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Mother of God School (MOG) is a Catholic, coeducational private school located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The school currently enrolls students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and the Mother of God Community (formerly known as the Potomac Charismatic Community, Inc), which was responsible for the school's founding. It is located across the street from the St. John Neumann Roman Catholic Church, but is not connected to the parish. The school recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. ==Background== Mother of God School was founded in 1987 to help meet the needs of parents with young children in the Mother of God Community. The Community is a group of Catholic religious and laypeople around Montgomery County, Maryland who have made a commitment to help one another better adhere to the principles of Catholicism.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Mother of God Covenant Community )〕 In the mid 1980s, it experienced an influx of younger families who needed to enroll their children in local schools.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Mother of God School History )〕 To help meet these needs, and to spread its message to other families, the Community voted to purchase a piece of land along Goshen Road and construct a school. The three-story brick building was built partially into the side of a hill and was joined to the "Goshen House" (affectionately called "The White House" by students), a building which housed a chapel and living areas for members of the community. The buildings face a central courtyard housing a statue of the Virgin Mary which would later be used in the school's annual May Crowning, one of many traditions shared by both the school and community. The students of the school spent two years in an unused public school building nearby before the construction of the Goshen Road campus was completed. After review of the school, the Archdiocese of Washington determined Mother of God met the diocese's "Policies for Catholic Schools" and accepted it as an affiliated Catholic school. In 1999, the school was first accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. It is currently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In the early 2000s, the school's second major construction project was completed: a brick building housing a large gym and several classrooms. The gym would be used for meetings and worship services for not only the school and community, but also many other local organizations. The school achieved a maximum size of over 250 students. In the late 2000s, however, Mother of God found its enrollment increasingly sustained by a few community families who had been enrolled more as more of a tradition, rather than a competitive choice. Under the direction of principal Mary Reinhard and her predecessor, the school instituted new policies and reorganized much of its staff, in the hope of catching the attention of a new generation of parents. The first of the changes began with the school letting go of its foreign language teacher in favor of the Rosetta Stone Classroom language-learning software, with the eventual goal of transitioning to a more computer-interactive learning environment. This goal was finally realized in the 2013-2014 school year, when middle school students were given laptop computers to access MOG's first online textbooks.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Mother of God School Fees )〕 The school also attempted a transition to Project Based Learning (PBL), and hired a new President, psychologist Dr. Andre Leyva, who would be responsible for engaging students and providing intuitive feedback for teachers. To help facilitate these changes, MOG also renewed its focus on fundraising. This was accomplished in part by beginning two new annual traditions: the "Race for Education" and GlobalFest. Both were designed to raise money by engaging parents and the Gaithersburg community, and were moderately successful. GlobalFest, in particular, was heavily advertised by the school (the class of 2012 even recorded a radio ad to promote the event) and helped provide the funds needed to convert part of the gym building to house a new Pre-School program. Mother of God succeeded in attracting a new generation of students, mostly enrolled in the new Pre-K programs. The last of the "old" families' students were finally graduating, however, and Mother of God had difficulty maintaining enrollment. With the retirement of Principal Reinhard and several teachers, the school once again struggled financially. The Mother of God Community has made an attempt to change this trend with its recent hiring of Mr. W. Hall Miller, a longtime member of the community, as the school's new principal. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mother of God School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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