About Us
The Mission of Mother Seton School, a vibrant, Christ-centered community, is to inspire students to strive for academic excellence and dedicate their lives to love and serve Christ in the tradition of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Vincent de Paul.
Today, Mother Seton School, located less than one mile from the site of Elizabeth's original school, is an important partner for many Maryland and Pennsylvania families as it continues the Seton Legacy of Catholic Education, at the heart of which are the Core Values of Vincentian Education.
MSS boasts an affordable, high-quality Catholic education (preschool through eighth grade) focused on the whole child and welcoming families of many faiths. Our outstanding curriculum helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, preparing them to meet the challenges of the 21st century, while our award-winning music and arts program stimulates creativity and self-expression. As a certified Maryland Green School, MSS operates an ecofriendly campus, which includes a Monarch Butterfly Way Station, nature trail, and gardens. Our 15-acre campus nestled in the Catoctin Valley encourages outdoor exploration and play, while our proximity to the National Shrine of our patron saint and foundress allows students to develop a strong sense of spirituality that is reflected in school liturgies, our Prayer Partner program and community service.
Mother Seton School offers a science lab, library and media center, integrated classroom technology, a middle school Spanish program, and the Seton LaCroce Learning Center, which provides intervention and enrichment services when needed. Students may take part in a variety of extracurricular activities, including band and chorus, STEM clubs, art club, Healthy Eating Club, Student Council, National Junior Honor Society and the Seton Chapter of the Vincentian Marian Youth, an international service organization.
Mother Seton School is sponsored by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise Province. Provincial leaders provide direction in school governance and formation for mission, and appoint the principal and chairperson of the Board of Directors.
Our Values
We Cultivate a Community of
EXCELLENCE
by fostering an environment of academic excellence through quality teaching and high expectations for learning.
RESPECT
by treating every person as a child of God, through love, kindness and compassion.
SERVICE
by putting our Catholic faith into action.
Core Values of Vincentian Education
Holistic
Seeks to nurture the students in a holistic fashion; educates the heart as well as the head, forms the spirit, the mind, and the body; embraces a global perspective.
Integrated
Blends the human and the spiritual, the abstract and the practical, the professional and the personal, the simple and the complex.
Creative
Finds new or renewed ways to meet the changing needs of successive generations of students while maintaining a clear “sense of the possible”.
Flexible
Adapts traditional methods to the needs of the non-traditional student.
Excellent
Places quality at the heart of:
- Teaching: the teacher is not only the competent, but efficient, dedicated, and real – “all those virtues required of the students”.
- Methodology: the method employed is active, challenging, goal oriented, fosters tools and attitudes of life-long learning.
Person Oriented
Reflects relationships marked by humility and simplicity, in which all administration, faculty, staff, and most importantly, students, are respected and valued.
Collaborative
Collaborative rather than competes with co-workers, organizations, parents, and other educational institutions.
Focused
Believes that its mission is none other than a participation in the mission of the Church; the service of Christ in those who are poor. As such, it strives to integrate this vision into the educational process and to keep the primacy of it alive among all those who share in this common mission.