Thursday, December 3
Dear Parents/Guardians,
During our last week of hybrid learning in November, we invited your daughters to take some time and think about how we can each continue to be “home” to one another while we are all at home virtually. We reminded the girls that “home is where the heart is” and talked about how we can continue to carry AHS in our hearts while we are healthy at home. The students wrote commitments on paper hearts that now decorate the doors of our main entrance answering these questions: What will you hold in your heart to give you hope? What will you share in your heart to give others hope? How will you continue to be home to one another? Each day in the morning prayer and announcements email we share some of these commitments as a reminder to us all. Please ask your daughter about her commitment. We are so proud of our students and their promises to each other and our community. As we remind them every day: We are home. Let’s continue to be “home” to one another.
As we have done now for the past several months, we continue to monitor our number of COVID-19 positive cases associated with our school and report this information to our school community. As of yesterday, Assumption’s COVID-19 numbers for this week are: (11/24; 11/30; 12/1; 12/2)
- 2 new positive COVID-19 cases (students)
- 0 new quarantine cases
- 47 total positive COVID-19 cases as reported to our local department of health as of August 1, 2020 (42 students and 5 staff)
It’s important to note that there have been no known transmissions of COVID here at AHS.
Recently, the State suffered its worst day and posted its largest number of COVID related cases and deaths. As COVID continues to rise in our community, please continue to talk with your daughters about limiting their socialization outside of school. We have had reports of parties and other social gatherings being hosted by students in our Catholic high schools. As we all know, gatherings are fueling the steep rise in the spread of the disease, so much that the Governor has placed limits on social gatherings even those hosted in homes. It’s vitally important that students avoid attending these types of events to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
As a reminder, even though we are now all virtual, AHS has a continuing legal obligation to report any positive cases and quarantines to the Archdiocese, our local department of health, and the State of Kentucky for every day school is in “session”. This applies to faculty, staff, and students. This information is not only needed by local and state authorities but will help us continue to monitor case impact on our school as we plan for the remainder of the year. Please contact our school nurse Laura Burnam at laura.burnam@ahsrockets.org or at 271-2507 in the event your daughter is under quarantine or has COVID-19 so we can continue to report as required. Again, this is for when school is in session and does not apply to school holidays.
As always, thank you for your support and commitment to the safety of our community. Please continue to talk to your daughter about the importance of maintaining good hygiene, wearing a mask, and practicing physical distancing wherever she goes safe and we ask that families honor our holiday buffer days so that we can all return to school safely in January.
CALENDAR NOTES:
- Friday, December 4, is our Open House holiday and school will be closed.
- SCHEDULE: Next week,we will resume our all-virtual schedule with the addition of a virtual holy day of obligation Mass on Tuesday:
- Monday, December 7 – Day 1: All Virtual
- Tuesday, December 8 – Day 2 Special Schedule: All Virtual – Immaculate Conception Mass followed by regular class schedule:
- 8:15: Immaculate Conception Mass – livestream from St. Raphael
- 9:00-10:00: E block
- 10:15-11:15: F block
- 12:00-1:00: G block
- 1:15-2:15: H block
- Wednesday, December 9 – LEAD & Learn: All Virtual
- Thursday, December 10 – Day 3: All Virtual
- Friday, December 11 – Day 4: All Virtual
- WEBSITE CALENDAR: We will continue to follow our day calendar for the remainder of the semester as posted on our website: https://www.ahsrockets.org/events/event/
FROM CAMPUS MINISTRY:
- IMMACULATE CONCEPTION MASS: The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a holy day of obligation on December 8 each year in the Catholic Church and celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Since students are learning virtually at this time, Mass will also be experienced virtually. St. Raphael’s school Mass will be livestreamed on their YouTube site at https://www.youtube.com/straphaelarchlou at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, December. 8. We are so blessed to have a special relationship with Fr. Shayne and the St. Raphael community to share in this experience.
- PARENT PRAYER: The Parent Prayer group will now meet each Tuesday morning from 8:30-9:00 a.m. via Zoom 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. All are invited!
LEAD & Learn Wednesday – AHS VIRTUAL CAREER DAY: Assumption students will be participating in our fourth annual Career Day on Wednesday, December 9. This event will take place during our LEAD & Learn school day and will be held virtually. Students in all grade levels will participate in activities to help them think about careers and college. Freshmen will use our Naviance program to explore careers that match their interests and hear from alumnae speakers from Bellarmine University’s Career Development Center about how the habits they develop in high school and their academic progress have an impact on their future career pursuits. Sophomores and juniors will have the opportunity to learn about several careers including accounting, nursing, engineering, event planning, and many others from alumnae who work in those fields. Seniors will listen to college representatives and have the opportunity to ask questions on topics related to student services, career development, and strategies for success after high school.
