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Middletown private school will close its doors at the end of this school year.  Head football coach Steve Sciarappa is the director of Saint Mary’s schools which includes Mater Dei Prep
MIDDLETOWN – Mater Dei Prep, a fixture in Middletown since 1964, will close its doors at the end of the upcoming school year due to financial losses.
“It is with great sadness that I inform you that Mater Dei Prep will close at the end of this school year, June 2015,” Saint Mary’s pastor Father Jeff Kegley said in a press release.  “Over the many years, Mater Dei Prep has been running large financial deficits. It had been the hope of the Parish Finance Council and myself that these trends could be reversed. However, the 2014-2015 projected loss is close to one million dollars.”
Saint Mary’s elementary school will remain open and Mater Dei Prep will continue its varsity sports for the remainder of the school year.  The Seraphs have 340 students enrolled and a faculty and staff of 48 people.
The football team enjoyed an 8-3 season reaching the second round of the playoffs.  Head coach Steve Sciarappa is also the director of schools for Saint Mary’s Parish.  The football team will have a number of attractive transfers to area schools.  Sophomore wide receiver Eddie Lewis and defensive lineman Artis Hemingway recently played in the under 17 USA Football International Bowl in Dallas.  Lewis, who was a Shore Sports Zone All-Zone wide receiver, recently picked up his first major scholarship offer from the University of Iowa.
The athletics department also made headlines this year with the addition of a girls ice hockey program, the only varsity team in the Shore and a national championship won by the varsity cheerleading squad.  Mater Dei Prep’s most notable alumni is NBC Nightly News main anchor Brian Williams.