New principal at The Madeleine Choir School

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Matthew Yost

SALT LAKE CITY — The Madeleine Choir School’s new middle school principal, Matthew Yost, is a 2007 graduate of the school.

While the experience of returning as an administrator to his alma mater is “a little surreal, I feel incredibly blessed,” he said. “My whole life was changed by The Madeleine Choir School. I was set in a direction both in my relationship with Christ and in my love for music and countless other ways. For me to be able to take that gift and pay it forward – it’s not often you can do that in such a direct way.”

Yost attended The Madeleine Choir School from fourth to eighth grade. (At that time the school was not offering instruction for the lower grades.) He graduated from West High School in 2011 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music composition from the Catholic University of America. After graduating in 2015, he spent eight years as a teacher and later administrator at Great Hearts, an Arizona charter school network.

Over the years Yost and his former teacher Gregory Glenn, now the school’s pastoral administrator, stayed in touch. When school officials decided to split the school into elementary and middle school components and were looking for a middle school principal, Glenn thought of Yost as a potential candidate ‘because he knows very well the mission of the school because we do have this very unique mission, and he lived it as a student and then he clearly believes in the work we’re doing here in Catholic education and particularly for the music of the Catholic Church,” Glenn said.

A selection committee interviewed Yost and 10 other applicants extensively before offering the school’s former student the position.

For Yost, it was a dream come true, he said.

“It had been my vision for quite some time to work in a Catholic choir school,” he said. “I never had the hubris to think that one day I would lead at The Madeleine Choir School. I assumed I would have to open up my own choir school somewhere else someday.”

Since the start of the school year, Yost has been getting to know the faculty and students. While most of his time will be spent on administration, he is also teaching a class on rhetoric and is conducting one of the school choirs weekly.

While Yost has long-term academic and enrollment goals, he has made it his primary goal this year to get to know his school community: the students, faculty and parents.

His focus will be the students, he said. “Middle school is a time where students really need to know that they are known and loved. One of my big goals this year as an administrator is to continue to help the Catholic culture of the school continue to grow and blossom. It’s really delightful getting to see all the many ways in which people minister to Christ here.”

Already, Glenn has seen the positive impact Yost is making, he said. “What stands out for me about Matthew is that he’s got a real heart for the kids. He’s very concerned about them. You can tell that he wants to be sure that he as an educational leader loves them and cares for them. I’m noticing that already in the way he interacts with the students. The teachers are responding to Matthew very positively. They know that he’s really got their back and is going to be supportive of them and helpful to them.”