Dear Parents,
We are so thankful for all of the parents who were able to come to Mock Schedule Night last night. We hope you enjoyed meeting your daughter’s teachers and learning about her classes. Most importantly, we hope that you were able to witness what it means to be a part of the community of Assumption. In our community, we are blessed with teachers who truly love what they do and it shows. We are proud of our rigorous academic program and our students who work so hard, but what makes Assumption different is that our teachers share their love for learning and for their students on a daily basis. They are here to take care of your daughter as a whole person – mind, body, and spirit. And this is why your daughter loves coming to school and may even think that, at Assumption, learning is fun!
CALENDAR NOTES:
- LABOR DAY HOLIDAY: School will be closed on Monday, September 2, for the Labor Day holiday. We wish everyone a safe and restful holiday weekend!
- MANDATORY FRESHMAN GUIDANCE PROGRAM: Freshman parents, please mark your calendars and plan to attend one of our mandatory Freshman Parent Drug/Alcohol Education Programs on Wednesday, September 4, OR Monday, September 9, at 6:30 p.m. You do not need to pre-register; just come on the night most convenient for your schedule. This is an important program designed to familiarize you with the school philosophy and policies in the area of drug and alcohol prevention. We know that what parents say and do makes a difference in the choices their daughters make. At this meeting, you will hear from Cindi Baughman, dean of students, and a local therapist from Innerview who will present vital information in the area of drug and alcohol prevention. It is a program that will be worth your time and attention. At least one parent or guardian is required to attend. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center and will last approximately one hour.
CAMPUS MINISTRY:
- FRESHMAN PARENT MASS: This Mass is a beautiful way to celebrate your freshman daughter’s high school journey as a community of faith. It will be celebrated on Sunday, September 8, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Raphael Catholic Church. Please come even if your family isn’t Catholic. Siblings are invited as well – please bring the whole family!
- PARENT PRAYER BEGINS ON SEPTEMBER 10: All AHS parents are invited to begin the day in prayer once a week on Tuesdays from 8:15 a.m.-8:45 a.m. This year our prayer will take place across Tyler Lane in the chapel at St. Catherine’s Convent. Upon exiting campus after carpool, follow the signs directing you across the street. During these times, we pray for EACH student, faculty, and staff member at AHS by name while parents at Sacred Heart, Trinity, and St. Xavier share the same weekly prayer that we do. Please join us every Tuesday or just any Tuesday you can make it! No need to RSVP! We will begin on Tuesday, September 10. If you are unable to attend but would like the group to pray for a particular intention, please email it to our campus minister at MARY ANN STEUTERMANN. We hope you find comfort in knowing that we are praying for your intention even if you can’t be present.
CLUB WEEK: Is your daughter looking for a way to get involved at Assumption? Here is her chance! Club Week will take the place the week of September 9 and three of our RocketTimes will be devoted to getting involved at AHS. On Monday, September 9, all students will meet in homerooms during RocketTime to receive information about all the clubs and organizations Assumption has to offer, including information about club membership and meeting dates. Whether she is an animal lover or an adventure seeker, we have a club for your Rocket! Students will have the opportunity to attend two introductory club meetings of their choice during PM RocketTime on Tuesday, September 10, and Thursday, September 12. Please encourage your daughter to take full advantage of this chance to explore new opportunities. We hope you will also mark your calendar for September 9-12 and touch base with your daughter about the clubs that she found interesting. A list of the clubs offered is available in the STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK. Any questions, please contact THERESA SCHUHMANN.
ACADEMIC BANQUET: Invitations were sent out Wednesday morning to parents via email for our annual Academic Banquet on Sunday, September 29, at 1:00 p.m. At this banquet, we honor the academic accomplishments of the following groups of students – sophomores, juniors, and seniors who earned a 4.0 GPA during the 2018-2019 school year; newly inducted Beta Club members; newly inducted National Honor Society members; freshman McAuley Scholars and newly inducted McAuley Scholars; and seniors recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. We ask parents to check their email closely for information about attendance and the RSVP deadline of September 18. Due to space limitations, we limit guests to two per student. If you have any questions, please contact KATHY FLEISCHER, registrar.
