October 27, 2023

Manager of Marketing and Admissions, Kelsey Gunter ’08

If I were to say the phrase, “it’s the most magical place on Earth,” I imagine that most people would think of Disney. But for me, I immediately think of Assumption Open House. There is a certain level of Disney magic that takes over our building as more than half of the Assumption community willingly shows up on a Saturday afternoon to welcome Future Rockets and their families. It’s an incredible sight to see hundreds of students motivated by the love and passion we share for the Community of Assumption.

During Open House, families of sixth, seventh, or eighth grade students are invited to explore Assumption and the things that matter most in their high school search. In recent years we have created an experience that allows every Future Rocket to have a personalized view of the ways she can find her unique excellence at Assumption. On Open House Day everything about our community is on full display from academics and clubs, athletics and intramurals, McAuley Scholars and Learning Differences, the family program and leadership opportunities, guidance and the achievement center, and so much more.

This morning our community was featured on Great Day Live as a part of the Catholic School Takeover so everyone in the Kentuckiana area could get a taste of what we will showcase during Open House. Sandy Maxted H’23, John Wolfe, Abby Miles ’24, Pam Conway, Elizabeth Hammond ’27, and Mary Lang touched on the benefits of our Entrepreneurship Class, Achievement Center, and Work Study Program. You can watch that video here.

As we near the two-week countdown before this year’s Open House, we ask you, our parents, to help us continue the legacy of Assumption by personally inviting a prospective family to our Open House on Saturday, November 11, between 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Families can register for the event online by visiting our website here.

Thank you for all that you do to support Assumption High School!

Halloween Night

Thank you to all of our Rocket parents for their many bags of candy donations for the AHS Halloween Night held last night!  We had over 500 trick-or-treaters attend the event (not including parents, who made for nearly 1000 guests in the building) and had plenty of candy for all of our visitors to leave with an incredible experience! It’s because of you that we are able to provide such wonderful hospitality to our alumnae, future Rockets, and our extended Rocket family. We are SO THANKFUL for our amazing students from the Advancement Council and the Recruitment Team who decorated the school, wore costumes, and helped all of our trick-or-treaters have a spooktacular night!   

8:15 SCHEDULE ON ALL SAINTS DAY – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1: As we mentioned at the beginning of the year and noted on the ONE PAGE CALENDAR, Wednesday, November 1 will be an 8:15 schedule due to our All Saints Day Mass, a holy day of obligation. Therefore, Wednesday is NOT a late opening. Also, to honor All Souls’ Day, which is November 2, students will have a special prayer service in their theology classes honoring all AHS alumnae who have died as well as family members of people in the AHS community who passed away in the last year. 

ROSE THEATRE PRODUCTION: Congratulations to Rose Theatre Company on selling out its fall production of Mamma Mia! that begins this weekend.  If you have tickets to the show and anyone in your party needs assistance with handicap accessibility, please reach out to us at rose.theatre@ahsrockets.org.  

ACCOMMODATE 2023: Accommodate 2023, an annual college fair, will be hosted by the AHS Learning Differences Department on Thursday, November 2 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in the gym. Please enter through the CAC doors. This is a college night for students seeking support services and accommodations at the next level. Join representatives from colleges, universities, and other alternative post-secondary programs for informal sessions and college fair focusing on students with a diagnosed learning difference. This evening is for both students and parents.  

ASSUMPTION PARENT PRAYER: Our parent prayer group will meet on Tuesday, October 31 from 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. in the AHS chapel and will continue to meet each Tuesday morning throughout the school year. Please park in any open space and enter the school through the main entrance. During the year, we pray for every student by name twice. Next week, we will be praying for the Charleville Family juniors and seniors. Please join us for any or all of these opportunities. 

ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOULS DAY:  The Assumption community will celebrate All Saints Day with a Mass at St. Raphael on Wednesday, November 1.  At this Mass, we will honor the saints who have come before us as well as those in our own lives.  Because November 2 is All Souls Day, we will also prayerfully recognize the family members of anyone in the AHS community who has died during the past year as well as ALL Assumption alumnae who have passed on at any time during a prayer service in students’ theology classes that week. 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 in the past calendar year, please email that person’s full name to Gail King at Gail.King@ahsrockets.org.  

