Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California)

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Location
Mater Dei High School Phone Number (714) 754-7711
Santa Ana, CA, USA
Information
Religion	Roman Catholic
School president	Patrick Murphy
Enrollment	2,300 (Fall 2006)
Faculty	217
CEEB Code	053-240
Student:teacher ratio	28:1
Average SAT scores (2006)	520 (Critical Reading) 530 (Math) 530 (Writing)
Average ACT scores (2006)	22.8 (English) 23.0 (Math) 23.6 (Reading) 21.7 (Science) 22.9 (Composite)
Type	Private
Athletics	Baseball Basketball Cross Country American football Golf Soccer Softball Swimming Track & Field Tennis Volleyball Water polo Wrestling
Athletics conference	CIF Southern Section
Mascot	Monarchs
Color(s)	Scarlet and Grey
Established	1950
Homepage	www.materdei.org

Mater Dei High School is a private, Catholic, co-educational secondary school in Santa Ana, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. With an enrollment of 2,300 students (2006) Mater Dei High School is one of the largest Catholic high schools in the United States. Mater Dei High School is known for its highly successful athletic programs, especially boy's basketball and American football. In 2008 Sports Illustrated rated Mater Dei High School 2^nd on its “Best High School Athletic Programs” list.^[1]

1 History
2 Statistics
3 Athletics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The first graduating class received diplomas in June, 1953. During the next few years, the school added a band, a C.S.F. charter, more buildings, and a chapel.

In 1960, the school looked back on the first ten years that added thirteen-hundred students and a waiting list for more. Mater Dei added its theatre arts department in the 1970s and performed its first senior musical. Enrollment hit 2,150, making Mater Dei the largest Catholic high school west of Chicago.

During the 1980s, Mater Dei broadened its curriculum, including technology.

The Mater Dei 2008 Capital Campaign has funded the construction of Phase I (Fall 1999 – Fall 2002): a student parking lot, the Gordon & Gail Lee Family Chapel and Campus Ministry Center, the Antone & Anna Borchard Family Library, the Reed & Angela LeVecke Student Activities Complex, the Shamrock Student Plaza, the Josef D'Heygers Academic Services Center, including the Muth Family Learning Center, and the Ward Family Multi-Media Center. Phase III will include a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Complex.

In order to meet the demands of Mater Dei's ever growing athletic program, the school constructed a new Athletic & Aquatics Complex. The new Athletics & Aquatics Complex houses a three-court, 3,000 seat gymnasium; the Monarch Hall of Fame; a wrestling room; a 10-lane, 25-meter swimming pool; a training/rehabilitation center; weight training/conditioning center; locker rooms; equipment rooms and offices for the dedicated coaching staff.

In addition, all fields are being upgraded to FieldTurf. Construction on "Rick's Track" took place this spring and construction on the lower level football and soccer FieldTurf is also complete. Construction of The Rod Dedeaux Baseball Complex at Joe O'Hara Field wrapped up in the spring of 2005.

[edit] Statistics

Category	Stats
Religious background:	86% Catholic; 14% represent a variety of other faiths
Cultural background:	58% White; 2% Black; 21% Latino; 16% Asian; 2%Pacific Islander; 1% Native American
Academic:	60% of student body attended Catholic elementary school; 18% attended private school
	14 AP and 17 Honors classes; 40% enrolled in AP or Honors classes
	98% continue on to college; 2% go on to work or military; 85% qualify for a four-year college
	2004 SAT scores: 89% took the SAT; 533 average verbal, 541 average math
	Up to 30% receive a total of $750,000 annually in need-based tuition assistance

[edit] Athletics

Mater Dei's sports programs are some of the most successful in the nation.

The Boys' Basketball team, coached by Gary McKnight since 1981, has won 19 CIF Southern Section championships and CIF State Titles in 1987, 1990, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2008.

The Mater Dei Football program has been among California's elite programs since the 1950s. Under coach Dick Coury, Mater Dei won CIF championships in 1956, 1957, 1960, and 1965. The 1960 Monarchs were led by John Huarte, who would later win the 1964 Heisman trophy while at Notre Dame. Under current coach Bruce Rollinson, who has taken over head coaching duties in 1989, Mater Dei has won CIF championships in 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 1999. They also won National Championships in 1994 and 1996. Coach Rollinson was named “Coach of the Year” by USA Today both in 1994 and 1996, making him only the second California high school football coach to be honored such (the other is Bob Ladouceur of De La Salle High School).

Mater Dei is one of two high schools in the nation with two Heisman-trophy winning alumni: John Huarte '61 (1964 Heisman Trophy winner), and Matt Leinart '01 (2004 Heisman Trophy winner). The other is Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, with Davey O'Brien and Tim Brown.

The current varsity quarterback, Matt Barkley (class of 2009), became the first junior honored as the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year. Sportswriters and football experts from around the nation tabbed Barkley from more than 1 million high school football players. He also becomes eligible for Gatorade’s national male athlete of the year, which will be announced before the ESPY Awards in July. Earlier, Barkley was named the Gatorade’s California player of the year.^[2]