The Matai Family is Investing in a Lasting Legacy
Anil and Anita Matai believe that investing in their daughter Sia’s future will help her leave a lasting legacy, which they hope will begin here at Providence Day. During the CHARGING forward campaign, the Matais gave a thoughtful gift and had a classroom on the fourth floor of the Academic Center named in honor of Sia ’25.
“I’d like to think that this gift is part of her legacy to the school,” said Anil.
In their fifth year at PD, the Matais said investing in the campaign just felt right; like the moment they walked through to doors of the school for the very first time.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. Wow.’ I was impressed,” Anita recalled.
Choosing a school for their daughter was a very important decision for the Matais. After touring many other schools in the area, the warmth of the PD community set their visit apart. In particular, the nurturing teachers and the closeness of the students were the deciding factor for enrolling daughter Sia in PD.
“As I was walking around, kids would come out of class, they’d see a friend, they’d hug each other. I didn’t really see that in the other schools. It just stood out to me,” Anil said.
While PD is a high performing academic school, it’s also a place of joy, which is evident every day as Sia walks the halls to her classroom.
“Everyone says hi to me in the morning,” Sia said with a smile. “They don’t just walk by. They always stop and talk.”
The community at PD provided some of the same attributes that the Matais strive to teach their daughter at home.
“That’s the way we want to raise our child…to be warm, loving, and the importance of certain values around family, caring for others, and giving back,” said Anil.
The smile on their daughter’s face as she talks about PD is how the Matai’s hope Sia will always be when she talks about school: happy. Anil and Anita want their daughter to look back on her childhood fondly and reflect not only about their impact on her life, but about the education that helped shape her.
“I think most of the legacy is about giving back to the place that is preparing Sia for the future,” Anita said.
“We made a huge investment,” Anil said. “Hopefully when she’s sitting here 20 years from now, she can appreciate her time at the school and what it meant to her future.”
While investing in their daughter’s future through the CHARGING forward campaign, the Matais are helping to provide a framework of innovative teaching and learning for students at PD.
“You can’t have an education unless you give back to that foundation,” Anil said.
One of the most profound facets of education is learning how to be part of a larger community. In passing this knowledge on to children, the effect can be long-lasting — trickling down from generation to generation.
Anil and Anita are the proud parents of Sia ’25.