PRAYER INTENTIONS: The Community of Assumption knows the power of prayer! All AHS parents and alumnae are invited to submit prayer intentions online. These intentions are then lifted in prayer altogether during Five-Minute Prayer in the chapel on Wednesdays and weekly on the PA during morning prayer. If you would like to submit an intention, you can do so here. They will remain there for about two weeks, but feel free to post the same intention again later if needed. Also, you may wish to consider adding the intentions you find there to your own personal prayer! 

This week during LEAD & Learn, our freshmen will begin to hear about the opportunity to run for leadership positions for second semester.  The elections will take place mid-November and students will have the opportunity to run for class officer for the class of 2027, or a family council representative.  For freshmen, we will hold elections in homeroom to allow for leadership to develop in that familiar environment.  These leaders will be in place through the spring when we hold elections again for sophomore year. We are excited to extend this opportunity to our class of 2027, and we are confident that they are ready to lead their class.  

At the end of the week, our Family Council will host family meetings—gatherings of all grade levels in a single family—to present information regarding our upcoming Canstruction food drive for Dare to Care.  Family meetings will be the kickoff to our collection time, and we will host the final celebratory event, Canstruction, on December 1.   

LEAD & LEARN WEDNESDAY ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8: We are looking forward to our second LEAD & Learn Wednesday of the year which will take place on Wednesday, November 8.  Students invited specifically to attend an academic help session will be notified by their teachers by Thursday, November 2 via email, and a parent/guardian will be copied on the email.  Please remember, we strongly recommend that students attend if an invitation is extended. On Friday, November 4, students will receive information about educational extension opportunities offered by faculty and staff and will be asked to develop their plans for their purposeful use of November 8 to specifically work to achieve their academic and co-curricular goals for this semester.  Please be sure to talk with your daughter about her plans for this day as her plan must be submitted for her attendance on November 8 via an attendance online survey.  Students may arrive for their scheduled meetings, if applicable, after 12:00 p.m.  Supervised study will be available between 12:00-4:30 p.m.  Please consult this message sent out prior to our first LEAD & Learn Wednesday on September 28 to review general details of these days: SPECIAL MESSAGE TO PARENTS – LEAD & LEARN WEDNESDAYS

NOVEMBER’S WORK IT WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE: There will NOT be any Work It Wednesdays for the next two weeks, but WIW will return on November 15. Students are invited to come to the Media Center from 7:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to receive extra support in their classes. It is also the perfect environment to work on homework and projects. Students receive an email each Monday to reserve their spot.

SCHOOL PORTRAITS UPDATE: School pictures from Retake Day are available for ordering online. As stated on the card your daughter received after she had her picture taken, please go to this link to order her picture: https://shop.studioillumination.com/. Simply enter “AHS” plus your daughter’s Assumption ID number as the code to access your daughter’s picture. Orders can be made online until November 28.  

MOTHER-DAUGHTER BUNCO: A long-standing Assumption tradition—Mother/Daughter Bunco!  The Rocket Parent Network’s Mother/Daughter Bunco will be held on Tuesday, November 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria.  Students are encouraged to bring their mom or a female role model in their life to this super fun event.  RPN will have lots of door prizes and lots of snacks.  Admission is only $5 per duo, and you do not need to have any prior knowledge of bunco to play and have a great time.   Please RSVP using this link: Bunco RSVP 2023

INCLEMENT WEATHER: With winter not far away, we would like to remind parents of our inclement weather policies.  You may also refer to the STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK 2023-2024 for detailed information.  This is a great time to check your PowerSchool information and make sure you are signed up for text PowerAlerts. When the Archdiocese of Louisville makes a call about school closings due to inclement weather, we will send PowerAlerts to those who have registered.  You may also listen to local radio and television stations for an announcement that all Catholic high schools in Jefferson County are closed or on a delayed schedule. 

