Friday, October 23, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

With our return from fall break this week, we have reached the halfway point of our semester.   We thank you for your support and patience as we have implemented our hybrid schedule at Assumption.  It is a good time to gather feedback from our students, faculty, staff, and parents as we move forward in the semester.  We surveyed the students prior to fall break and will be surveying our faculty and parents next week. Please look for a special message in your email next week about a parent survey.  

We continue to monitor our number of COVID-19 positive cases associated with our school, and we continue to report this information to our school community.  As of yesterday, Assumption’s COVID-19 numbers for this week are:  

  • 2 new positive COVID-19 cases this week. 
  • No new quarantine cases this week.   
  • 27 total positive COVID-19 cases as reported to our local department of health as of August 1, 2020 (23 students and 4 staff).     

Our two positive cases are students who have not been on campus, so no school wide notification needed to be sent.  It’s important to note that there have been no known transmissions of COVID here at AHS.   

We are so proud of the student body for their efforts with our Dare to Care collection this month.  We collected $7777.77 which means that together we are providing 23,333 meals to needy families here in Louisville. A big shout out to our student leaders for all of their work on this successful event.  Since we collected over 20,000 meals meeting our Halloween incentive, everyone has earned the privilege of wearing Halloween costumes to school on designated days next week! More details in the information below. 

CALENDAR NOTES FOR NEXT WEEK:  

  • DAILY SCHEDULE:  Next week we have an adjusted hybrid week schedule to accommodate the National PSAT on Thursday:  
  • Monday, October 26 – Day 1: In-Person – Maroon Cohort, Virtual at Home – Blue Cohort 
  • Tuesday, October 27 – Day 2:  In-Person – Maroon Cohort, Virtual at Home – Blue Cohort 
  • Wednesday, October 28 – Day 3: In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort 
  • Thursday, October 29  
    • National PSAT:  All juniors; sophomores in Honors 1, Advanced, and AP English; freshmen in Advanced English; and any other sophomore and freshman by request to her guidance counselor. 
    • LEAD & Learn:  All seniors and all sophomores and freshmen not taking the PSAT – Virtual at Home  
    • Make-Up PreACT:  Students who were not able to take the PreACT on October 14.  
  • Friday, October 9 – Day 4:  In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort 
  • NATIONAL PSAT TESTING DAY: Thursday, October 29 – PSAT for ALL current juniors; sophomores in H1, Adv and AP English; freshmen in Advanced English, and any other sophomore and freshman by request to her guidance counselor:  The PSAT is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation scholarship program and gives students a baseline score that can be used for SAT prediction scores.  Testing will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at noon.  Please have your daughter arrive in plenty of time to get to her testing room by 8:25 and make sure she is well rested and well fed for her PSAT.  She needs to bring a calculator and her favorite #2 pencil.  Please encourage your daughter to spend some time on our test prep software, Albert, this weekend as well as The Official College Board site:  PSAT Practice Test. Ask your daughter to show you these sites!  A reminder of our safety protocols if your daughter has not been in the building:  Your daughter must wear a mask and screen herself for any symptoms as listed in our Healthy at Assumption Handbook.  Upon arrival, please drop her off at the CAC entrance where we will scan her temperature and guide her through the one-way hallways to her testing room where she will be seated six feet apart from other students.  She will also sanitize her desk and her hands as she enters the classroom, and the room will have also been sanitized as well before her arrival.  Also, reach out to your daughter’s counselor if you have any safety concerns or questions.  
  • MAKE-UP PreACT:  We are offering a makeup test for the PreACT on the afternoon of Thursday, October 29 from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. who were unable to take the test on October 14.  This is a LEAD & Learn Day for PSAT testing so students should plan to arrive at 12:45 and enter the back cafeteria door between the cafeteria and the back gym entrance.  If a student is taking the PSAT in the morning, she should bring her lunch and come to the cafeteria when dismissed from the PSAT.  Students should wear their uniform, perform the regular health screening, bring a calculator and her favorite #2 pencil and eat a good lunch before she comes. If a student cannot make this date, she will be given a blank PreACT test booklet and answer sheet when students are given their test scores. She is welcome to take the test on her own and Mrs. Fieldhouse will help her grade the test to see how she would score.  Special note about make-up testing:  we are only allowed to give make-up tests for the PreACT as we cannot give make-up tests for the National ACT or the National PSAT.  

