Matawa Education & Care Centre

✨ Registration for the 2026/2027 school year is officially open! ✨

We are excited to open registration and prepare for another fantastic year together. Visit matawaeducation.com/online-registration to register online.

If you are in Thunder Bay and you prefer to register in person, stop by the school Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM. Please see the attached poster for what you will need to bring with you.

September 1 and 2 are our Student Orientation Days, and September 3 will be the first day of classes. The complete 2026/2027 school calendar is attached below. Review the calendar for other important dates, such as holidays and Professional Activity Days.

Enjoy the rest of your summer break! We can't wait to see you all soon! 😎

Matawa Education’s Outreach Team is continuing on Tuesday’s Movie Nights for Matawa students. Come to Cineplex each Tuesday this summer from 6pm-8pm to get your free movie ticket!

Interested in playing volleyball, badminton, basketball or something else? Join us in the MECC Gym each Thursday (except July 9th) from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

Join Elder John to make some Bannock dogs this Friday July 10 from 8:00-11:00pm at MECC’s Fire Pit!

⚾️ What a Game! ⚾️

Our students wrapped up an incredible grad trip with an unforgettable experience at a Toronto Blue Jays game. Thanks to the generosity of Jamie Campbell, our students got the ultimate VIP treatment: They got to head into the stadium early for batting practice, meet some of the players, and even score some autographs!

Jamie Campbell stopped by to personally greet our group and meet this year’s well-deserved Jamie Campbell Bursary winners. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, he invited everyone up to the Sportsnet desk for a group photo and made sure our students got their moment in the spotlight on the Jumbotron! To top it all off, the students bumped into some actors from the show Shoresy (who recognized them from the Jumbotron)!

We are so incredibly grateful for Jamie’s continued support of our students. What an absolute dream experience to cap off an excellent trip for the Class of 2026! 💙Achieving The Dream Through Education

🏙Our graduates took on Toronto and it’s safe to say they conquered the city!

From the very top of the CN Tower to the subway stations below, our students spent the trip exploring and making final high school memories. They got a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of Ripley’s Aquarium, where they learned about marine science (and met a day-old baby stingray)! They celebrated culture at the Indigenous Arts Festival, got dizzy at the Museum of Illusions, and braved the coasters at Canada’s Wonderland. 🎢A little shopping at the Eaton Centre may have happened as well…

The trip wrapped up with a Blue Jays game, but stay tuned because those pics deserve a post of their own! 👀

It was the perfect send-off for an incredible group of students.

✨🎓Celebrating the Class of 2026!🎓✨

Last week, we officially celebrated our amazing Grade 12 graduates. To our grads: your hard work, resilience, and dedication have brought you to this moment. We are immensely proud of everything you have achieved so far, and we wish you the absolute best of luck as you step into your next chapter! We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who made graduation so memorable:

A huge shoutout to Cheryl and Anita for keeping the ceremony running smoothly as our Masters of Ceremonies. Chi-miigwech to Anita for sharing her beautiful words and speaking in her traditional language. Trish, a former MECC student, shared inspiring words as our keynote speaker. We are deeply grateful to our Elders, Leonard, Sarah, and Wanda for their guidance. Even though Emily couldn’t be there in person, she sent her love and support from afar. As always, Matawa Drum provided the heartbeat to our celebration.

Thank you for the uplifting remarks from our Education Director, Georgette O’Nabigon, Matawa CEO, Dr. Sharon Nate, and NAN Deputy Grand Chief, Anna Betty Achneepineskum.

We’d also like to recognize our valedictorians: Mya Baxter, Stormy Towedo, and AJ Sofea (who also shared a hand drum song). It takes courage to speak in front of an audience that size - well done! 👏

To every family member, friend, and community member who came out to cheer on the graduates - thank you for being there to celebrate with us! Please join us in giving an extra round of applause to this year’s award winners:

🏆Bonnie Moore and Blanche Swalwell Sisters Bursary - Sabrina Baxter
🏆Englobe Scholarship - Braydell Achneepineskum
🏆Jamie Campbell Bursary - Eli Gagnon, AJ Sofea, Jaimilyn Suganaqueb
🏆Charlie OKees Scholarship - Mya Baxter, Talen Fisher-Shebagabow, Stormy Towedo, Skylar Wabasse
🏆NorthStar Air Take Flight Scholarship - Sabrina Baxter
🏆Matawa Education and Bowmanville Rotary Club Bursary - Jaimilyn Suganaqueb, Stormy Towedo
🏆Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Foundation Performing Arts Award - AJ Sofea
🏆Jordan Wabasse Memorial Awards - Stormy Towedo, Braydell Achneepineskum, Talen Fisher-Shebagabow

✨Congratulations MECC Class of 2026!✨

School may be out, but there are still supports available!

Below is a list of Emergency Supports and Mental Health Resources available within our nine Matawa communities and Thunder Bay.

And just like that, the school year is done! ✨

Congratulations to all of our students on a fantastic year! Reminder: Tomorrow is a PD Day, so the summer holidays start now for students. 😎

We want to wish all of our students, families, and community members a safe, happy, and sun-filled summer break. Thank you for a wonderful year together!