MIDDLETOWN – It was all smiles and even some tears Thursday afternoon at Mater Dei Prep High School as staff and students found out there is a future for the school.
School officials announced Thursday that Bishop David M. O’Connell with the Diocese of Trenton has formally approved the school’s plan moving forward. The plan will have the high school, 538 Church St., that had been operating for 50 years, to function as an independent Roman Catholic school, overseen by its own independent board of trustees which will be responsible its finances and operation. The school will no longer come under the auspices of St. Mary’s Parish, which still oversees St. Mary’s elementary school.
Following the announcement in February that the school would have to permanently close this June due to unstable enrollment and unstable finances, parents and alumni rallied to raise more than $1 million and draft a business plan for the school’s future sustainability.
With the announcement at the school this afternoon, parent Janet Molicki, said choking back tears of joy, “This is God’s work.”
— By John Burton
