After 61 years of providing academic excellence to Monmouth County and the Diocese of Trenton, Mater Dei Prep High School will be closing its doors at the completion of the academic year in June 2022. All classes, athletic team schedules, guidance and extracurricular activities will continue in full force through the end of the current academic year.

The Board of Trustees made the decision to close after deep deliberation and amid continued support for Mater Dei Prep. Kathryn A. McLaughlin, the Board Chair stated, “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. The fact is that we simply do not have the funds to continue school operations after this academic year.”

Since 2014, enrollment at Mater Dei Prep has declined by more than half. 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. In February 2015, the pastor of St. Mary’s Parish announced that the school would be closing at the end of the 2014-15 school year, in the wake of chronic fiscal deficits. 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. An ambitious and successful campaign raised over $1.5 million dollars to ensure continue operations.

Since that time, the funds were fully leveraged to maintain continuity and create new sports and high-quality academic programs. However, the subsequent years saw further declines in applications and enrollment. Those factors and declines in fundraising were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mater Dei Prep proudly stepped up and met those challenges, but the combination of higher costs, fewer students and demographic trends created structural operating losses.

This most recent development caps a decade-long, nationwide decline in Catholic education. According to the National Catholic Educational Association, almost 1,000 elementary and secondary schools have closed since 2009. In New Jersey alone, there have been over 100 closings in the past two decades. Notable recent closings include Mother Seton Academy in Howell, Holy Innocents School in Neptune and Saint Joseph High School in Hammonton, a South Jersey football powerhouse. All of them resulting from similar enrollment and revenue challenges faced by Mater Dei Prep.

According to Ms. McLaughlin, “Mater Dei Prep is proud of its service to the community through six decades, maintaining the highest standards of Catholic education. This has been a painful and difficult decision for everyone involved. We are heartened knowing the positive impact Mater Dei Prep has made in the lives of our current and former students, their families and alumni who have been so supportive of our efforts through this challenging period.”

Mater Dei Prep’s current enrollment of 220 students represents a dramatic decline from over 300 students as recently as 2018. “Despite our best efforts, we cannot bridge the annual operational gap of over $1 million. 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.”

Since first opening its doors in 1961, Mater Dei Prep has been guided and directed by the principles of the Catholic Church. Mater Dei Prep has been a catalyst for advancement, awarding over 8,000 diplomas to the sons and daughters of Monmouth County and beyond. Some of the distinctive programs that thrived at Mater Dei Prep included; an award-winning Performing Arts department, a renowned Global Leaders Program, and most recently a state-wide recognized Robotics team.

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

The local Board of Education is looking for a qualified candidate to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education.

Board member Erin Dougherty, who is in her second term serving on the board, confirmed today she submitted her resignation at the board meeting Tuesday and anticipates it will be formally accepted at the regular board meeting April 26.

Although the board member confirmed her resignation requires “an involved answer” , it has to do with the regionalization question that is currently a major issue in this borough as well as Highlands and neighboring Sea Bright for both the three boards of education in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands as well as the governing bodies of both towns and Sea Bright.

Mrs. Dougherty said she will issue a prepared statement tomorrow.

The board member, who lives on Center Ave, is married to Councilman Brian Dougherty and the couple have three children in the local school system. The question of regionalization with the borough of Sea Bright in a preK-12 school district is currently under discussion by both Sea Bright and Highlands Borough councils.

Molly Murphy, who is also a member of the local Board of Education, is wife of Atlantic Highlands Council president James Murphy. Her term expires next year, but there has not been any indication whether she, too, will resign from her position because of any possible conflicts with her husband’s position on the governing body.

Councils in both those towns have already passed resolutions requesting the state Department of Education Commissioner to permit placing the question of a preK-12 regional district involving the three towns on the November ballot. In Highlands, where Councilman Don Melnyk’s wife is a member of the Highlands Board of Education, Councilman Melnyk declined to vote on the question because of a conflict of issue. The resolution was approved by unanimous vote of the remaining council members.

The Atlantic Highlands Mayor and Council indicated it will not make a decision on the ballot question until after a second feasibility study now underway is completed by the tri-district. That was first anticipated to be released in early April and has since been reported to be released sometime in either late April or May. The question on the November ballot must be written and approved by the Commissioner prior to Aug. 15.

At a recent informational meeting held by the Highlands mayor and council, there was an indication by the attorney who completed the study the towns had requested that should Atlantic Highlands not approve the question on the ballot, Highlands and Sea Bright might consider another option whereby Sea Bright would join Highlands and could possibly bring additional funds to that borough with Atlantic Highlands not receiving any of those benefits and possibly becoming a sending district toa new Henry Hudson Regional High school..

The Sea Bright Mayor and Council is holding an informational session similar to the one in Highlands last week and an explanation of that possibility may be discussed at that meeting.

The meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Monday, April 11 and will be held at the Beach Pavilion office on the ocean side of Ocean Ave. The meeting is open to interested persons in all three towns.

In the meantime, the local board of education lost no time in eliminating Mrs. Dougherty’s photo and name from its webpage on board business, and advertised the opening effective April 26. The appointment would run from that date until Dec. 31 of this year. It will be on the November ballot to fill the remaining one year of the current three year term.

Candidates interested in in filing letters of application must have them completed no later than 4 p.m. April 25.

Candidates must be at least 18 year old US citizens, able to read and write, a resident of the borough for at least a year this April, a registered voter in the district, and not directly or indirectly interested in a contact with a claim against the board. Applicants cannot be disqualified as a voter pursuant to state law.

Letters of interest should be sent to Janet Sherlock, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, 140 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716.

The board of education will review all qualified applicants.

Tracey Abby-White, who was recently named chairman of the Atlantic Highlands municipal Tri-District Feasibility Study Committee, is being honored as Trustee Woman of the Year by the American Association for Women in Community Colleges.

The former councilwoman in this borough, as well as former member of the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education and former Middletown Township teacher, received announcement of the honor from Dr Monique Umphrey, Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic & Student Affairs for the Austin Community College District. Dr. Umphrey is also president of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges.

In her letter to Ms. Abby-White, Dr. Umphrey said the honoree was also recognized at the Annual Awards Breakfast of the AACC National Convention.

“We applaud you on your accomplishments and your esteemed work as a Trustee for Brookdale Community College,” Dr. Umphrey wrote. Ms Abby-White is currently serving her third term on the Board of Trustees for the community college. She is also the Senior Director of Global Sales Enablement for IronNet Cyber Security.

Ms. Abby-White will accept her newest honor Sunday, May 1 in New York.

In issuing the invitation, Dr. Umphrey also said “you have joined an elite group of women community college leaders who are making a difference for their institutions and the communities they serve.”