Serve • Lead • Flourish

 

Service is at the heart of what it means to be a St. Matthew’s student. In Preschool, our youngest students participate in a food drive to support St. Joseph’s Center. The class not only brings food, but also spends weeks decorating the boxes that hold the food. They do math lessons learning to count and sort the cans, and talk all about gratitude. By the time our students are preparing for 8th grade, they are designing their own service projects based on what they feel most passionate about. This ethos of service and gratitude can be heard from our faculty, staff and students in and out of the classroom every day. It is why I love to serve as the School Chaplain and why I send my child to school here. 

 

While teaching religion class, I hear our 7th graders wrestle with issues of injustice and food insecurity as they wonder how they can make a difference in their world. I hear 3rd graders not only celebrate their read-a-thon successes, but also explain that the money they raise will go to children just like them who need mosquito nets in Malawi, Africa so they will not get malaria. As the Chaplain, I sit with Middle School students each week to write the chapel prayers. I am able to see - and hear - just how much they care for their fellow students and those they aim to serve through their outreach. Our 4th grade students cheer each other on as they take turns leading Lower School chapels. And as a parent of a pre-k student, I am able to see, firsthand, how our older students care for and treat him with kindness. He loves to watch sports games after school because he wants to cheer on his middle school “friends” and has come to expect that 5th graders will invite him to sit with them. I also am able to witness his understanding of gratitude when he shares all of the things he is grateful for. Here, my son is learning that living a life of service is important. He learns that everyday through the empathy, compassion, kindness and gratitude that is modeled for him. As he grows up, he will learn that taking care of friends and taking care of strangers are all a part of being a person of service.  

 

Not surprisingly, Serve - Lead - Flourish are the guiding principles of the 8th Grade Leadership Course, aptly nicknamed “SLF.” The class gives us an opportunity to explore the intrinsic connection between Serving and Leading. As an Episcopal school we seek to ensure that education and learning are not just for the students themselves but also for them to make the world a better place.

Within this overarching frame, we provide opportunities for students to listen to others, identify community or campus issues, and consider problem solving ideas. Students propose possible plans, then consider how best to communicate and follow through on their ideas. These key leadership skills are then put into practice each week throughout the community in myriad ways.

Long standing leadership options at St. Matthew’s include Student Ambassadors who give admission tours and answer incoming family questions, and the Student Action Leadership Team (SALT), which plans student life events such as the annual Talent Show and Winter Carnival, as well as fundraisers for community partners. Both of these programs allow students to actively engage in listening, public speaking, and long term planning. 

New programs created by the Class of 2023 include Library Leaders and Maker Mentors. Both of these programs allow students to support community spaces and improve access to both the library and maker space. Additionally, in these spaces, 8th Graders work with younger students and help them fully experience library resources and maker projects. The best part about exploring leadership skills and then being asked to use those skills in real time is that students get immediate feedback. This creates true authentic learning and fortifies St. Matthew’s students’ engagement with leadership and service. 

 

 

From the first art project in preschool, to their final crossing of the Meadow, at St. Matthew’s, our students flourish in both mind and heart and their connection to St. Matthew’s lasts long after graduation. 

Guided closely by involved and supportive faculty and staff, St. Matthew’s graduates are able to step into the next chapter of their lives with a strong sense of self, and a full and joyful childhood fulfilled. And while they may not be dropped off at carpool anymore, St. Matthew’s alumni know that this special school tucked away in a canyon will always be their home. 

On any given day, you will see St. Matthew’s alumni share their gifts, their talents talent, and their own families with our community. 

Grace from the class of 2015, is speaking with the 6th grade class about her non-profit FarmLink, a sustainable food sharing organization that was ignited by her and her sibling’s work with the Westside Food Bank while at St. Matthew’s. She and our 6th graders are working together to brainstorm solutions to some of our nation's biggest sustainability challenges. 

Kevin from the class of 2001, is dropping off his own son at Preschool. He stops by to say hello to the boy's teacher, Paula Dolinsky, experiencing his own deja vu moment, as Paula was his preschool teacher too!  Second and third generation families at St. Matthew’s keep alive the vibrant colors of the school’s nearly 75 year history. 

Riley from the class of 2019, is gathering along the Meadow, cheering on her younger siblings during an after school flag football game. While her time at St. Matthew’s as a student has come and gone, she gets to play an active role in the lives of her siblings as they share in their own experience as Falcons while their big sister cheers them on. 

The beauty of the St. Matthew’s Journey is two-fold. Our students leave here with the grace, resilience, and skills to flourish fully into the next chapter of life, while knowing in their hearts, there is a warm, safe, and welcoming place they can always call home.