Hawaiian connection in San Mateo rooted in parochial education
Royalty in San Mateo? It was not uncommon generations ago. As a prime example, young members of the Hawaiian royal family were routinely educated at what was then St. Matthew’s Hall.
That parochial school, founded in 1865 by the Rev. Alfred Brewer as the Civil War was coming to a conclusion on the East Coast, was a precursor of what is now St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School in downtown San Mateo along El Camino Real.
An all-male military academy of renown, St. Matthew’s Hall was regarded as, perhaps, the finest school of its kind on the West Coast, according to accounts at the time. Hence the presence of the Hawaiians there.
A reminder of that era became clear recently on a trip to Kailua-Kona on the Big Island. There, in a photo of one of the princes on display at a former royal retreat, the Hulihe’e Palace, was a caption specifying the young man’s education in San Mateo in the late 19th century.
St. Matthew’s Hall (or, as it was also known, St. Matthew’s Military Academy) was a leading academic institution in its day. It predated most public school education in San Mateo County. It shut down in 1915.
By 1953, however, a modern version of it was resurrected when a new school was created on the same site. Within a decade, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Day School was a complete elementary operation, kindergarten through grade eight. There is also a prekindergarten element.
Today, the coed school has about 240 students; tuition for the middle school is listed at $31,230, according to its website.
Savvy perspective
Audrey Ng could use a strong right hand. Not so much in the physical sense, however. We’re referring to the pressing need for some veteran help and savvy perspective for her on the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees.
Ng is confronted with a void on that governing body, an overall experience gap that is rarely seen on such important policymaking bodies.
With the announced, surprise retirement of board President Nancy Kohn Hsieh last week, effective Jan. 31, Ng, currently vice president, is going to be the sole individual with any direct knowledge of the ins and outs of the district’s considerable operations.The district, with about 12,500 students, is the largest in San Mateo County.
With Kohn Hsieh exiting, it will leave Ng with three newcomers on the board, all elected in November for the first time. A fourth person will eventually join the group as a replacement for Kohn Hsieh as well.
Ng said, if possible, she would prefer that the fifth board slot be filled by “someone with some experience ... someone who knows us well.”
The recruitment and appointment of a wise, interim selection, someone with a solid public school resume, perhaps a former local trustee or top retired administrator, would make sense.
That interim person could serve through the remainder of Kohn Hsieh’s term (22 months), enough time for the newcomers to get their feet wet during a critical period expected to be busy with serious fiscal concerns and important details surrounding construction of a new school in Foster City.
Such an arrangement, Ng said, “would be beneficial for us.” But, she noted, there have not been any board discussions about the issue. Those are coming soon.
Phrasel Shelton
A memorial service for Phrasel Shelton, a former San Mateo County Superior Court judge, will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 3 at the county’s History Museum in downtown Redwood City.
Shelton, a Peninsula pioneer, was the first African-American judge appointed to serve on the bench here in 1976. He retired from full-time work in 2004.
During his long local tenure, his performance and rulings were marked by thorough preparation, along with firmness and fairness. A native of Louisiana, he passed away late last month at the age of 79.