The story of the St. Matthew's Parish School begins on May 2, 1949, when the preschool opened its doors to twenty-four children on a small site in Pacific Palisades village before moving to The Garland Ranch, a beautiful piece of land on a street called Bienveneda. Situated just one mile from the Pacific Ocean, this thirty acre site has been the location of the Parish of St. Matthew since that time. Soon after the middle grades were added, and the day school had more than 200 students in attendance. During the years since, the school has grown and flourished. Today there are 325 boys and girls enrolled in preschool through eighth grade. The facility houses twenty-six classrooms that include art and music rooms, two science labs, and five computer labs. In addition to seven classroom buildings, there is an administration building, 10,000 volume library, a sports and performing arts center, a swimming pool, and the church which serves as the chapel.

Throughout the school’s many decades on this site, parishioners, students and faculty have continued to be awestruck by the beauty of the surroundings, where deer still wander the spacious campus and children learn in a warmly supportive environment.