Saint Gabriel School Weekly Newsletter for Parents

Week 18 - January 10

UPCOMING EVENTS

WINTER MAP 2025 Schedule

Winter MAP Testing

Winter MAP testing begins next week. The schedule has been adjusted due to the snow days. Please make an extra effort to ensure your child arrives on time, eats breakfast, and has a snack on testing days. While MAP is only one snapshot of how your child is doing, it does provide valuable data to help teachers plan instruction to meet your child's learning needs.

CSW 2025 Parent Flyer

Catholic Schools Week

Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, January 26 – January 31. The theme for National Catholic Schools Week 2025 is “Catholic Schools: United in Faith and Community.” Catholic schools offer an education that combines Catholic faith and teachings with academic excellence and instilling the value of service to others, preparing students to be productive citizens and future leaders. Our school theme is "St. Gabriel is One of a 'Kind'" to go along with our "Be Kind" theme for the year. We hope you will join us our fun activities the whole week long! Click the image to see full schedule.

Open Classrooms

We love our families! Current parents/ guardians are invited to visit the classrooms on Thursday, January 30 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Come see the amazing things your children are learning!

Letter from Administration

Growth, A Work in Progress

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back from Christmas break! I hope you all had a wonderful time with your loved ones. It has been an unusual start to the new year with snow days and distance learning, but we are excited to get back to routines and structure. A special thank you to our families and teachers for supporting the students during distance learning days. We woud much rather be at school, but at least we won't have to make up these days in June.

A new year is a wonderful opportunity for us to set new goals and encourage students to embrace the challenges ahead. Encourage your children to reflect on their strengths and areas for growth. Remember, a new goal needs a plan for achievement.

As we return, MAP testing will begin next week. This is a great opportunity for our students to showcase their progress. I want to remind you of the importance of adequate sleep and a nutritious breakfast on test days. These factors can significantly impact performance. We are excited to see the growth and achievement your child has made this year, and I appreciate your partnership in helping them prepare for this important assessment.

Stay safe and warm,

Denise Chancellor

Learning Coordinator

Staff Update

Mr. Austin Fullerton (7th and 8th grade math teacher) will not be returning for the remainder of the school year. We understand that math is a core subject, and we want instruction to continue as smoothly as possible. We believe it is in the best interest of the students to make the following changes:

Mr. Gooch will transition content to teach all 8th grade math and religion. Archangel classes will continue.
Mrs. Lefevre will teach all 7th grade math classes. She will continue in her instructional support specialist role for the remainder of the school day.
The 7th grade will be divided into two homerooms. Class lists for 7C and 7G will remain unchanged. 7F will be divided equally between 7C and 7G.
Mrs. Cecil will teach 7C religion.
Ms. Peplowski will teach 7G religion.
To accommodate these instructor changes, seventh and eighth grade will begin a block schedule. Block scheduling is a flexible approach to structuring the school day that allows for longer class sessions. Students will have three 90 minute core classes that rotate every other day instead of 45 minute periods every day. This type of schedule is used by many of the high schools and allows more time for in-depth learning. The schedule will be divided into blue and white days that will alternate.
The 8th grade culture class will move to 9 a.m. with the other elective courses.

No decisions have been made at this time about what next year will look like. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as needed.

HIGHLIGHTS

QUICK LINKS

Powerschool data breach- SGS not affected

PowerSchool informed us about a data breach that occurred on December 28, 2024, but our school was not affected. First, we never had our information on their servers. We hosted PowerSchool SIS here at St. Gabriel. Second, we closed access to PowerSchool from the internet back in October when we completely switched over to FACTS. Schoology is owned by PowerSchool but was not impacted.

Gala Sponsors Wanted

The Gala will be Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Wildwood Country Club. This Monte Carlo themed event will be "Lucky Streak in the Creek." We would love to have your support. Please consider being a sponsor and donating an item for our silent auction. Click below for sponsor and donation forms.

Gala Letter 2025.pdf

Gala Sponsorship Form.pdf

Bundle up

It’s that time of year. The weather is turning colder, and it's time to bundle up outside. We do go outside for recess even when the weather is cold so please send your child with a coat, hat, and gloves. Students need to wear a Saint Gabriel sweatshirt with their uniform. All non-uniform sweatshirts or jackets are removed when inside. Be sure to LABEL these items so they can be returned if lost.

Now enrolling

Applications for the 2025-26 school year are now available! Know someone who may be interested? Help spread the word!

Visit our website to apply. Preschool through 8th grade will use the same application process. Priority deadline is January 15.

This is for new students only. Returning students will complete re-enrollment through FACTS in March.

Bingo Schedule

Bingo

Bingo is one of our largest fundraisers. Funds are used to offer tuition assistance and capital projects. A schedule for this year has been created to assist with staffing volunteers. If you volunteer, your child may have a uniform break the next non-mass day! Please sign up using Sign Up Genius.

