PREP

Parish Religious Education Program


NEW STUDENTS–Parents of PREP students who are entering the St. Gabriel program for the first time (either homeschool or in-person classes) are asked to provide a copy of their child’s Baptismal certificate at the time of registration and payment.  You can bring the original certificate to the church to be copied or call the parish where the Baptism occurred to request a duplicate to be sent to you directly. Ask for the raised seal of the parish to be embossed on the duplicate copy.  Our registration form asks where your child was baptized; please complete this critical part of the registration form to expedite the documentation process.  We will notify the church of Baptism every time your child receives another sacrament at St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother.

 

FIRST EUCHARIST STUDENTS—There is a $40 Sacrament Fee, in addition to tuition, that can be paid at the time of registration or later in the year.  You may pay online as debit or credit at the time of registrations or submit cash or a check if you have already submitted a registration form.

 

CONFIRMATION STUDENTS—All Level 7 PREP is done through homeschooling. Please register your child and pay the full registration fee for the number of children who will participate in PREP, as usual.  If your child went to Camp Caritas or another Summer Camp, please submit a copy of the certificate of completion, register for PREP on the website or on the paper application, and pay $90.  (The fee for participation in the five mandatory sessions in February/March is $50 and the Sacrament Fee is $40.)  There are 25 quizzes during the year, so parents can follow the 2023-2024 Scope and Sequence to know which lesson its teach and which interactive quiz to submit to the DRE every week.

 

TUITION PAYMENT–We ask that the balance of tuition be paid before the first night of PREP to avoid money being transacted on Sept. 11 in the hall.  Last minute registrations and payments can be submitted to the church office during the work day or online anytime.  Sacrament fees do not need to be paid before PREP begins.  Reminders will be sent to particular families later in the year.  Please call Linda Riofski at 610-268-0296 to work out a payment schedule that is mutually agreeable, if the costs are burdensome.

 

HOMESCHOOLING—Please indicate on the registration form which grade level your child will enroll and if you intend to homeschool your child. Student textbooks, parent/guardian handbooks, and other information will be distributed on the first night of class for those families who notify me in advance.  Students who are homeschooled must hav ether parents submit the results of each week’s interactive quiz as evidence of completed studies.  There are 25 quizzes during the year, so parents can follow the 2023-2024 Scope and Sequence to know which lesson its teach and which interactive quiz to submit to the DRE every week.

 


Important Dates: 
 

First day of class: September 11th
1st Reconciliation: November 13th
Confirmation: March 10th
1st  Holy Communion: April 20th

 


A Parent’s Prayer

O Heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting or contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them to be to me.

Forbid that I should never laugh at mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.

Let me not tempt my children to lie or steal, and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all that I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

When I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue. May I ever be mindful that my children are children and I should not expect of them the judgments of adults. Let me not rob them the opportunity to wait on themselves and to make decisions.

Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm. Make me fair and just and kind and fit, O Lord, to be loved and respected and imitated by my children.
Amen.