GUIDANCE PODCAST – new this year! Our Guidance Department has so much information they would love to be able to share with parents. However, we know our Assumption families are busy. While Guidance will continue to offer valuable in-person programming (and we encourage you to attend), we wanted to find a way to make information available to our parents that wouldn’t require attending another meeting at school. Enter our new Guidance podcast, AHS Counselor Conversations! Podcast episodes will focus on a variety of topics, such as mental health, technology, brain development, family relationships, drugs and alcohol, academics, and college & career preparation. We are excited that this resource will make information accessible to parents at their convenience with just a couple clicks of a button; we hope it will help you in your efforts to give your teen the support she needs to grow into the best version of herself. Starting next week, you will be able to access the podcast through iTunes (with Spotify and Google Play coming soon). Please watch for more information on social media next week and give our first episodes a listen. Questions and comments are welcome at GuidancePodcast@ahsrockets.org.
ARCHDIOCESAN PARENT PRESENTATION: The Archdiocese of Louisville invites all parents to a special presentation by Dr. Leonard Sax titled “Instagram Ate My Daughter and My Son Won’t Stop Playing Fortnite—What Parents Need to Know to Improve the Odds for Their Children” on Tuesday, September 17, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Mercy Academy. Please see the flyer in this link for more information: DR LEONARD SAX PARENT PRESENTATION
ATTENDANCE MATTERS: If your daughter is absent or coming in late on any day, please call the attendance line at 502-458-9551, press 1, and report the absence/late arrival before 8:30 a.m. If you need for your daughter to be excused early for a medical appointment, please send a note with your daughter the morning of the early dismissal and have her bring it to the attendance office before 8:05/9:05 a.m. This helps us keep classroom interruptions to a minimum and protects the time for instruction of our students. Also, please bear in mind that absences not related to illness/medical appointments need to be approved ahead of time to be excused. To request an excused absence in advance (for something like driver’s testing, a club team competition, a family wedding, etc.), you may email your request to attendance@ahsrockets.org. Requests need to be submitted one to two weeks in advance of the planned absence; we cannot excuse absences if requests are received the school day before or the day of the absence. Remember to review the handbook for all attendance-related information starting on page 41 of the 2019-2020 STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK.
STUDENT DROP OFF AND PICKUP: The only place students should be dropped off in the morning or picked up in the afternoon is in the carpool line. Students may not be dropped off or picked up in any of our parking areas along Tyler Lane (even if cars are stopped at the light), in the parking lot at Strathmoor Presbyterian Church, and definitely not along the side of Bardstown Road. In the past week, we have seen cars just parked and waiting on Tyler Lane and in the parking lot in front of our gym, and students who pay to park at Strathmoor have reported that they couldn’t get into or out of their spaces because parents were blocking them. These practices interfere with the flow of traffic and create dangerous situations for both students and other drivers. We need parents and others who drive our girls to/from school to be good role models and follow our rules and guidelines in this regard; doing otherwise is counterproductive to our efforts to teach the girls to do the right thing, to show concern for others, and to be considerate members of the community. If drivers do not want to wait in the carpool line, students may be quickly dropped off or picked up at Gardiner Lane Shopping Center near Krispy Kreme and walk the short block to/from campus. We will be issuing detentions to students who are dropped off or picked up in illegal areas–please be sure to follow the rules so you don’t cause your daughter to receive one.
POWERSCHOOL GRADES: PowerSchool grades are available for your view via your PowerSchool account. The following reminders are important to keep in mind:
- PowerSchool grades are provided as our first line of communication to our families regarding your daughter’s progress, but it is important to keep in mind that no first semester grades are final until January 2020.
- As indicated in the Student Parent Handbook, if a student is absent or misses class due to retreat or any other school-related function, we use a PLACE HOLDER ZERO to help her remember to make up this work. This PLACE HOLDER ZERO will be replaced with the actual grade once the student completes the makeup work and the teacher is able to enter it in PowerSchool.
- Teachers are asked to have grades as up to date as possible by the 1st and the 15th of each month.
- If you or your daughter have a question regarding a grade recorded in PowerSchool, please have your daughter reach out to the teacher with her question. You are always welcome to follow up with the teacher as well.
ACT PREP: TorchPrep is offering a couple of options for prepping for the ACT in September and October. We had a great group of AHS students participate in the June workshop and had amazing results. Please visit their website for additional information about their five-week boot camps and “Weekend Warrior” program: TorchPrep.