FROM CAMPUS MINISTRY:   

  • ALL SOULS REMEMBRANCE:  The Catholic Church celebrates All Saints Day on Sunday, November 1, and All Souls Day on Monday, November 2.   In theology classes on November 2 and 3, students will have a prayer experience designed to honor family members of anyone in the AHS community who have died during the past year as well as the names of ALL Assumption alumnae who have passed on at any time.   We will ask students to share the names of any family members they may have lost this past year so they can be part of this special remembrance, and we invite you to do the same.  If you have lost a family member sometime since last November, please send this person’s full name to GAIL KING  by Monday, October 26. 
  • PARENT PRAYER: The Parent Prayer group meets each Tuesday morning from 8:30-9:00 a.m. in the chapel at St. Catherine’s Convent, which is right across Tyler Lane from AHS.  Parents should park in the AHS lot in a visitor space or in any open space.  Parking is no longer available at the McAuley Center itself, so parents will need to cross Tyler Lane from the AHS lot to enter the McAuley Center. If you are unable to attend but would like for them to pray for a particular intention, please email it to our campus minister at maryann.steutermann@ahsrockets.org We hope you find comfort in knowing that we are praying for your intention even if you can’t be present. New Zoom option for parent prayer: If you are unable to join us in person, please consider joining us via Zoom on Tuesdays @ 8:30 a.m. by using this link and ID/Password:  Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75488139027?pwd=UDQrM3BDWlZRbElEbWdUL1FQRE4wZz09, Meeting ID: 754 8813 9027, passcode: prayer. 

“We CAN Do It” COLLECTION RESULTS & HALLOWEEN COSTUMES NEXT WEEK:  We are so proud of the student body for their efforts with our Dare to Care collection this month.  We collected $7777.77 which means that together we are providing 23,333 meals to needy families here in Louisville.  Since we collected over 20,000 meals meeting our Halloween incentive, everyone has earned the privilege of wearing Halloween costumes to school on Tuesday, October 27 (maroon cohort) and Friday, October 30 (blue cohort). As with every privilege, this one comes with some responsibilities!  Students will be expected to follow the costume rules, which will be emailed to the student body, posted on Sharepoint, and reviewed via announcements.  Some key highlights of these rules include: 

  • Students must be in full costume or full uniform. 
  • Costumes must be appropriate for a Catholic school, must be inoffensive, and must cover the student from neck to knees.   
  • No bathing suits or undergarments may be worn over clothing, and tights/leggings/yoga pants may NOT be worn unless they are worn under a skirt or shorts.   
  • Students may wear shoes of ANY color; however, for safety reasons, all other shoe policies apply.   
  • As noted above, detailed rules will be shared in advance for the students’ planning purposes.  If your daughter has questions after reviewing the rules, please encourage her to email either THERESA SCHUHMANN or CINDI BAUGHMAN. 

Additionally, our collection was a family competition.  In fourth place with 969 points is Kingstown.  In third place with 1,062 points is Booterstown.  Second place with 1,197 point is Cork.  And the family who came out on top with a whopping 1,243 points is Tullamore!  Congratulations to these families! 

ROCKET PARENT NETWORK (RPN): The Rocket Parent Network would like to recommend an Operation Parent webinar on the important subject of body image.  To access this webinar, please visit:  Body Image Webinar from Operation Parent. In addition to this recommended webinar, the RPN will host a Zoom call on Tuesday, October 27, at 6:30 p.m. on the topic, Teens and Mental Health During the Pandemic.  Eric Baker will be our guest speaker.  Please watch your email for a link to this Zoom meeting.  For more information about RPN, please visit:  Link to RPN 

CLASS OF 2021 INFORMATION CONFIRMATION MAILING:  Parents of the Class of 2021:  On October 13, a letter was mailed to your home with important information about your daughter’s legal name.  It contained a form asking for confirmation of the spelling/accuracy of your daughter’s name for official graduation documents and programs.  It is due in the school office by Friday, November 6.  Even if no changes need to be made, please make sure to return a signed copy to the main office by November 6. 

SOCIAL SECURITY CARD:  Please make sure we have a copy of your daughter’s Social Security card on file so we can properly submit her end-of-year grading info to the Kentucky Higher Education Association, which provides scholarship monies to students who qualify (KEES money).  There is a time when it becomes too late for us to submit the KEES report, so making sure we have the copy of the student card on file now ensures the proper documentation can be submitted before your daughter graduates and the deadline runs out.  Please contact registrar KATHY FLEISCHER  with any questions or to confirm or verify information we have on file. 

