Dear Parents,
The community of Assumption has spent this week preparing and implementing our response to the Covid-19 pandemic school building closure. We hope your daughters were able to rest and recharge on Monday and Tuesday in preparation for our digital learning which began on Wednesday. We are so proud of our faculty who spent this week creating meaningful lesson plans while continuing to train for our upcoming virtual learning days which will begin on Tuesday. As a society, we are now relying on technology and the internet more heavily than ever before, so we ask that you continue to be patient and have your daughters contact her teachers or administrators when issues arise. We are available to assist and trouble-shoot in any way that we can.
In this uncertain time, we are working hard to provide your daughters with some sense of normalcy. Every morning we are sending an email with the morning prayer and announcements so that we can begin each school day as we always have. This includes a mindful moment and celebration of birthdays as well as prayer requests and, of course, our prayer to begin our day together. Your daughters have been encouraged to email Campus Minister Mary Ann Steutermann with any prayer intentions they may have. Additionally, your daughter is receiving a daily email from her counselor reminding her of the resources that are available at school including help from the Achievement Center as well as resources for outside-of-school assistance and mental health resources. We hope you will take a moment to talk with your daughter about these communications at home.
As we remind our students every day, please remember to wash your hands and practice social distancing. And pray…please continue to pray. Remember who we are – we are the Community of Assumption. We will “find our way” through this unique time in our lives together!
LEARNING PLAN FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 23: As we shared last week, Assumption High School has implemented a plan to ensure that our students will continue learning in the most effective way possible during the extended closing of our campus. This plan built upon our established plan for inclement weather cancellations and utilized two built-in “snow” days on Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17, and on Wednesday, March 18 moved to the established system of digital learning days which provides course work for students to complete while home. Digital learning days will continue through Monday, March 23. But because we have always planned for digital learning to be a short-term response for inclement weather, on Tuesday, March 24, we will move to virtual learning days which allow for synchronous, interactive, virtual learning between teachers and students in real time through the use of Microsoft Teams. The students were introduced to this virtual process last Friday and had the opportunity to practice virtual classes with their study halls this Thursday and Friday. We want to provide details for you about what your daughter’s virtual learning instruction schedule will be beginning on Tuesday as this will be different than the way that digital learning days operate.
When virtual learning days begin on Tuesday, classes will meet in real time for 45 minutes following the schedule below. School hours will run from 9:00 a.m.-1:45 p.m. The schedule allows for an extended “passing time” of 15 minutes between classes and time for lunch. Student attendance will be recorded in each class, and teachers will be submitting attendance to the attendance office via PowerSchool as they do when we are in the building. Classes will include direct instruction, student and teacher discussion, question and answer, instructional activities, etc. Students will be assigned homework that they will be able to complete during their study block or after school hours conclude.
Daily Schedule for Virtual Learning Days on Tuesday, March 24-Thursday, March 26:
Tuesday, March 24 (Day 1), Wednesday, March 25 (Day 2), Thursday, March 26 (Day 3)
First Block: 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Second Block: 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Lunch Break: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Third Block: 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Fourth Block: 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Training for teachers using Microsoft Teams which began last week as the possibility of a building closure appeared imminent has helped to grow teachers’ skill and comfort with teaching virtually, sharing course materials digitally, and interacting with students in real time to deliver instruction and answer questions. Should classes need to complete a test, teachers were trained to use the Microsoft app, Take a Test, that securely locks browsers for testing as well as Class Policy and other features of Teams in addition to other school resources including Quia. To view resources that were shared with students this week to answer their questions about learning virtually, please see these included links:
While this pandemic is affecting normal operations, Assumption is prepared to continue to work together to provide the best possible learning experience despite challenging circumstances.
GUIDANCE COUNSELORS ARE HERE FOR THE ASSUMPTION COMMUNITY: We want to assure you that our counselors are available for assistance for both you and your daughters. You may contact Guidance using their office line–502-271-2539–or reach any department member by e-mail. We are committed to taking care of our community, so please reach out to your guidance counselors if you or an Assumption family you know needs help in any way. Additionally, the guidance department has put together a list of resources that we shared with the students earlier this week.
- Here are the CDC’s suggestions for managing stress and mental health: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/managing-stress-anxiety.html
- Here are the CDC’s suggestions for protecting yourself and others from COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fprevention.html
- Spectrum is offering free Wi-Fi to students for the next 60 days. Here is a WAVE-3 news story with the details and a number to call if interested: https://www.wave3.com/2020/03/14/spectrum-offering-free-wi-fi-broadband-access-students/
- Here is a 3-minute mindful breathing activity for de-stressing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEfs5TJZ6Nk&t=13s
- Here are some mindfulness apps to help you manage your stress: https://www.mindful.org/free-mindfulness-apps-worthy-of-your-attention/
ONE LOUISVILLE – COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND: Greater Louisville’s corporate community is coming together in an unprecedented way to create a fund aimed at providing much needed assistance to those in need in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. One Louisville: COVID-19 Response Fund will provide support for nonprofits and families impacted by COVID-19. The link below contains an updated overview of the Fund including who is eligible for support and how to request it. Please share as you are able to those who may benefit from this opportunity: ONE LOUISVILLE COVID-19 RESPONSE FUND
MESA BRANDING SURVEY: While recognizing this is not the most ideal time for this request, we have been asked by our religious sponsor, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Mercy Education System of the Americas (MESA), to participate in a branding survey. By way of background, MESA includes 54 schools in the United States and Guam, Argentina, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica and Philippines and includes over 26,000 students. MESA is in the process of creating a brand strategy, including developing shared Core Values and Profile of a Mercy Graduate that can be used at all MESA schools. To help with this the process, they are asking if you would take the time to complete the following survey about Mercy education by March 25. The survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and is being conducted by Consumer Clarity, a research company. Your individual responses will be confidential; Consumer Clarity will only report to MESA the collected results from all persons who respond to the survey. In addition, both board and school leadership, as well as faculty/staff, recent alumnae, and students are also being asked to participate. We thank you in advance for your participation which will benefit our students not only today but well into the future. SURVEY LINK: https://www.research.net/r/Parents1000
Gratefully,
Martha Tedesco
Principal