Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Parish and School have a long and storied history in Frankfort. The first Catholic Mass in Frankfort was celebrated in 1794, although it took until 1848 to establish a parish here. First established as St. Patrick’s, the parish took shape in downtown Frankfort where many of the parishioners labored to build the historic church. The name was changed to Good Shepherd in 1850.
The first Catholic school in Frankfort was opened in 1860 when the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth established St. Mary’s Academy. There was no separate school building at the time, so students were taught in the convent. Problems with the lease forced the sisters to close the school for a short time. The school was reopened when the Sisters of Charity bought property on Wapping Street and established St. Joseph’s Convent. The newly opened school was named St. Joseph Academy. The Sisters of Charity also assumed the charge of St. Aloysius Boy’s Parochial School in 1880 when the Xaverian Brothers gave it up. Good Shepherd Parish bought the Academy in 1917 and renamed it Good Shepherd Parochial School. Although the faculty is now only composed of lay persons, through the school’s history the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the Sisters of Divine Providence have both played important roles in administration and teaching.
The first official Good Shepherd School Building was started in 1922 and dedicated in September 1923. In 1956 four classrooms and a cafeteria were added to this building. This building still stands at 316 Wapping Street. As Good Shepherd parish continued to grow, even more space was needed and the "New School Building" was built in 1962. The final addition to the downtown Wapping Street campus was the Gym/Parish Center that was built in 1981. The “New School” and Gym were torn down in 2010 to build the new Franklin County Judicial Center.
Good Shepherd Parish continued to grow, but with no room to expand downtown, the decision to move to a new location was made in 1985. A contemporary church building was built in 1997 at the Shepherd Way location in East Frankfort and for a while Good Shepherd maintained two campuses. In 2007, the decision was made to build a new school and consolidate on the Shepherd Way campus. The school remained at the downtown campus until 2010 and then moved into transitional classrooms at Shepherd Way. The new Good Shepherd School building and gym were completed at the end of 2012, with the students and staff moving into the school in January 2013, after the Christmas holidays. GSCS currently utilizes the main school building and gymnasium as well as spaces in the Parish Life Center and transitional units.
A Master Plan for the entire Shepherd Way campus, including proposed future buildings, is on display in the Parish Life Center.
We are Good Shepherd Catholic School, a ministry of Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
It is our mission to put Christ at the Heart of It All.
We consider it a privilege and a duty to work together with families to encourage the development of the whole child spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically by offering a Catholic-based education for Catholics and non-Catholic students.
Good Shepherd Catholic School is a ministry of Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Parish in Frankfort, KY and of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington (previously of Covington) since 1917 and had its foundation in other Catholic schools in Frankfort since 1860. The parish supports the school in many ways, particularly through its financial contribution and the election of an advisory school council.
Originally located on Wapping St. in downtown Frankfort, Good Shepherd Catholic School served students in grades 1-12. Now, GSCS offers a Christ-centered education for children, both Catholic and non-Catholic, in Pre-K through 8 on our campus at Shepherd Way. We are proud that our student body is very diverse.
We offer an enriched curriculum including classes in the areas of music, physical education, art, library, technology, and Spanish.
Good Shepherd offers AfterCare and Summer Camp daycare services as well as a wide variety of extra-curricular activities such as academic teams, clubs, and sports. We believe that the variety of choices as well as the high quality of our special programs and high level of student participation makes this one of our best attributes.
The faculty and staff of Good Shepherd are faithful, caring, committed, qualified individuals. The staff works hard to maintain the campus and provide a student-friendly cafeteria, exciting and ever-expanding library, and up-to-date accessible technology.
Service has always been a hallmark of the Catholic Church and Good Shepherd School follows in that tradition by using service projects to make classroom learning concrete and relevant to students’ lives. The school, and the PTO in particular, provide many opportunities for staff and families to come together for learning, fellowship, and outreach. The sense of community is strong at GSCS and is one of our greatest strengths.
Good Shepherd School begins each day with prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and our Irish creed to put Christ at the heart of it all with integrity, respect, independence, service, and honor. Our students attend Mass together once a week and our Catholic students receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly. GSCS also currently implements a leadership initiative based on Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Disciple of Christ: Education in Virtue.