SEPTEMBER BUS SCHEDULE FOR TRANSPORTATION TO THE GREEN: Below is information for our fall sports athletes regarding after-school transportation to practices/games at the Green.
SEPTEMBER | Date | Time Bus Leaves School | Practice or Game before 5:00pm |
Monday | 2 | No school – Holiday | |
Tuesday | 3 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Wednesday | 4 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Thursday | 5 | No bus | away games |
Friday | 6 | No bus | away games |
Monday | 9 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Tuesday | 10 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Wednesday | 11 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Thursday | 12 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
Friday | 13 | 3:15 (bus) | practice |
ROCKET NIGHTS: There will be two Rocket Nights to celebrate past, present, and future Rockets this fall. The preseason #3 nationally ranked Rockets volleyball team will take on preseason #2 nationally ranked Mater Dei from Santa Ana, California during Volleyball Rocket Night on Thursday, September 12. The game is at 6:00 p.m. in the Assumption gymnasium. The Field Hockey Rocket Night is on Tuesday, September 17, with JV playing at 6:30, and varsity at 7:30 p.m. vs Male. All grade school students and alumnae will receive FREE admission, and FREE limited-edition t-shirts will be given out to the first 150 future Rockets or alumnae at each night. For more information, click here.
DANCE & CHEER CLINICS: The dance and cheer teams will offer clinics for future Rockets who are interested in learning new skills from our nationally ranked dancers and cheerleaders! Dance will be held on Saturday, September 14, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and cheer will be held on Saturday, September 28, from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Both clinics will provide participants the opportunity to show off their dance and/or cheer moves at an Assumption game following the clinics. Click here for more details and registration information.
EXPLORE ALASKA – SUMMER 2020: Whales, seals, dog sledding, glaciers, oh my! If your daughter wants to have an exciting adventure next summer, she should consider exploring Alaska. Our group from AHS will learn firsthand about the first Alaskans; hike to a glacier and learn about the exciting science of glaciology; cruise to Kenali Fjords National Park to see whales, otters and seals; spend a day visiting the home of four-time Iditarod winner Martin Buser and his sled dogs at Happy Trails Kennel; visit Palmer Musk Ox Farm for a closer look at ice age mammals that once roamed the earth; and end up visiting Denali National Park with a wilderness rafting trip along the beautiful Nenana River while keeping an eye out for moose, caribou, wolves, bears, and much more. This trip is open to all current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Join us at the Parent/Student Information meeting on Tuesday, September 3, at 6:30 p.m. in Room C102. RSVP by emailing STACY JOHNSON or STASIA POLSTON.
DISCOVER SOUTH AFRICA – SUMMER 2021: If you are looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience for you daughter, consider having her travel with a group from AHS to South Africa. The lions, elephants, zebras, and giraffes are fascinating, but important social, political and cultural lessons will make an even a bigger impression. Our group will visit the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu; travel along the Panorama Route to visit Blyde River Cannon, God’s Window, and Bourke’s Luck Potholes; visit a local school and walk through a traditional Shangaan Village; enjoy a full-day game drive through Kruger National Park, learning about the million acres with 16 eco-zones; take a morning bush walk before traveling to Cape Town to enjoy the views from a cable car ride to the summit of the Table Mountain; visit the South African Museum and reflect on Nelson Mandela’s fight for freedom while visiting his jail cell on Robben Island; and much more. This trip is open to all current freshmen and sophomores. Please join us at the Parent/Student Information Meeting on Thursday, September 5, at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center to learn more about this fantastic trip. RSVP by emailing STACY JOHNSON or STASIA POLSTON. We are starting early so you can start saving.
METRO UNITED WAY AND UPS: Do you, your spouse, or a family member work for UPS? If so, you have an opportunity to help Assumption. As a UPS employee, you can designate your Metro United Way gift to AHS. Whether you give through payroll deduction, cash, check, or stock gifts, you may designate your gift to AHS by simply writing in Assumption’s tax ID, 61-1133759, on the MUW pledge form. Your gift will be included in our annual Fund for Assumption campaign to support need-based financial assistance and school programs. Please consider directing your gift to: Assumption High School, 2170 Tyler Lane, Louisville, KY 40205, Tax ID number: 61-1133759. Many thanks for your support of Assumption!
Sincerely,
Martha Tedesco
Principal