History

A Historic Institution

St. Matthew’s School, founded in 1887, is a historic institution on St. Paul’s West Side. Originally St. Matthew’s parish and school served a rural, German community. Today, the West Side is considered an inner-city neighborhood that is largely Latino. But what hasn’t changed over all those years is St. Matthew’s commitment to the community and it’s children. For well over a century, St. Matthew’s has stood as a beacon of hope and opportunity to children and their families. And the values that St. Matthew’s was founded in, the values of St. Matthew’gospel, are alive today and illuminate the path to the future.

A Brief History

St. Matthew’s Church and School opened in 1887. The Sisters of Notre Dame came to teach and moved into the basement of the church where the first classrooms were also located. The need was such that within three years of opening its doors, 200 children were enrolled. That number rapidly grew over the next decade as the sisters and parish scrambled to find space to educate their burgeoning student body.

Construction of the original school building (the southern section of St. Matthew’s School) was completed in 1902. It provided space for 10 classrooms, a third floor auditorium that seated 600 and a basement hall that could accommodate 200.

But it wasn’t long before that space too became inadequate. After World War I, immigration soared. Again, the scramble was on to find a way to fit these new students in. Finally, in 1929, a 12-room addition to the original school was completed providing immediate relief to many over crowded classrooms.

By 1950, the classrooms were jam-packed again as nearly 1000 students filled both the old and new sections of the school. At the time, St. Matthew’s offered a two-year high school program which was replaced by Brady High School when it opened in 1957. The new high school helped relieve some of the overcrowding.