Jan. 15- 2Henehan

Jan. 16- 2Weaver

Jan. 22- 3Boyd

Jan. 23- 3Helms

Closing/ Delayed Openings Policy

Great job with our distance learning days this week! Click here for more information about distance learning.

When weather conditions cause school openings to be questionable, one of the following announcements will be made for the Catholic Elementary Schools in Jefferson County.

“All Catholic Elementary Schools in Jefferson County are open” – Saint Gabriel is open.
“Catholic Elementary Schools in Jefferson County will be open, but on a delayed schedule.” Saint Gabriel will be on a two-hour delay. Buses will run two hours late. Doors will open at 9:25 a.m. for student arrival. Students are not allowed in before this time. Classes will start at 10:00 a.m. Dismissal will be at regular time – 2:45 p.m.
“All Catholic Schools in Jefferson County are closed.” – Saint Gabriel is closed. In the case that Saint Gabriel is closed, Saint Gabriel Preschool will make every effort to offer full-day care for registered participants. Notification will be sent separately.

All morning activities, including detention, are cancelled for that day. Detention will be served the following scheduled day.

You will be notified via the Saint Gabriel Parent Alert program.

NEW: Updates on campus closures and delays can be found here: www.gabrielweather.com

Honor Thy Child/ Safe Environment Training

Are you planning to volunteer or attend a school event this year?

Field Trip chaperones and special event volunteers need to have a background check on file and have attended the Safe Environment Training. For more information, visit https://www.stgabriel.net/background. Not sure if we have your information? Contact background@stgabriel.net. To view upcoming Honor Thy Child trainings, visit https://www.archlou.org/about-the-archdiocese/archdiocesan-policies-guidelines-and-handbooks/restoringtrust/safe/. Background checks and safe environment training refresher must be completed every five years.

Save the Dates

January 27-31- Catholic Schools Week
January 29- Pep Rally @ 1:45 p.m.
January 30- Open Classrooms for Current Families @9:30-10:30 a.m.
February 5- Family Paint Night
March 1- Gala
March 7- Eat Lunch With Your Child Day
March 11- Spring into Math Family Night
March 13- Grandparents Day (2nd)
April 24- Grandparents Day (8th)
April 26- Confirmation

From The Cafeteria

Cafeteria Payment

EZPay is no longer available. We will still accept cash in a sealed envelope labeled with your student's first and last name, or checks with their name in the memo line. Our new payment system is MySchoolBucks. More information will be sent out next week. All lunch account balances (both positive and negative) will transfer to the new system.

Keypads

When we return, we will have keypads for the serving lines. Students will need to work on memorizing their five-digit FACTS number. Ms. Michelle can still type them in while they're learning.

2-Hour Delay Menu

Winter weather is here. On days when there is a 2 hour delay, breakfast will not be available, and the cafeteria will serve the following lunch menu:

Hot dogs
Burgers
PBJ

(We will still take a lunch count on these mornings.)

From The PTSO

Father/ Daughter Dance

St. Gabriel PTSO’s Father/Daughter dance scheduled for Saturday, January 11 has been POSTPONED. Tickets are now on sale online. Tickets will only be available online and will not be available at the door the day of the event. The theme is Hollywood, and we look forward to a night of friends, music and a chocolate fountain.

Purchase Father/ Daughter Dance Tickets

Box Tops

Box Tops is a great fundraiser for PTSO! Download the Box Tops for Education app and scan your receipt for a contribution of $1.50 or more. Be sure to enter the name of the child who should receive credit. Join the January monthly challenge in the Box Tops app and you'll earn 24 BONUS box tops when you buy 12 participating products across all scans during the month of January. Our next Box Tops Uniform Break will be January 27.

Our school ID is ID: 393279.

PTSO Group Me

Not on social media but want to stay up to date on PTSO news? Join our GroupMe chat. GroupMe link

PTSO Events 2024-25

Father/ Daughter Dance- Reschedule date TBD

Paint Night- February 5

From The Parish

Spring Sports Sign-Ups

Boys Volleyball (3rd-8th grade) EXTENDED until 1/12/25

Volleyball (JK-4th grade) until 2/1/25

Soccer (JK-8th grade) until 2/1/25

Swim (3rd-8th grade) until 2/1/25

Track (1st-8th grade) until 2/1/25

Baseball (6th-8th grade) until 2/1/25

Please sign up using GameDay: https://gameday.loucsaa.net/login

We need coaches!!! If interested email Jamie Pike at jpike1793@gmail.com the sport you want to coach.

Here is the uniform ordering site https://stgabrielleopardsuniforms.itemorder.com/ please make sure you click on the correct sport and grade level.

Link Your Kroger Card

Choose St. Gabriel for your Kroger Community Rewards! This can be done easily by selecting our program on your digital account.

St. Gabriel ID # is: QA178

Learn more at https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards

Post of the Week

News You Can Use Website

Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic School(502) 239-5535 | school@stgabriel.net | School Website | Parish Website

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