March 9, 2023
Dear St. Gabriel’s and St. Michael’s Families,
As the trees begin to sprout new growth and turn green, we are reminded daily that spring is indeed here and spring break is just around the corner. Before we jump into what we hope will be well-deserved time off, we wanted to take the time to update you on the unification progress.
Why merge?
The merger of St. Michael’s and St. Gabriel’s was the result of a mutual, thoughtful, diligent, and prudent discernment process designed to preserve and advance the mission of our schools for generations to come. As Independent Catholic schools, our missions and values have always been closely aligned. Our centeredness in Christ and our commitments to an enriching and meaningful Catholic education, too, are both aligned and deeply held.
What is “Archangel?”
You have seen the term “Archangel” used recently when signing your enrollment contracts and when creating new FACTS accounts. As has been previously shared, while “Archangel Catholic School of Austin, Inc.” is the school’s new legal, corporate entity name, we continue to do business as St. Gabriel’s Catholic School and St. Michael’s Catholic Academy.
What Is Changing Right Now?
At the moment, the unification process is heavily focused upon streamlining backend processes like payroll, tuition payments, technology support, and facilities work. The combined senior leadership team of our unified school has been working hard to bring financial and logistic efficiencies to these processes where needed and possible, as well as to ensure that both the student and parent experiences are as excellent as we expect from ourselves. While the school day for the students and faculty remains what it was prior to our official unification, faculty have begun some good conversations about future possibilities across campuses for departments like music, theater, fine arts, and athletics. We are also hopeful to celebrate a joint all-school Mass for our students this spring!
What is Not Changing As We Begin Our Unification?
Names
Colors
Mascots
Daily campus experience
Traditions
Events
Decisions about any changes to these areas will be made in a transparent, inclusive, and collaborative manner and with the community as we continue our unification efforts.
What About Leadership Roles?
As you know, Colleen Lynch was named Head of School for Pre-K-12th grade. She is able to broaden her role in part because of the excellent leadership on each campus. Heidi Sloan has taken on the focused role of Head of High School, and she is still very much leading the High School division of our combined school. Jacqui Glenn continues to lead our Lower School and Dr. Blanca Snyder is Head of Middle School.
What Next?
Over the course of the next few months, as we continue to come together as one unified school, you will have opportunities to participate in thoughtful and honest discussions to share what you love about each campus; culture, traditions, and brand.
We are committed to honor and respect our roots. At this momentous time in the history of our schools, we are also called to work together to build upon the strengths of each campus and create a unified school that is visionary and transformative for our students and all our families.
There is a lot of work that remains to be done and we look forward to doing it with you. We are grateful to each of you and to the administration and staff on both campuses for their hard work and dedication. As always, we are here for you; please reach out with any questions or curiosities you have so that we may address your concerns in a timely manner.
Thank you for your continued support. The future is bright and we are very excited for what is to come!
Warmly,
Chris Dolce
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Colleen Lynch
Head of School