St. Mary of the Hills School is the parish school of Our Lady of the Visitation Parish, Milton. Teachers and staff 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. Our mission is to provide the support and resources that will develop and maximize a child's God-given potential both inside and outside the classroom.

Students graduating from the eighth grade attend some of the most prestigious Catholic, exam, and independent high schools in Massachusetts. They are awarded merit scholarships by these schools based on their academic, leadership, and extracurricular achievements at St. Mary's.

The foundation for excellence in education begins with our preschool and pre-K students. In partnership with the Lynch Foundation, this program promotes school readiness and positive outcomes for children with effective English Language Arts and math curriculums that are developmentally appropriate for these young learners. In early 2023, the school added a speech pathologist to address the rise in students needing speech intervention.

In the Kindergarten through eighth-grade population, the school is receiving more inquiries and applications from families of children with reading based learning differences, such as dyslexia. St. Mary's is able to serve most of these students with the help of our two Wilson based reading specialists. The Wilson program is a rules based program using the Orton-Gillingham multi-sensory approach to reading instruction helping students with a program that is organized, and includes phonemic awareness, and decoding skills that are necessary to understanding and ultimately developing a love of reading. "I just wanted to express my gratitude to this team for your incredible work with Declan! He is so happy at St. Mary's ... Last night, I walked by and saw him reading by himself. This image brought me so much joy. He has gained a love of reading and he is proud of himself. Thank you for this gift and for all your hard work." -- St. Mary of the Hills School parent.

Small class sizes allow teachers to provide differentiated learning to their students. Ongoing assessments of a student's progress provide valuable data on how to tailor this learning, providing each child the best possible classroom instruction. Teachers focus on growth mindset within their classrooms, helping students understand that by persisting through challenges, they can overcome them. In developing and practicing skills, such as curiosity, positivity, and resiliency, students can achieve their full potential.

Through a foundation rooted in the Catholic 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 benefit the world they live in.

St. Mary of the Hills' students come to school every day from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and communities, making for a vibrant multicultural classroom. They discover that intelligence, laughter, and friendship are colorblind, forever empowering St. Mary of the Hills students to see their world -- and all the people in it -- differently.

For more information about St. Mary of the Hills School, please visit our website at www.smhschool.org or call our Admission Team at 617-698-2464.



BETH EDDY IS THE DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT AND ADVANCEMENT, ST. MARY OF THE HILLS SCHOOL, MILTON.