The Lower School curriculum reflects our strong belief that each child is unique, with his or her own pattern and timing of growth and development. Children acquire the skills for which they are developmentally ready, and young children learn best through active involvement in a nurturing environment. St. Matthew’s provides such as environment through educational experiences that stimulate learning in all developmental areas -- physical, social, emotional, and cognitive. We emphasize critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving. Within a Christian environment, students work toward individual responsibility, independence, self-confidence and self-esteem and the ability to work within, and interact with, the group.
Instilling in each child a love for learning and a love for self is what the St. Matthew’s Lower School experience is all about. Our mission is to help students become competent, confident life-long learners, who are responsible, contributing citizens to the communities in which they live. We believe children need a strong foundation in basic academic skills. Curiosity, eagerness to learn, capability for self-direction, and self-confidence to persevere, create, and make decisions are equally essential to the learning process. We recognize the values of respect, responsibility, and compassion as guiding principles for our school community.

St. Matthew’s Middle School strives to meet the unique needs of pre- and early adolescent young people within the framework of the purpose of the school as a whole. We believe a curriculum for this age group must allow for, and indeed treasure, the individuality of each student and teacher. We do not see this particular time in life as one to be endured, but rather a time to be celebrated.
We recognize that young people learn best when they are totally involved in the material or process to be learned. Each St. Matthew’s teacher strives to create motivational learning experiences within the classroom. We also recognize our students’ varying learning styles by insuring that each lesson contains components which will reach each student.
Positive physical development is an important component of positive attitudes and self-image. Physical education classes four days each week provide a safe environment for this development. The program fosters a sense of fair play and sportsmanship, commitment to a team, and development of individual skills.
Our program supports students in the transition from the “home” of the Lower School to the Middle School in an appropriate and healthy fashion. Each grade level’s organization is a stepping stone in this process. We believe parents are an essential part of the team that facilitates each Middle Schooler’s journey. We expect a partnership with parents to form a safety net for our Middle Schoolers. Parents help with service, class activities, and outings. Our “open door” policy encourages collaboration with faculty and administration to meet individual student needs, and parents supporting parents through this potentially turbulent time in a child’s life can be invaluable.
We are dedicated to maintaining standards of excellence for our students without creating undue stress in their lives. This is becoming more of a challenge in today’s world and one which requires cooperation and coordination between home and school. In this age of the “hurried child”, we hope to be a place of caring, joy, and safety.