MATER DEI HIGH SCHOOL (SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA)

'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 football. In 2005 ''Sports Illustrated'' rated Mater Dei High School 6^th on its “Best High School Athletic Programs” list.^[1]
=History=
Meanwhile, the academic traditions of Mater Dei were being built. The first graduating class received diplomas on June 3, 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 2000 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.

Contents

Statistics

Athletics

Notable Alumni

References

External links

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

Athletics

Mater Dei's sports programs are some of the most successful in the Nation.
The Boy's 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.
The Mater Dei Football program has been among California's elite programs since the 1950s. Under coach Dick Coury, Mater Dei has won CIF championships in 1956, 1957, 1960, and 1965. The 1960 Monarchs were lead 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 & 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 2nd California high school football coach to be honored such (the other is Bob Ladouceur of De La Salle High School).
For the upcoming 2007 football season Mater Dei Football has been ranked #1 in the Preseason rankings compiled by the Orange County Register's High School Football columnist.^[2]
Mater Dei is one of two high schools in the nation with two Heisman-trophy winning alumni: John Huarte '61, and Matt Leinart '01. 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 '09), is the first to start as a freshman under Coach Rollinson and the first at Mater Dei since Todd Marinovich did in 1983 (Marinovich attended Mater Dei as a freshman, but graduated from Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, California in 1987).^[3]

Notable Alumni

★ John Huarte, 1961, NCAA Quarterback - University of Notre Dame, 1964 Heisman Trophy winner.

★ Bob Gunton, 1964, actor.

★ Jennifer Warnes, 1965, recording artist.

★ Bruce Rollinson, 1967, NCAA Running Back - University of Southern California, Mater Dei High School Football Head Coach.

★ Bobby Meacham, 1978, former New York Yankees Shortstop (1983-1988). MLB First Base Coach - San Diego Padres.

★ Steve Oedekerk, 1978, movie director, producer, writer, actor, and stand-up comedian.

★ LeRon Ellis, 1987, basketball player.

★ Chris Jackson, 1988, Arena Football League Wide Receiver - Georgia Force.

★ Jeff Lewis, 1988, Real Estate Investor & star of Bravo's reality show Flipping Out

★ Mike Hopkins, 1989, basketball player, assistant coach at Syracuse University.

★ Reggie Geary, 1992, basketball player.

★ Miles Simon, 1994, basketball player (1997 NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player) and coach.

★ Matt Treanor, 1994, MLB Catcher - Florida Marlins.

★ Matt Grootegoed, 2000, All-American Linebacker - University of Southern California, 2004 Dick Butkus Award finalist & CFL Linebacker - Calgary Stampeders.

★ Cedric Bozeman, 2001, basketball player.

★ Matt Leinart, 2001, NFL Quarterback - Arizona Cardinals, 2004 Heisman Trophy winner.

★ Jamal Sampson, 2001, NBA Center - Denver Nuggets.

★ Colt Brennan, 2002, NCAA Quarterback - University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2006 Sammy Baugh Trophy winner & 2007 Heisman Trophy Candidate.

★ Sergio Santos, 2002, MLB Shortstop - Toronto Blue Jays minor league system

★ D.J. Strawberry, 2003, NBA Guard - Phoenix Suns.

References

1. Best High School Athletic Programs
2. Mater Dei #1
3. SI.com Man of steel

External links

★ Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana