I am a member of the Saints Squad. The parent welcoming committee. I understand the importance of…read moreonline reviews, researching and looking at schools to assess whether or not it is the right fit for you and your child, so here is a more updated review. Many of the reviews that you will find online are outdated, and comments about those administrative personnel are no longer with the school. I also know that each individual family will have their own experience and perspective, but here is ours.
We have one child that graduated two years ago (at Serra now) and have two more still at the school. More recently one who started kindergarten.
We are the largest of the catholic elementary schools in the San Francisco Archdiocese. We like the academics and structure and I will say... it's challenging. But there's no other way to prepare these kids than to give them this structure and chance to learn boundaries and how to succeed themselves. Personally, my kids are thriving here. My two boys like that the school offers sports as early as 4th grade as a way to introduce them to baseball, basketball and track and field. They also have volleyball for the girls.
Like with any school, you have to find a balance. We try not to get too looped into the politics, as all schools will have them. If you can have a small filter to block out some noise, you'll be fine.
We find that we like the structure and the rigor of the academics and find that the kids are well prepared going into high school. St. Matthews feeds many kids mainly to Serra, SI, Notre Dame, or Mercy when they graduate. Then there is a mix of the public schools like Hillsdale, Aragon, Burlingame, and San Mateo.
The parent community is second to none. Everyone that goes here says that it is the BEST! There are so many ways and opportunities for the parents to get involved and interact. This is what makes us different and I would agree. Many different parent committees to plan events for the school. Carnival, auction, etc.
The school is closely tied with the parish. There is a school and parish committee that try to align together on events and religious education.
This year, 2024, Saint Matthews Catholic School has adopted a new administrative team approach to providing leadership to the school and it has worked really well. So well that the Archdiocese is looking to this as a model for all schools based on its success so far. We don't have a set "Principal" or "Dean" in terms of title, seeing that a Leadership team that works together can leverage each other's strengths to get things accomplished in order to meet the needs of the school and students and not have to rely on one person to do a "job description" or part of it when it is not their strength. It's a team approach to success.
The community here is great. The 40 volunteer hours per family is so easy to do. And that's what helps to create the community that we have. People say that Saint Matthew's Catholic school is large with over 600 students. However, my family preferred this when deciding on a school to start our oldest child. Thinking about our own experience growing up, there were two classes per grade and just didn't realize that maybe that is more the norm. My wife and I preferred that there were two classes per grade because each year they will mix up the students. We felt that this would better prepare the students socially to adapt to larger sized schools when they go on to high school. We felt it also helps them to learn how to adapt to different people and personalities, of which is a very real world life skill. So, we actually do not mind that there are two classes per grade. The lower classes also have a full time aid in the class to help with the teacher, so it is not a 1:32 ratio. One classes per grade will have our kids be stuck with the same 30 people for the entire nine years. Which can be very challenging. But for some families, that is what you are looking for, so I understand.
There are many activities for the students to get involved with. Sports, Drama, Journalism, tech, Student Government, Music. They learn Spanish at an early age. And have volunteer hour opportunities. The school does integrate religion into the curriculum. There are many families and students that are not Catholic that attend this school.
We are hitting the re-start button with our family as our five year old has entered kindergarten this fall. However, we do not regret going here even though with all the changes that have been going on. We were impressed with how they had handled the COVID situation and learning. They kept the students' best interest in mind in terms of continuing with their academics and making sure that they were not missing classroom instruction.
The gym is by far the nicest gym for the kids! It's bright, lots of natural sunlight. The side doors roll up, so during hot evenings, can open them up and the siblings or parents can watch from the courtyard by the tree. According to my