Type Private, College-prep Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic Established 1946 Tuition 16,995 USD Founded 1946 | Motto Gentlemen & Scholars Patron saint(s) St. John of Matha Founder Trinitarian Order Phone +1 240-764-2200 Colors White, Blue, Red | |
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Address 4313 Madison St, Hyattsville, MD 20781, USA Similar Gonzaga College High Sch, Bishop McNamara High Sch, Elizabeth Seton High School, Our Lady Of Good Counsel, St John's College High Sch Profiles | ||
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DeMatha Catholic High School, named after Saint John of Matha, is a four-year Catholic high school for young men located in Hyattsville, Maryland, USA. A member of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
Contents
History
DeMatha was founded by the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, or Trinitarians, in 1946 in Hyattsville, Maryland, about 2 miles south of University of Maryland, College Park. Originally, the school was designed for Catholic seminarians from the Trinitarian order. However, many locals desired a Catholic secondary school for their children, and DeMatha's location in the Maryland suburbs of Washington proved ideal for this desire. As a result, the school began admitting more students, and expanded its academic and athletic programs while constructing the "old wing", or original school structure.
In addition to the original building, the school erected a state-of-the-art second wing, completed in 1990. The former band practice facility, known as "Fort Necessity", burned down in the 1970s. This building was refurbished and became the Anthony Fotos Arts Center, named for a beloved teacher of mechanical drawing and other architectural and engineering courses and a 30-year veteran of the school.
In 2001, the school purchased two acres adjacent to the original campus along Route 1, or Baltimore Avenue, in downtown Hyattsville. The additional property is now a Gateway on Route 1 and three parking lots. In 2009, the McCarthy Activity Center became the home of DeMatha's Music Department, and in early 2010, the LT (SEAL) Brendan Looney '99 Convocation Center opened on Madison Street. This building includes a new gym, which replaced the Morgan Wootten Gymnasium, as well as a weight/fitness room, classrooms, athletic offices, alumni lounge, Stag Store, snack shop, film room, batting cages, and other amenities.
While DeMatha continues its tradition of all-male secondary education, when Regina Catholic High School, an all-girls school in Adelphi, Maryland, closed in 1989, DeMatha welcomed 21 members of the junior class who expressed a desire to finish their last high school year at DeMatha. Therefore, the class of 1990 contains the only female graduates in school history. Elizabeth Seton in Bladensburg, Maryland, is DeMatha's official sister school.
Academics
The school offers a variety of honors and sixteen Advanced Placement courses, as well as various academic clubs and societies. Also offered are opportunities for study abroad and service within local Maryland communities, in keeping with Trinitarian tradition. The school emphasizes the importance of being both "a gentleman and a scholar".
The United States Department of Education recognized DeMatha as a Blue Ribbon School in 1984 and 1991. In DeMatha's 70-year history, the school has graduated over 9,000 young men. The school supports the Valois chapter of the National Honor Society, with a large percentage of upperclassmen participating in the group. The DeMatha chapter assists with food drives, fundraisers, and cleaning efforts of local parks, including the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C.
DeMatha fields competitive scholastic competition teams. For example, DeMatha routinely appears on It's Academic, the Washington-based television quiz show. DeMatha has emerged victorious several times during their television appearances.
DeMatha routinely fields a strong Mock Trial team. Consisting of academically talented students, and coached by faculty and alumni mentors, the team has enjoyed great success and exposure over the years, being featured in publications such as the "Catholic Standard" and arguing before the Maryland Court of Appeals. The team regularly makes a showing in Maryland state semifinals, winning the statewide Maryland championship in 2001.
Music program
DeMatha's music program was founded in 1970 by John Mitchell. DeMatha performing groups have received 50 gold medals at international festivals in Chicago, Toronto, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach, and Daytona Beach. Each year, five ensembles and two choral programs perform at a major music festival. The bands and choruses have received consistent superior ratings for the past 30 years at District, Archdiocesan, and State Band festivals, including multiple Grand Champion awards. In addition, over 40% of students participate in the music program.
Over 500 students have been chosen to perform in All-State bands since 1974, the most of any private school in Maryland in that span of time, and over 300 alumni have gone on to professional careers in music. The graduating class of 2013 earned more than $4.1 million in college scholarships.
DeMatha's music programs feature both academic and extracurricular performing groups including:
In addition, the school maintains a choral program focusing on performance music, which includes:
Athletics
DeMatha's athletic teams, the Stags, have received national recognition for achievement in a variety of sports, from golf and baseball to basketball and football. Sports Illustrated recognized DeMatha as the #2 high school athletic program in the United States in 2005, and again in 2007. In 2009, it was named the top athletic program in Maryland.
The Stags first gained national recognition in 1962 with their initial national championship in basketball with a team led by John Austin, Johnny Jones, Gary Ward, John Carroll and "Big" Bill McDermott, coached by Morgan Wootten. In 1965, the DeMatha basketball team won its second national championship defeating Power Memorial Academy of New York, with then Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), in a game called "The Greatest High School Basketball Game Ever". Morgan Wootten earned a spot as the first high school basketball coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his achievements as the Stags' coach, including a career 1,274-192 record.
DeMatha's basketball program has produced many championships in the school's Washington Catholic Athletic Conference league, and the team often participates in the City Title game against opposing schools from the District of Columbia. In 2005, DeMatha's varsity basketball team finished with the #1 ranking in The Washington Post and finished as the third-best high school squad in the country, according to USA Today.
The DeMatha varsity football team won the 2008 WCAC championship for the sixth consecutive year and finished ranked #1 in the DC area by The Washington Post. In 2004, Bill McGregor was named "High School Coach of the Year" by the NFL. He was nominated by his former player, Brian Westbrook, then playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. They won four consecutive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles from 2013-2016.
The DeMatha varsity soccer team has won six WCAC championships, and had a 67-game undefeated streak from 2004 through 2007. DeMatha's 2010 soccer team was WCAC champs, went undefeated (24-0-0) and were ranked number 3 in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, and number 4 in the nation by ESPN. The 2010 team also scored 110 goals while allowing only 10 goals in all games. The 2011 soccer team were also WCAC champions and undefeated (20-0-0), and ended their season ranked number 1 in the nation by National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The DeMatha wrestling team is known as a national powerhouse, and won 23 consecutive WCAC championships until being beaten by Bishop O'Connell in the 2008-2009 season.
DeMatha also fields competitive teams, each with a number of conference titles, in other sports, such as cross country, swimming/diving, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, rowing (crew), rugby, and track. DeMatha has produced several All-American wrestlers. The lacrosse team have won several championships.