In an effort to advance the mission of Catholic education in the Bayshore area of Monmouth County, Mater Dei Prep, Middletown, has announced the formation of an inaugural board of governors.

By forming a board of governors to ensure that Mater Dei Prep has a clear vision and strategy, Father Jeffrey Kegley, pastor of St. Mary Parish and director of Mater Dei Prep said, “As stewards of the school, we achieve two things. First, the board of governors will have shared authority over planning and execution of our strategy for advancement and marketing, finances and alumni relations. Secondly, this will ensure that this strategy is institutionalized within the school so there is the formal and continuous focus on ensuring there are measurable successes.”

“My mission is to advance the work of the New Evangelization, especially in our mission of Catholic education,” Father Kegley continued. Having grown up in the Bayshore area of Monmouth County, Father Kegley said he has “always had a place in my heart for Mater Dei Prep” and that affiliation “sparked me to give some more laser-like focus to the school’s long-term success.”

After stating how a number of private and public schools have experience declining enrollment that are consistent with the secular trend of a decline in school-age children, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., offered words of encouragement for Mater Dei Prep and the idea to form a new board of governors.

Mater Dei Prep “has an outstanding product,” Bishop O’Connell said of the institution.

“The most important improvement Mater Dei Prep needed to make a better method of communicating its strong college preparatory program,” said Bishop O’Connell. “The installation of Father Kegley and formation of this board have had an immediate and profound impact on Mater Dei Prep’s enrollment. Hiring two full-time and highly qualified staff to work on recruitment, marketing and alumni relations has been wonderful. We continue to support these efforts and applaud the high quality of Mater Dei Prep’s product.”

Steve Sciarappa, principal, spoke of how the school strives to help a student enroll into the college of his or her choice. He noted the average student has his or her four years of tuition “returned to them” in the form of college scholarship dollars and the value of college credits gained in co-curriculum courses with Seton Hall University, South Orange, and Brookdale Community College. Academic excellence is demonstrated by a 100 percent college acceptance rate in 2013 and the average SAT scores ranked the school above top public high schools in Monmouth County.

“However,” Sciarappa said, “college admission counselors tell us the real differentiator for getting into the college of your choice is extracurricular activities and volunteerism.” He said the school had a 97 percent participation rate in extracurricular activities and the students also averaged over 100 hours last year volunteering through the school’s various social justice programs.

“The most important aspect of our campus is we are a smaller, tight-knit community who treats each student as a precious gift from God,” he said.

Speaking about the newly formed board of governors, Randy MacDonald, chairman, said that, “We have a terrific cross-section of experiences and perspectives. We have formed three committees to be focused on advancement and marketing, finances and alumni relations. We have formalized our mission and mapped out a strategy document….We believe that our most important measures of success are all upward sloping trends. I believe I speak for all the board when I say that we are very excited about the direction that Mater Dei Prep is headed.”