Saint Gabriel School Weekly Newsletter for Parents
Saint Gabriel School Weekly Newsletter for Parents
Kindergarten grandparents are invited to join us for a prayer service with Communion, donuts, and a craft on Tuesday, September 15 from 8-10 a.m. Please meet in the gathering space of the church. (If your child’s grandparent is unable to attend, any special adult will be fine!) No RSVP required. Grandparents Day will be offered for Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 8th grade this year.
Save the Dates!
2nd grade Grandparents Day: January 19
8th grade Grandparents Day: May 4
Student Council bake sale is September 15 & 16. They need your help! Please donate individually wrapped goods that they can sell. Items may be dropped off before school in the lobby next week starting September 9. Students who donate may have a uniform break on Tuesday, September 22.
We are excited to celebrate our patron saint and 73 years of faith, family, and tradition! Also, happy anniversary to our school- 70 years! Here are more details on some of our events:
📣 Ultimate Family Spirit Contest📣 : Gather your family, bust out your school colors, and record a short video (30-90 seconds) doing your favorite school cheer! Go wild, get creative, and show off that school pride. Post and tag @stgabriellouisville by September 30. The winning family wins a DONUT PARTY 🍩 for their student’s entire homeroom with a special guest on Friday, October 2!
Sunday, 9/27✝️We'd love for you to join us for one of our three masses (8am, 10am, 12pm) on September 27. 💙Wear blue to show your spirit! Founding families will receive a special token. 🍽️Join us after mass for the Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast.
👩🏫Monday, 9/28: Uniform break- Twin Day or Dress Like Your Favorite Teacher, Staff Chili Cook-off
☕Tuesday, 9/29: Coffee Truck for staff and Uniform Break- Camouflauge
📸Wednesday, 9/30: Say cheese! It's picture day. Follow the picture day uniform break guidelines.
💙Thursday, 10/1: Spirit Day! All-school mass followed by a Eucharistic procession through the school!
👣Friday, 10/2: Walk-a-thon! Uniform break- Dress in your class colors.
👐Saturday, 10/3: We have amazing volunteers who support our community. At the 4pm mass, we will recognize this year's service awards winners.
Picture Day will be Wednesday, September 30. Order before Picture Day to receive free shipping to the school. https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/0507NWF Picture day uniform break guidelines may be found on p. 57 of the handbook or Uniforms website at https://www.stgabrielcatholicschool.net/parent.../uniforms.
The Scholastic Book Fair is back! Book fair will be available for in-person and virtual shopping. In-person shopping will be available during the school day October 5th - October 7th. The Book Fair will also be open during conferences on October 7th (1:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.) and October 8th (8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.). We’re so excited to connect our community through the joy of reading!
Parents can set up an eWallet for your child(ren). You and family members can contribute to the eWallet and your child(ren) doesn't need to bring cash!
If you can’t make it to the Fair, then shop at our school’s Online Book Fair. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Your online orders will also benefit our school.
We can’t wait to bring the magic of storytelling to St. Gabriel. Visit the book fair homepage at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/stgabrielarchangelschool.
Third grade will lead the rosary aloud with all students on Wednesday, October 7 at 8:15 am. in the church. Students are invited to bring a rosary from home to participate.
🎃👻 TRUNK OR TREAT – WE NEED YOUR TRUNKS! 🚗🍬
Our annual St. Gabriel Trunk or Treat is coming up, and we need our amazing families to help make it a fun night for our community!
📅 Friday, October 30th
⏰ 6:30–8:30 PM
🚗 Trunk Set-Up: 5:00 PM
We had a great turnout last year and would LOVE to have even more trunks this year! Decorate your trunk, bring your own candy to pass out, and join us for a fun evening with our St. Gabriel families and community. 🎃🍭
The more trunks, the more fun! 💙💛 We appreciate your help making this FREE community event a great one!
Dear St. Gabriel Families,
At St. Gabriel, we recognize that every child learns differently and brings their own unique strengths and challenges to the classroom. Following the Archdiocese of Louisville's Intervention Protocol, we are committed to providing support and differentiated instruction to help all students grow and succeed.
