St. Matthew’s Unveils Plans to Return Palisades Campus in Fall 2026

This will be the new site for early childhood and kindergarten students on St. Matthew’s campus.

St. Matthew’s School officials described the steps taken to ensure the pre-school through eighth grade will return to its campus at 1031 Bienveneda Avenue in Pacific Palisades in the Fall 2026.

Head of School Alley Michaelson and the School’s Campus Development Partner Will McGregor, of The McGregor Group, showcased detailed architectural plans, including visuals of their remediated and enhanced structures and temporary structure developments for the school’s reoccupation. Like many schools in Pacific Palisades St. Matthews was also impacted by the Palisades Fire necessitating finding a temporary campus in Santa Monica.

The lower school buildings that were home to kindergarten through fourth grades were completely destroyed, as was the school library and administration building.

The Early Childhood Center saw significant damage.

When children return to campus, the Early Childhood and Kindergarten through First Grade classrooms will be in mini-villages that seamlessly integrate into the rest of the campus.

Second through fourth grade will have homeroom classrooms in one of the renovated and remediated and situated along existing middle school structures.

“This marks an important milestone in our journey home,” Michaelson said.  “Every single child, Early Childhood through eighth grade, will have a brand-new classroom space. Whether in existing buildings or temporary campus structures, student spaces will be immaculate, reflect our mission and standards, and feature significant upgrades and enhancements.”

The Fall 2026 return to campus is designed to minimize student proximity to construction, while preserving the natural beauty of St. Matthew’s campus.

St. Matthew’s Parish School campus is one of the most beautiful in Pacific Palisades.

This strategy allows the school community to function nearly uninterrupted as they redevelop the broader campus.

“We challenged ourselves with three main goals: Find the best experts, go above and beyond industry standard testing and remediation, and get us back as soon as possible,” Michaelson said. “We simply will not take chances when it comes to community health and safety.”

For the past nine months, testing protocols included over 75 comprehensive samplings of air, water, and soil across exterior grounds and building interiors both before and after remediation, going above and beyond the recommended testing panel.

For the 2026 school year, existing buildings will be refurbished with new flooring, ceiling fixtures, cabinetry, and doors to ensure porous surfaces that are susceptible to toxins have been removed.

Additionally, safety and filtering equipment and technology, including HEPA vacuum cleaning, MERV 13 air filters, and local air purification systems and monitors will occupy all interior spaces.

“I continue to be inspired by our bright future at St. Matthew’s, thanks to our amazing community’s resilience, support, and unwavering dedication,” Michaelson said. “Our future will honor our rich history while creating cutting-edge facilities that will serve generations of St. Matthew’s students to come.

“This is about more than rebuilding a campus; it’s about restoring the heart of our community,” she said.

For applications for the 2026-2027 School year and information about Admission Open House Events  click here.

Second through fourth grade will be locataed in these classrooms nestled in greenery.