players transferred out of the school. The Seraphs played a six-game junior varsity schedule. The program had hoped to make a comeback on the varsity level this year with newly hired head coach Justin Fumando, the former head coach at Central Regional. 

“It’s with great sadness I have to announce that I will not get the chance to lead the young men of Mater Dei Prep Football,” Fumando tweeted Monday. “The school will be closing before we have a chance to present a new era of football for the school. My heart goes out to the young men there.”

The Mater Dei boys basketball program was a power under former head coach Keith Glass for 12 seasons from the mid 1980s to mid-1990. 

The program was again a power from 2016 to 2018, when it won Shore Conference Tournament championships in 2016 and 2017 and advanced to the SCT final in 2018 under former head coach Ben Gamble.

The Seraphs also advanced to the Shore Conference Tournament championship game in 1984 when the late Larry Hennessey was the head coach. Hennessey had come to Mater Dei after a highly-successful 23-season stint at Neptune High School

During Glass’ tenure, Mater Dei Prep defeated a powerhouse St. Anthony team that was ranked No. 1 in the country in the early 1990’s.

Glass had come to Mater Dei after he was an assistant coach at UCLA in the early 1980’s under head coach Larry Brown.

“Personally, I spent 12 great years there (at Mater Dei Prep),’’ Glass, who is currently a basketball player’s agent, said. “What I feel for mostly is the kids that went through and have a such a deep connection to the place. I’m hearing from a lot of people and I can feel that they’re heart-broken. It’s almost like part of you is gone.

“I feel for the kids that I coached and everybody that went there that had just such a bond with the place. I’m removed from it 20 years, but it was a big part of my life. It’s just a sad day. 

Mater Dei Prep’s softball program was also a power under Jeanne Dickinson, who won over 500 games in close to 40 seasons. The Seraphs won the 2008 NJSIAA Non-Public B championship under Dickinson.

“School administration, faculty, guidance counselors, staff and coaches will continue their commitment to the community of enrolled students, parents and guardians,” the school statement added. “And will focus their efforts on assisting families to make the necessary arrangements for transfers to other regional Catholic high schools.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at [email protected] and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp

Source: Asbury Park

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