ROSE THEATRE PRODUCTION:  Rose Theatre Company will host an outdoor production of Spoon River Project based on the work of Edgar Lee Masters at 7:00 p.m. on October 30, October 31, November 6, and November 7. We are pleased to announce that Rose Theatre’s fall production will take place at Historic Farmington’s Brand Pavilion, just down the road from Assumption! Tickets are available now through Showtix4u at https://www.showtix4u.com/events/1128. Spoon River Project tells the story of a small town through a series of monologues delivered by deceased town members coming back from the dead to share their stories. The play, set in a fictional graveyard in the town of Spoon River, was able to be rehearsed remotely for much of the process. The event will be an outdoor production. Seating is socially distanced, and masks will be worn at all times. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are nonrefundable but fully transferable. If you need assistance with accessibility or have questions, contact Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy@ahsrockets.org. 

NOTE FROM ATHLETICS – Winter Sports Tryouts:  Please click visit the athletics page of the school website at this link Winter Sports Tryout Information for more information on archery, basketball, and swim and dive. To try out for any sport at Assumption a current, complete physical is required to try out and participate in any Assumption sport. Documentation can be found here: KHSAA Sports Physical. Please note: two parent and two student signatures are required on this form for it to be considered complete.  In addition, an athletic fee of $200 is required for participation.  If you have questions regarding the physical, please contact Christy Hulsewede at (502) 271-2555 or Christy.Hulsewede@ahsrockets.org 

LAST CALL: NOMINATIONS DUE TODAY FOR THE ROSE AWARD: The Rose Award is a $5,000 grant endowed by an anonymous donor to recognize an Assumption employee who serves as a role model and is a positive influence in our community. Alums, current parents, past parents, students, faculty, and staff are invited to nominate a current administrator, faculty, or staff member who has made a significant difference in their lives. Past winners are Katie Caswell Hughbanks, Cindi Baughman, Kelly Kirwan, Kathy Fleischer, Dawn Deweese, Angela Lincoln, Barry Hayworth, Jackie Metry, Doug Sumey, Mary Margaret Ralph, Judi Erskine, and James Sutherland. These individuals cannot win again. Nominations are due TODAY, Friday, October 23, and must include a description (two paragraph minimum) supporting your nomination. The award will be presented at the Thanksgiving Celebration on Tuesday, November 18. If chosen, your nomination submission may be read at the prayer service.  Click here to submit with your nomination:  https://assumption.wufoo.com/forms/rose-award-nominations/ 

EDUCATIONAL TRIP 2022:  We are excited to announce we will be offering a once-in-a-lifetime educational trip focused on World War II and the Holocaust in the summer of 2022. This trip was specifically designed by history teachers, Ms. Long and Mrs. Rose, and will explore important events and places related to the Holocaust and World War II in Europe. The trip will begin in London with a visit to the Imperial War Museum, a guided sightseeing tour of London, and a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms.  We will then head to Normandy by ferry and visit the Arromanches Museum, the American Cemetery, and the Airborne Museum.  The trip will continue with tours in both Bastogne and Hanover before visiting Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Next, we will travel to Berlin for a guided sightseeing tour, a visit to the Reichstag Dome, and a Holocaust Memorial visit.  While in Berlin we will also visit the House of the Wannsee Conference and the Gestapo Headquarters.  This trip is open to all current freshmen and sophomores.  Please join us at the Parent/Student Information Meeting on Thursday, November 5, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom to learn more about this fantastic trip. If you have any questions before the initial meeting, please email Beth Long at beth.long@ahsrockets.org or Megan Rose at megan.rose@ahsrockets.org. 

Join Zoom Meeting Link: https://zoom.us/j/96381136855?pwd=bGZWeTFyT1hKQU5ROTlDUm1ZWGQ3UT09. Zoom Meeting ID: 963 8113 6855. Zoom Meeting Passcode: QRY9yY. 

MAIN OFFICE AVAILABILITY:  To adhere to state mandates in response to COVID-19 and to continue to keep our entire community safe and healthy, we are continuing to recommend that parents email or mail any school-related items instead of dropping them off at school.   Assumption’s Main Office is open from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.  In line with Assumption’s Reopening and Learning Plan, visitors to the school will continue to be limited.  Any visitor who has an appointment requiring them to come into the building should come to the Tyler Lane door, ring the buzzer, and will be met there.  Visitors must wear a mask, undergo a temperature scan, and complete a health screening before entering the building.  Please feel free to contact Amy Schelb at 502-458-9551, option 0, or email at amy.schelb@ahsrockets.org for questions regarding the above or if you need assistance during this time.   

Gratefully, 

Martha Tedesco 

Principal