Welcome Back

August 29, 2019

I am Zena Filice, the 2019-2020 Chair of the St. Gabriel Parent Organization. I would like to welcome all returning families and our new families to the new school year. This is my 8th year as a St Gabriel parent and 3rd year as a Parent Board member.

Last year, St Gabriel school celebrated its 70th anniversary with a back to school night for our alumni; thank you to the chairs, staff, teachers and volunteers (parents & students) for their commitment, dedication & support in making the event a great success. 

The Parent Organization helps with school functions and fundraisers throughout the year with the support of many parent volunteers, school staff members, teachers, alumni and parishioners. The board is the liaison between the event chairpersons, school and parish. 

We started this year with the first day of school “Welcome Back Breakfast”, and continue to host many events such as Santa’s Breakfast, Fun Run, Crab Dinner and the Carnival, just to name a few. This year, we will resume hosting the International Food Faire in the fall and has been renamed to the "Fall Food Festival". We have a very enthusiastic parent community at St. Gabriel and for that we say, THANK YOU! These events could not be successful without you. If you are new to the school, it is a fantastic way to get to know your St. Gabriel community!

The money raised in these events all goes back to the school which benefits our children and their education. This past year, we purchased new chrome books for the 3rd and 4th grade classes via the ‘Chocolate Sale’ which completes the purchasing of required computers for classes; beginning this year we will begin to leverage the funds from the ‘Chocolate Sale’ to ‘replenish’/’purchase’ new ones for older grades. In an effort to improve our events, we introduced a very successful new version of the Jog-a-thon fundraiser called the ‘FUN RUN’ and we’re hopeful with our network of support that we will exceed our goal this year.  Parent involvement is what keeps our school at the top of its game, it keeps our tuition down, our classrooms updated, and our school grounds clean and safe. 

Please feel free to contact any member of the Parent Board or me if you have any questions or ideas you would like to share. 

All the best,

Zena Filice