To better support our students, teachers, and families, we are excited to share a positive change to our Learning Coordinator role this year. We have expanded the position into two roles, allowing us to provide more individualized support across all grade levels. Mrs. Anna Maria Goss, who is new to St. Gabriel, will serve as the Learning Coordinator for students in grades 4–8, while Mrs. Kelsey Dyar will serve students in grades K–3.
When a student needs additional support, we have processes in place to help identify their needs and provide appropriate strategies and accommodations:
Student Strategy Plans (SSPs) are designed for students who are experiencing challenges in the classroom and may benefit from targeted strategies and additional support.
Student Accommodation Plans (SAPs) are developed for students with a diagnosed disability who require specific accommodations to support their learning.
This structure allows us to work more closely with students, teachers, and families to ensure each child receives the support they need to be successful. We are excited about this positive change and the opportunities it will provide to better accommodate and assist our students and teachers!
It has been a wonderful start to the school year, and we can't wait to watch our Leopards continue to shine both in and outside of the classroom. Please know that we are here to support you and your child, and we look forward to partnering with you throughout the school year!
Sincerely,
Kelsey Dyar & Anna Maria Goss
Learning Coordinators
Are you planning to volunteer or attend a school event this year?
St. Gabriel will host a training on Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Church.
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.
FACTS, in addition to being our student information system, is also our tuition management system. It is important that parents/ guardians maintain a valid payment account at all times. We also use FACTS for bus payments and starting this year, we will use it for incidental expenses such as field trip chaperone fees. You will receive an email notice of any upcoming charges.
This year's Drama Club is going to be epic! Drama Club will meet in the Jr. High Commons every Wednesday from 3:00-3:45pm beginning September 16th. Students in grades 4-8 may participate. Sign Ups will be limited to the first 30 responses. You will receive an email on Monday, September 14th letting you know if you made the cut off. We can't wait to get started with another amazing season!
We loved seeing many parents/ family members join us for Eat Lunch With Your Child Day!
Save the Dates- Upcoming Eat Lunch With Your Child Days: December 11 & March 5
📣 Attention All School Families! 📣
It’s time to bring the noise and show us what you’ve got! We’re launching the Ultimate Family Spirit Contest, and the stakes have never tasted sweeter. Help us celebrate the Feast of St. Gabriel!
The Challenge: Gather your family, bust out your school colors, and record a short video doing your favorite school cheer! Go wild, get creative, and show off that school pride.
The Prize: The winning family wins a DONUT PARTY 🍩 for their student’s entire homeroom!
How to Enter:
Record your family’s school cheer video (30–60 seconds).
Tag us @stgabriellouisville and use the hashtag #FeastDaySpiritContest .
⏰ Deadline: Deadline: Submit your videos by Wednesday, September 30 at 9 p.m. The winning video will be featured on our page, and the donuts will be delivered on Friday, October 2!
Ready, set, CHEER! 📣✨
The St. Gabriel the Archangel School Board, is a consultative board, assisting the administration in achieving its mission and providing quality Catholic education to students of the school.
This year's school board includes:
Members:
Chair: Brigitte Mader-Urschel
Vice Chair: Christina Szymanski
Secretary: Brandon Lewis
Members at Large:
Joey Brown
William Burns
Bethany Dages
Jordan Oros
Laura Roberts
Erin Young
Ex-Officio Members:
Fr. Jason Harris, Pastor
Lara Krill, Principal
Jennifer Schulz, Assistant Principal
Lisa Mattmiller, Faculty/Staff Representative
Kat Abdin, Preschool Director
School board meetings are on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in Loft 1 and St. Gabriel families are welcome to attend. Approved minutes are posted on the school website.
We've put together a Schoology Family Guide to help parents/ guardians get started using Schoology. Eevery grade has a "Class of" course where teachers will post homework, resources, links, and photos. This course will follow the students from year to year and provide a one stop shop for key information.
Bingo is one of our largest fundraisers. The bingo minisitry funds our school financial aid program first and foremost, in addition to capital improvement projects like air conditioning unit replacement and classroom renovations. Bingo supplies over $150,000 in aid that is awarded directly to school families. Volunteers are critical to the bingo operation. A schedule for this year has been created to assist with staffing volunteers to sell pull tabs. If you volunteer, your child may have a uniform break the next non-mass day! Also, all the volunteers will be entered into a drawing to win a popcorn party for your child's homeroom! Please sign up using Sign Up Genius link below. Thank you for your support!
