Dear Parents,

We hope you and your daughters are transitioning well into this school year.  Please continue to contact your daughter’s guidance counselor or deans with any questions or concerns, as needed, throughout this school year.  We are here to help make this year a great one for your daughter and you!

CALENDAR NOTES:

• MOCK SCHEDULE NIGHT:  We will have our annual Mock Schedule Night on Thursday, August 29, beginning at 6:30 p.m.; parents should report to their daughter’s homeroom for opening prayer and announcements. We are asking your daughter to text you a picture of her schedule and her HR number by the end of the school day on August 29 so you can have it handy for Mock Schedule.
• SCHOOL PICTURES:  School pictures for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be taken on Thursday, August 29, and Friday, August 30, during study periods.  There is NO uniform break for school pictures; pictures will be taken of students in their school uniforms.  Please help your daughter make sure her uniform is clean and in good repair for her school portrait.  All students must have their pictures taken for our yearbook. Students will receive envelopes with purchase information in their homerooms.
• 9:05 WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE REMINDER:  We will continue our 9:05 Wednesday schedule for the remainder of the year.  
• BEFORE- AND AFTER-SCHOOL SUPERVISION REMINDER:  The school doors open at 7:15 a.m. each school day, and supervision is provided in the cafeteria before school from 7:15-7:55 a.m. (until 8:55 a.m. on 9:05 schedule days) and after school from 3:15-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 4:00 p.m. on Friday.     

CAMPUS MINISTRY: 

• 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.  We’ll be sending out more information on where to park as September 10 gets closer.  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. 

LAST CALL FOR HANDBOOK AGREEMENT FORMS:  The 2019-2020 Student-Parent Handbook is available on the school’s website:  2019-2020 STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK. Parents, please review the handbook carefully as it is part of the legal agreement between you and Assumption High School—it lets you know what you can expect from us and what we expect from you and your daughter. You may want to consider putting a shortcut to it on your desktop so you can quickly find out how to request an early dismissal for a dental appointment, what time detention begins, what time we dismiss on semester exam days, etc. It contains a wealth of information about all things Assumption.  Since it was due to your daughter’s homeroom teacher by this morning (Friday, August 23), she should have already asked you to sign the Student-Parent Handbook Agreement Form verifying that you have read and agree to be governed by the rules and policies in the handbook. If she didn’t, please ask her about this, take care of it this weekend, and have your daughter bring the signed form to main office on Monday morning. The printed form is on the first page of her Student Planner and must be signed by both the parent and student.

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.

SCHOOL SAFETY WEEK:  Next week is Assumption High School Safety Week, and we will be practicing all four of our emergency drills during the week as required by Kentucky law.  We will have a lockdown drill, fire drill, earthquake drill, and severe weather/tornado drill. This is a good time to remind you that in the case of a true emergency/disaster, parents will be notified and kept informed via Emergency Alerts; students will be released only to their parents or other authorized guardians and will have to be signed out before leaving;  students who provide their own transportation to/from school must have parent/guardian permission to leave verified by school personnel prior to leaving, provided it is safe for them to do so; if it is safe to enter the school building, parents will gather in the school theater to await the release of their daughters; and if the building is not accessible, parents will gather in the back parking lot of on our east campus (former American Legion property) to await the release of their daughters. Please be sure that you are signed up for Emergency Alerts in PowerSchool and that we have current and accurate contact information for you and others we could call upon if there would ever be an urgent situation involving your daughter. Also, please note that the person you designate as an emergency contact is the person we would contact only if we cannot get in touch with a student’s parents/guardians—the name you provide as the emergency contact should not be the same as either the first or second contact because we will attempt to get in touch with them first/before going to the emergency contact.

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.

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 1^st and the 15^th 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.

POWERSCHOOL LEARNING INVITATION:  On the afternoon of Friday, August 16, we emailed parents an invitation to join our PowerSchool Learning Management System (LMS).  Your daughter uses the LMS to access information about each of her classes, such as daily class agendas, upcoming due dates for tests and assignments, and electronic documents that her teachers have prepared for her classes. The email invitation had a URL link for you to click and an eight-character code needed to register for your particular daughter. Once you have completed the registration for the LMS, you will be able to log in and see her class information too. Here are a couple of links that you may find helpful. How do I accept an invitation as a parent? and What can parents see and do in a class?.

DUAL CREDIT COURSE REGISTRATION: Attention, parents of students enrolled in dual credit (DC) courses:  If your daughter is enrolled in DC English, she began her registration for this course through University of Louisville this week.  All other students enrolled in Dual Credit classes will be enrolling in the next two weeks.   In late September, your daughter will want to keep an eye out for an email from KHEAA to take advantage of the Dual Credit Scholarship which pays for two classes for every student in the state of Kentucky throughout her high school career.   If you have questions regarding registration or paying for Dual Credit courses, Dean of Studies Judy Fieldhouse will be in the cafeteria on Mock Schedule night to answer your questions.  Please stop by and see her!

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.

COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHT FOR SENIORS AND PARENTS:  Leigh Jackson and Kimberly Habich, college counselors, will be visiting every senior English class August 23 through August 29.  Our counselors will provide detailed information about the college application process to every senior.  To further assist seniors and their parents with the college process, there will be a college information night for all seniors and parents on Wednesday, September 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the theater.  Admission representatives from a variety of colleges and universities will discuss the college application process.  This panel will provide helpful hints and advice to seniors as they begin their own college process. If you have any questions, please contact LEIGH JACKSON.

RPN UPDATE:  The Rocket Parent Network (RPN) strives to support and advocate for the health and well-being of our daughters by partnering with families and Assumption High School. Operation Parent of Oldham County recently hosted a webinar titled “Alcohol, Drugs and You: Conversation about Addition.” Click here for a recording of the webinar. They will also be hosting another webinar, “Teen, E-cigarettes and Vaping” on October 1, 2019, at 2:00 p.m.  According to the Center for Disease Control, in 2018, one in five high school students and one in twenty middle school students currently use e-cigarettes. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams officially declared e-cigarette use among youth an “epidemic.”  Pediatrician and former President of the Kentucky Chapter of The American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Patricia Purcell, will be joining Operation Parent for this webinar.  She will provide an update on current trends, recent actions taken by the FDA to restrict access, and health risks our kids are taking by using these devices. Click here to register for this Operation Parent event.  The RPN will post a link of the recording on the RPN webpage.  RPN’s next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 27, at 6:00 p.m. in Room C101.  For more information about this meeting or RPN, please contact RPN President SHARON CULLOP.

ATHLETICS LIVE BROADCAST ANNOUNCEMENT:  AHS Athletic is proud to announce that we have partnered with the NFHS Network and will broadcast our Rocket athletic events for all levels in basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and volleyball live. AHS games can now be watched from anywhere on your phone, tablet, computer, or smart TV.  By subscribing to the NFHS Network, you get full access to all content on the network for our school and any other broadcast nationwide.  To subscribe, use our school short link: tiny.cc/Assumption or go to www.NFHSnetwork.com, enter Assumption in the search box, then click “follow” so you can stay up to date on all upcoming Assumption events and click “subscribe” for all subscription options for our school. You will have two choices on subscriptions. The first is a monthly subscription for only $10.99 or a yearly subscription for $69.99. This will include any postseason state events in Kentucky as the KHSAA is an NFHS Network member as well.

AUGUST 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.

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 Centerto learn more about this fantastic trip.  RSVP by emailing STACY JOHNSON or  STASIA POLSTON.  We are starting early so you can start saving. 

Sincerely,

Martha Tedesco

Principal