Apply today
Book a tour
Support our school
Last week, I wrote regarding the final stretch of the year, the importance of staying the course during the final weeks, and the distractions that can sometime pull our attention from giving our best as we make our way to June.
This week, I thought it may be helpful to share how one of those distractions, Closing Day, is but weeks away and what this moment looks like for our community.
Closing Day is a celebration of all our students and our full community and is an event we strongly encourage everyone to attend. It is a time to gather, share and reflect on the year. This year will be no different as we embrace traditions that are part of the fabric of our school while we navigate the physical upgrades that have now been completed at our historical first home, St. Paul’s Cathedral. When Kate Matthews founded our school in 1918 it was as a private school in the Anglican tradition for “young ladies and gentlemen”. The school was then known as St. Paul’s Private School, which is commemorated to this day through the dedication of a little chapel and heritage plaque to Kate Matthews in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Understanding our history matters because it provides the context, patterns, and lessons that allow us to make wiser decisions about the future. It also strengthens our understanding of identity and culture, grounding future plans in a deeper awareness of where we have come from and why the present looks the way it does. This makes our history a practical guide for navigating and shaping a more thoughtful, informed path forward and is why we gather each year at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This will be the first opportunity for the Matthews Hall community to see the now completed renovations. The new space will look different although we will be organized in our traditional set up that will be familiar to many. The most notable change in addition to the general refurbishing that went on inside will be the removal of the pews and the newly introduced use of chairs.
We hope that all members of our community will join us for this meaningful occasion, as Closing Day is at its best when we are together, celebrating as one. Embracing what is both a celebratory moment and a moment of tradition we will come together not just to mark the end of a year, but to honour the learning journey in which we all played a part.
Mr. White, Head of School