Mater Dei School (Bethesda, Maryland)
Mater Dei is an elementary school for boys grades 1 through 8, conducted by Catholic laymen, in Bethesda, Maryland. History. Mater Dei was founded in 1960. Founder Robert W. Barros III, who was headmaster until 1985, modelled the school after Saint David's School, an all-boys Catholic school in New York City. It opened with 55 students at a campus on Churchill Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, but moved to its present location in 1964, having expanded to 172 students. Controversy over allowing women on the school's board of trustees ended with an  election in which five men and three women ran for five spots. Once elected, Edward Bennett Williams stepped down in order to give his spot to a woman by default. His son, Edward "Ned" Williams, later became Mater Dei's headmaster. Demographics. During the 2018-19 school year, Mater Dei's 230 students were 91% white, 6% black, 2% Asian, 2% Hispanic, and 1% multiracial. 88% were Catholic.