Returning Home Fall 2026
St. Matthew’s Parish School is excited to share our Fall 2026 Return to Bienveneda campus plan. This plan, a labor of love by so many passionate members of our community, is a thoughtful and strategic response to the needs of our School as we simultaneously continue our larger scale redevelopment and signifies our unwavering commitment to excellence for our students.
This is about more than rebuilding a campus; it’s about restoring the heart of our community.
Alley Michaelson '02, Head of School
The community event where St. Matthew’s Parish School shared our plans brought together current families, former Falcon families, parishioners, and the broader St. Matthew’s community. Will McGregor ’02, our Campus Development partner, Terry Bird, chair of our Return to Bienveneda committee, Mark Yoshitaki ’92, chair of our Falcons Forward committee, and Alley Michaelson, our Head of School were honored to share details of our process, an update on safety and remediation testing, and renderings of our standing and temporary structures, along with a detailed site plan.
A comprehensive campus fly-through video will follow in the coming weeks. Click on the link to watch the full recording of the presentation.
Additional community events will be held next week for the St. Matthew’s extended community on October 20th in Montecito, CA and October 22nd in Newport Beach, CA. RSVP at the link.
Core Tenets Guiding our Return Home
As our Falcons Forward committee conceptualized and delivered this plan, every decision off of a set of core tenets, written in partnership with the School’s senior leadership team, to ensure that the St. Matthew’s experience our community has valued for over 75 years remains at the forefront. These guiding core tenets will continue to root our path forward.
Campus Renderings
The Fall 2026 Return to Campus plan includes visual renderings and photographs documenting both the structures that survived the fire and the temporary facilities being developed to ensure continuity and excellence of a St. Matthew’s education. This plan is thoughtfully designed to minimize student proximity to construction and preserve the natural beauty and intimate scale that makes St. Matthew’s feel like home. This strategy allows the School community to function nearly uninterrupted as we work to redevelop the broader campus.
Front Entrance & Sprague Gymnasium
The front entrance/main gate coming from Bienveneda Avenue and the main entrance to campus from the parking lot looking at Sprague Gymnasium.
Early Childhood, Kindergarten and First Grade
The School’s Early Childhood program (Little Falcons, Preschool, and Pre-Kindergarten) as well as the Kindergarten and First Grade, will occupy two new villages of temporary classrooms with age-appropriate playgrounds that will be seamlessly integrated into the campus until new permanent structures are built.
The Booth Science Building, Keck Building, and 400s Building
The 400’s Building will host Lower School and receive a full interior remediation and renovation as well as extended outdoor classrooms.
The Booth Science Building (500’s) and Keck Building (600’s) have been remediated down to the studs and will see full interior renovations with new flooring, ceiling, cabinetry, and walls and exterior upgrades in paint, glass and landscaping.
The Loop Road between the 600’s Building and the 400’s Building as well as the front facing rotunda of the 600’s building will transform into a Campus Pathway, designed to be an outdoor play space and social piazza for students, free from cars.
Looking Ahead with Gratitude
I continue to be inspired by our bright future at St. Matthew’s, thanks to our amazing community’s resilience and dedication. Thank you to our Falcons Forward Committee, our Return to Bienveneda Committee and the families, faculty, staff, alumni, parishioners, and friends who continue to support us every step of the way.
Our future will honor our rich history while creating cutting-edge facilities that will serve generations of St. Matthew’s students to come—providing the academic excellence and safe, inspiring learning environment they deserve. This is about more than rebuilding a campus; it’s about restoring the heart of our community.
Apply for Next School Year
Applications for the 2026-2027 school year are now open. Sign up for an Open House to learn more about our academic program and the St. Matthew’s experience.
If you are a family who was previously attending St. Matthew’s during the Palisades Fire and would like to enroll your child back for the 2026-2027 School Year, please click Returning Falcon Families.
If you are a new or alumni family interested in applying your child to St. Matthew’s for the 2026-2027 School Year, please click New Family Application.
If you are interested in signing up for our 2-year old Little Falcons program, please click Little Falcons Application.