ACCREDITATION: Because of Assumption’s commitment to continuous improvement for excellence, we are currently preparing for a Cognia (formerly AdvancEd) accreditation review in March 2021. Over the next two weeks, we will be surveying students, parents, faculty, and staff. Please look for a Cognia accreditation survey that will be emailed to you early next week. Our goal is to have each student represented in the parent survey response, so we ask that at least one parent of each student take the survey – more than one is even better! Thank you, in advance, for helping us shape the future of Assumption High School with your feedback. We value your input!
OUTSTANDING TUITION AND FEES: As stated in our financial policies, which are contained in the Student-Parent Handbook, a student may not begin the second semester if there is an outstanding balance on the account. Please be sure you have addressed any outstanding balances by December 11, 2020. Payment may be made by certified check or money order. Thank you for your continued cooperation and the many sacrifices you make to send your daughter to Assumption. Questions regarding your account balance should be addressed to the finance director, Lisa Raley, at 271-2520.
RPN NEWS: Would you like to become more involved in the Rocket Parent Network? Please join us for a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m. to learn more about this group and to make plans for second semester. Here is the Zoom link to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88020900980?pwd=RG9BQ2ZXbjVtbnhSNnRSTnZNbCtVdz09. For additional information about this meeting or RPN, please contact dawn.deweese@ahsrockets.org. Please note: This meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, December 8. It has been moved to Tuesday, December 15.
UPCOMING CLUB OPPORTUNITIES: Clubs will take place virtually in December. Be sure to ask your daughter to take some time to check out upcoming club meetings that are posted regularly on the website calendar linked here: https://www.ahsrockets.org/events/event/
ROCKET RAFFLE TICKETS: We are very excited as we kicked off our student ticket sales which benefit financial assistance last week. Our goal is to have another RECORD-BREAKING Rocket Raffle, which will mean another amazing student Walk. This year the Walk for Assumption (which typically takes place in September) will take place in April 2021! This is our largest fundraising event our students participate in each year as a community. The raffle drawing will take place at our Annual Rocket Spectacular Benefit, which will be a virtual experience this year on Saturday, January 30, 2021 (more details to come).
In order to participate in the Walk for Assumption, students must sell a minimum of three Rocket Raffle tickets. Tickets cost $25 each, and the purchaser is entered into a drawing for $20,000! Students who turn in a minimum of three tickets will receive a Walk for AHS T-shirt in the spring and will be eligible for great incentives (these have been shared with your daughters. We are looking for 100% participation!
Due to the recent change to all-virtual instruction, we will have the following PAPER TICKET DROP-OFF OPTIONS WHILE WE ARE VIRTUAL. Students or their parents may drop off paper tickets at the CAC lobby on the following dates and times:
- From 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 3; Tuesday, December 8; Thursday, December 10; Tuesday, December 15; Thursday, December 17; Tuesday, January 5; Thursday, January 7
- From 5:00-6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7; Wednesday, December 9; Monday, December 14; Wednesday, December 16; Wednesday, January 6
In the meantime, we encourage students to try to sell as many online as possible. You can begin selling online tickets right now: https://one.bidpal.net/assumptionrocketspectacular. If you have any questions, please contact Tricia Ferree tricia.ferree@ahsrockets.org.
ASSUMPTION PARENT ORGANIZATION (APO) NEWS:
The Rocket Spectacular Virtual Benefit Auction will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2021 from 7:30-8:30 p.m.
- DONATIONS: Do you have a connection to a business? We need help in building a great selection of items for our guests to bid on in our auction. Contact Colleen Nawab at colleennawab@gmail.com or Laura Matis at lauramatis@yahoo.com
- LAST CALL: Interested in sponsoring this event? Contact Tricia Ferree at tricia.ferree@ahsrockets.org
For more information please go to https://www.ahsrockets.org/support-ahs/rocket-spectacular/
FAIR TRADE SHOPPING WEEK: The Environmental Concerns Committee is hosting a fair trade shopping week at Just Creations, 2722 Frankfort Avenue. The ECC will receive 15% of any purchase by an identified AHS supporter from Monday, December 14, through Saturday, December 19. Join the ECC as they support a store that not only protects the rights and dignity of workers but also strives for environmental sustainability! Remember to tell the store clerk you are from Assumption High School. This fundraiser applies to in-store and curbside purchases but not online purchases.
CAMPUS STORE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING: The Assumption online Campus Store has all of your Christmas needs for that special Rocket in your life! All Christmas orders must be placed by Monday, December 14. Shipping and curbside pickup are available. Please email lauren.lega@ahsrockets.org or call 502-271-2675 to schedule your pickup appointment.
Gratefully,
Martha Tedesco
Principal