Saint Matthew's Episcopal Day School

Saint Matthew's Episcopal Day School is a private co-educational day school located in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 1953 and was previously a military school known as Saint Matthew's Hall or Saint Matthew's School.

History

Students at the St. Matthews Military Academy, c. 1885

On April 24, 1864, Giles Alexander Easton established an Episcopal church named for Saint Matthew on the historic mission trail known as El Camino Real. Services were held in a school until ground could be broken for a building. Two acres of land were donated by Agnes Poett Howard, widow of William Davis Merry Howard, and their son, William Henry Howard. In 1865 a stone church with capacity of about 200 people was built and a two-story school building known as Saint Mathew's Hall for the school. The nave was 48 feet (15 m) by 36 feet (11 m), and the chancel was 12 feet (3.7 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m). The street between the church and school was known as Saint Matthews Avenue. Alfred Lee Brewer (1831–1899) operated the school in English "public school" tradition with strict military discipline. In 1882 the school was moved to an 80-acre (320,000 m2) site, with about 120 boys enrolled. The school campus became part of the city of Burlingame, California.[1]

Three Princes of the Kingdom of Hawaii, brothers Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole (1871–1922), David Kawānanakoa (1868–1908) and Edward Abnel Keliʻiahonui (1869–1887) attended the school in the 1880s.[2] It advertised itself as "the leading private educational institution for boys on the Pacific Coast" in 1889.[3] It was later taken over by his son William Augustus Brewer (1863–1931).[4] William Brewer became mayor of the new town of Hillsborough, California.[5] By 1902 the school was called "the best known private educational institution upon the west coast."[6]

Neptune Blood William Gallway became rector of the church in 1904. The buildings were damaged in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The old church was replaced by a new one designed by Willis Polk, with many furnishings salvaged from the original building. The new building was consecrated on May 15, 1910. The school was shut down in 1915 when a road was constructed through the campus. A new organ was donated in memory of William H. Crocker in 1938.[1]

Day school

The day school founded in 1953 by the Sisters of the Community of the Transfiguration, an order of Episcopal nuns from Ohio under rector Lesley Wilder Jr. It includes classes from preschool to 8th grade and averages only 20 persons per class. The school is on a very small campus, a building completed in 1957. Lay teachers have been used since 1970. The tuition is around $24,000 per year. The Head of School is Mark McKee. He is in his second year succeeding Mark Hale. Brendan Gummerson is the dean of students. It is located at 16 Baldwin Avenue, 37°33′56″N 122°19′38″W / 37.56556°N 122.32722°WCoordinates: 37°33′56″N 122°19′38″W / 37.56556°N 122.32722°W.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Episcopal Church of St. Matthew". official web site. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  2. ↑ Agnes Quigg (1988). "Kalākaua's Hawaiian Studies Abroad Program". Hawaiian Journal of History 22 (Hawaii Historical Society). pp. 170–208. hdl:10524/103.
  3. ↑ Bret Harte, ed. (1889). "Schools and colleges". The Overland Monthly.
  4. ↑ Porter Sargent (1915). Private schools. p. 99.
  5. ↑ Philip W. Alexander (1916). "Rev. W. A. Brewer". History of San Mateo County. SF genealogy. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  6. ↑ General register of the Society of Colonial Wars, 1899-1902. H. K. Brewer & co. 1902.
  7. ↑ "Saint Matthew's Episcopal Day School". official web site. Retrieved 2010-02-04.

Further reading

External links