Research St. Gabriel-Sorrowful Virgin School private Schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“I totally disagree with what this parent stated about St. Gabriel School. Both my children love attending St. Gabriel's. I do not feel at all parents manipulate eveything. This person needs to elaborate 'what they mean.' The coaching has led St. Gabriel's to many Diocesean Championships, afterschool activities, such as Girl Scouts, Cheerleading, are volunteered activites which, of course, are run by the parents. Field Trips are determined by teachers and staff, not by the parents, cafeteria staff are most,y volunteers, very few paid workers, and you can not decide where your child should sit in the classroom. Your child is not 'sheltered' in St. Gabriel's; it is one of the bigger Catholic Schools with nearly 500 students enrolled. If you are contemplating sending your child here, please come observe a classroom at St. Gabriel's. St. Gabriel's provides an excellent education with good opportunites!”

“I just graduated this year, and I went to St. Gabe's from kindergarden to 8th grade. St. Gabe's was honestly one of the best schools I could have ever imagined. There was not one thing I didn't like about it. The classes were great, the sports teams are amazing, the teachers are nice and very understanding. I truely loved everything about it. Next year in high school I will be missing it terribly, and I will most deffinatly be coming to visit it. These past 9 years have been full of happiness because of the school I went to. I highly reccomend it for kids of any age. The students are so nice and very including. I loved everything about it.”

“There can never be too much parent involvement in any young childs early education. I am a parent who is volunteering at the school. This parish does not have the funds to keep this school open unless parishioners support the school staff. Otherwise, tuition could be implemented and thus the school would be what the previous poster wants. No need for volunteers, just paid employees. This is a tuition-free school and would be unable to stay open without all the volunteering parents, grandparents, neighbors and such. Being a Catholic tuition-free school has its obvious rewards, but also its drawbacks such as not so grand facilities for sports, etc., so I do believe that, if that is where your priorities are, the best option for your child/children would be your public schools. With a Catholic education and tougher grading scale than public schools, that's our priority.”

“As an earlier post stated - a lot of parent involvment - too much. The parents at St. Gabriels manipulate everything - everything down to where the kids sit. The school is small and they shelter the kids to the real world. The resources are limited. The kids spend most of the day in 2 classes. When compared to the public school system in terms of resources (computers, athletics, amount of teachers, after school tutoring, mentors, coaches, programs) there is no comparison - the public schools offer much more. Most importantly, the paid public school officials run the programs in the public system. St. Gabriel parents run everything such as the athletic programs, coaching, afterschool activities, field trips, cafeteria staff. As you would expect, they manipulate everything. You child will not function well in the real world if you keep them in St. Gabriels for 8 years.”

“St.Gabriel is a great school, but they don't disipline the students who keep misbehaving and interupting classes.”

“This is a great school. The class sizes are smaller than in public schools, wich means more one on one instruction. The teachers are experienced and well trained. They give every student a fair chance and always help if a student needs extra instruction. The school also has may exra-curricular activities such as forensics, band, student council, choir and PJAS. This is a great overall school.”

“This is the place to send your child for outstanding Catholic based education. It is a safe haven of nurturing and caring along with a strong curriculum. My children have been challenged to do their best by teachers who really take an interest in learning about who they are. Homework is given in a good balance with interesting projects. Internet use is encouraged in these projects as well as library skills. The Student Council is a great way to learn leadership among peers. Both of my sons have been active in this capacity. Physical fitness is a fun part of the curriculum. This school was the right choice for us.”

“My 20 year old son went from 2nd to 8th grade at St.Gabes and it was the best experience of his life. It made him into the respectful, intelligent, caring, hard working kid he is today. And he hated school when he was younger. There are very few bad experiences to remember about St.Gabriels (of coarse, every school life has a couple) but overall, it was the best time of his/our lives. He went on to college, with some help from Father, and is continuing his education still. Being at St. Gabes gave him the confidence he has today. We, at the time were a single parent, one child home, and without St. Gabes, things could have turned out very different.”