About Us
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Our Mission Statement
St. Mary of the Hills School is a culturally diverse Preschool through Grade 8 Catholic School inspired by our love of Christ. We educate over 250 students, both Catholic and non-Catholic from over 25 cities and towns in Massachusetts. By valuing innovation in education, our programs promote spiritual growth, personal academic excellence, and social development in a safe and nurturing environment. We believe that being part of this community strengthens all of us in meeting the challenges of our lives – as scholars, citizens, family members, and as active bearers of Christ’s compassion to the wider world.
From Early Childhood through Eighth grade we encourage each child to recognize his or her full, unique potential. As their mastery of core academic skills grows, our students become capable, disciplined passionate seekers of knowledge and truth. St. Mary of the Hills offers age-appropriate enrichment, volunteerism, and leadership opportunities in addition to classroom instruction. These programs reinforce our school’s values and mission and foster our students’ self-esteem, self-confidence, faith, compassion, and an understanding of the world around them.
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“St. Mary of the Hills School is literally, a breath of fresh air for me. I made the decision to take my daughter out of public school and allow her the gift of time for her middle school years. I needed a place where I felt she would be safer socially, and where she would be afforded the individualized attention that she needed to grow academically. When I began my search, I knew a few families from St. Mary of the Hills who had success stories to share, but what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for the other. Honestly, I took a gamble, and you could say, I hit the lottery. Every school has its strengths and challenges. What I love about St. Mary of the Hills is that they are grounded in the morals and virtues that seem to be becoming vintage. I found honesty, mindfulness, openness, a willingness to rethink and rework curriculum to suit students’ needs at St. Mary of the Hills. I found a willingness to engage, rather than simply entertain families. My daughter enjoys her days at school. They haven’t all been blissful, but she’s growing, maturing, building relationships, and feeding off the positivity of her teachers. Most importantly, she’s happy and that’s 90% of the battle in my opinion.”
-Soondarie Barker P’22
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Why Choose St. Mary of the Hills?
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All children learn differently. We adapt to individual personalities and learning behaviors ensuring students receive the one-on-one and personalized guidance they deserve. We connect and collaborate with parents so that together we can calibrate a child’s learning experience. We strive to make every child feel accepted, whether he or she laughs loudly or smiles shyly, excels in the classroom, or needs extra help from time to time. We provide the support and resources that will develop and maximize a child’s God-given potential both inside and outside the classroom.
From classroom technology, new thinking in curriculum design, the implementation of a Spanish Language program beginning in our Pre-Kindergarten classes and continuing through 8th grade our leadership evaluates, pilots, and implements innovation in learning and teaching. Students benefit from local and global best educational practices. Our teachers participate in professional development opportunities and have a passion for education that they impart on their students fostering a life-long love of learning that nurtures a child’s imagination, curiosity, and confidence. Enrichment opportunities include academic enrichment, athletics, leadership development, visual and performing arts, social justice, and volunteerism. These activities align with St. Mary’s Mission and Vision and provide students opportunities for growth and self-awareness outside of the traditional classroom setting.
Our innovative Middle School program cultivates a child’s blooming self–confidence and emergent capacity to think for themselves. Students begin to develop a wider view of the world around them. They are becoming keenly aware of peer pressure and social media influences, these adolescents are changing and developing and discovering who they are. Our single-sex 6th-grade classroom initiative has shown that test scores in math and science improve for girls and boys have measured gains in language arts and writing. 8th-grade students graduating from St. Mary’s attend some of the most prestigious Catholic, Exam, and Independent schools in Massachusetts. They are also awarded merit scholarships by these schools based on their academic success at St. Mary’s. Our amazing students come to school every day from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and communities, making for a vibrant multi-cultural classroom. They discover that intelligence, laughter, and friendship are colorblind, forever empowering St. Mary’s students to see their world – and all the people in it- differently. Through a foundation rooted in faith, we develop young men and women of strong moral character. St. Mary’s students are peer leaders and changemakers in their communities, understanding the importance of acceptance and tolerance in making social changes to the benefit of the world they live in.
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