September 16&17- 2nd grae
September 23&24- 3rd grade
St. Gabriel School invites all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students to become School Safety Patrols. This stewardship project is a great opportunity to participate in our school community. Each morning, a group students along with several adults, will greet students arriving during carpool drop off and assist Kindergarten and Pre-K students. For more information, see Mrs. Schulz.
October 23- Fall Pep Rally
October 30- K-2 Halloween Parties
October 30 - Trunk or Treat
November 7- Father/ Daughter Dance
March 6- Gala
April 15- STREAM Showcase
May 21- Field Day
Saint Gabriel PTSO strives:
To promote communication among parents, teachers and administration.
To provide parents and teachers assistance in all aspects of education and student growth.
To promote good will and cooperation between parents, faculty, administration, school board and parish.
To direct and coordinate parental support to the school through specific assistance activities, social functions and fund-raisers.
To organize and conduct fundraisers. Funds raised are given to Saint Gabriel the Archangel School to assist with classroom supplies, student programs, teacher and staff appreciation, social events and other programs approved by the administration
Walk-a-thon- October 2
Father/ Daughter Dance- November 7
Santa Shop- November 30, December 2 and 4
Paint Night- TBD
Mother/ Son event- February 27
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. Our next Box Tops Uniform Break will be September 21.
Our school ID is ID: 393279.
Fall sports sign-ups are now available!
Sign-Up End Date: 10/1/26
Uniform Order Deadline: 10/1/26
Basketball (3rd-8th) -- $90
Basketball (JK/2nd) -- $80
Archery (4th-8th) -- $130
We are currently looking for coaches for all sports. Please email Jamie Pike at jpike1793@gmail.com if you are interested. To apply to coach, please complete application in GameDay. See link below.
All coaches must complete a Background Check and Safe Environment Training
Sports Uniform Fitting – Sunday, September 13, 2026
If your child is participating in Basketball and Archery, please join us for our Uniform Fitting:
📅 Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026
🕛 Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
📍 Location: St. Gabriel Gym
This fitting will help ensure your athlete receives the correct uniform size for the upcoming season.
After attending the fitting, please order your uniform online. See link below.
Please place your uniform order as soon as possible after the fitting to help ensure timely delivery before the season begins.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday and getting ready for another great sports season!
Interested in Becoming Catholic? Need to complete missed Sacraments? Come join us Sunday at 1:15pm for lunch and an overview of the Initiation Process! Any questions please call Kathy Abell at 502-905-3795.
We are currently seeking nominations for the 2026 St. Gabriel Volunteer Service Awards. Please submit your nominees by end of day Sunday, September 13. Winners will be announced on Saturday, October 3 as part of our Feast of St. Gabriel Celebration.
Nomination Criteria: Parish member or school/preschool family, effort or initiative occurred between July 2025 and June 2026.
Service Award Categories:
Leopard Leadership Award (School/Preschool): A volunteer that has demonstrated commitment to improving the educational experience.
Unsung Hero Award (Stewardship): A volunteer that has quietly worked behind the scenes in a specific non-faith formation ministry.
Sports Leader Award (Sports Ministry): A volunteer who is a true role model for our youth, this coach or assistant coach understands how to model faith-based behaviors.
Good Shepherd Award (Faith Formation): A volunteer lives a life full of faith and wants to share it with our parish, shepherding along a faith-based ministry.
Golden Hammer (Facilities): A volunteer that has made the most physical or aesthetic impact to our campus for the betterment of our facilities.
Youth ministry is back! Students in 6th-8th grade are invited to attend this kickoff event for faith and fellowship this Sunday, September 13 from 5-7 p.m. here at St. Gabriel. Make sure to register each student attending if you haven't already! Questions? Kathy Abell at 502-905-3795.
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
Encuentro aims to move beyond symbolic inclusion toward full integration of all members of the Church, especially our Hispanic/Latino brethren, as equal participants in parish life. The Church must reflect “one body in Christ,” where diversity of culture and language enriches, rather than divides, our communities.
This gathering seeks to: promote belonging over assimilation, foster encounter and transformation, listen to inform action, strengthen leadership accountability, and advance unity in worship and parish life.
Encuentro will take place on Saturday, September 19 from 8 am to 3:30pm at Holy Cross High School in Louisville.