  • When the schools are closed, Assumption High School will declare a traditional snow day, virtual learning day, or a digital learning day via the PowerAlert system. The first snow day of the 2023-2024 school year will be a traditional snow day with no digital or virtual learning. When school is closed, all extracurricular and athletic events are cancelled (unless a special exception is approved by the president or principal).
  • When the school is on a delayed schedule, Assumption will follow our 9:15 a.m. schedule (our usual “Wednesday schedule”), but all morning activities will be cancelled including detention, testing pool, and meetings.  In the case of a delayed opening, the school building will open and before school supervision will begin in the cafeteria at 8:15 a.m. If your daughter drives to school or carpools with another student, please note: If parents have concerns about their daughter driving in inclement weather, they should not allow her to drive to school on a day when inclement weather is predicted. If it appears that inclement weather is on the way, we will allow students to leave early (prior to dismissal) only if their parents come to get them — students will not be released on the basis of a phone call or email or because their carpool driver is going home early. This information will be reviewed with students in November.

REMINDER ABOUT DELIVERIES: In an effort to teach our students about being accountable for their own belongings as well as to limit the number of visitors to school during the day and effectively monitor those visitors coming into the school, we have a policy that does NOT allow for student deliveries. Parents, please do not bring items (lunches, homework, bake sale items, sports equipment, presentations, papers, etc.) to school to drop off for your daughters. Our main office staff and athletic office staff have been instructed not to accept those deliveries. Thank you for your cooperation with these efforts.

SOCIAL SECURITY CARD:  Please make sure we have a copy of your daughter’s Social Security card on file so we can properly submit each student’s end-of-year grading info to the Kentucky Higher Education Association, which provides scholarship monies (KEES money) to students who qualify.  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 a student graduates and the deadline runs out.  Please contact registrar KATHY FLEISCHER with any questions or to confirm or verify the information we have on file.

SOME REMINDERS ABOUT ABSENCES: Please note that Assumption does not excuse students from school for family trips/vacations unless there are significant mitigating circumstances involved; we have to be especially consistent in enforcing this policy on the Monday and Tuesday prior to our Thanksgiving holidays (November 20 and 21).

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, a college visit, 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; sending them more than two weeks in advance is too early because we need to check a student’s current grades and attendance to evaluate the request. If you need to know sooner than two weeks ahead of time if an absence will be excused because you need to purchase airline tickets, etc., please contact Dean of Students KAMARIA WESLEY . Remember to review the handbook for all attendance-related information in the STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK 2023-2024

And speaking of driver’s testing: We are happy to excuse students for up to a half day of school so they may take permit tests and road tests–as long as their grades are good, they have not had too many absences, and we receive the request in advance. Apparently, several counties now require people to go to Frankfort to take permit tests. If you live in one of these counties and are scheduling a permit test for your daughter, please be sure to schedule either an early morning or late afternoon appointment so your daughter will be able to attend school for a half day either before or after her test.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES ON OCTOBER 31: We are so proud of the student body for not only meeting but exceeding our stretch Rocket Raffle ticket sales goal for the 40th annual Walk for Assumption—and thus earning the privilege of wearing Halloween costumes to school on Tuesday, October 31. As with every privilege, this one comes with some responsibilities! Students will be expected to follow the costume rules, which will be emailed to each of them, posted on student SharePoint, and reviewed via announcements during the weeks prior to our Halloween Dress Up Day. Some key highlights of these rules include:

  • Students must be in full costume or full uniform.
  • Costumes need to be “real” costumes.
  • No big, inflated costumes will be allowed: they get too hot to wear all day, they make it difficult to walk up and down the steps safely, they are impossible when a student needs to go to the bathroom, and kids seldom can sit in a desk when wearing one. They were fine for the Walk for Assumption, but they won’t work on a day when students are going to be having a regular day of school and going to classes.
  • Students may not wear costume masks over their face or eyes (minimal face paint and makeup/accessories are okay, though). Students opting to wear disposal face masks due to COVID may, of course, wear these with their costumes.
  • Costumes must be appropriate for a Catholic school 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.
  • Costumes must be respectful, should not support stereotypes, and should not offend or make anyone feel uncomfortable because of their sex, race, ethnic background, or cultural heritage.
  • Our regular school shoe policies apply (for safety reasons). 

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 KAMARIA WESLEY

ROCKET SPECTACULR BENEFIT DINNER AND AUCTION 2024: Saturday, February 3, 2024. Mark your calendar–you won’t want to miss it! This event will SELL OUT. This year’s theme is “BOW TIES & BUBBLY,” and plans are underway!  We are currently looking for event sponsors. If interested, please contact Michelle Farmer at 502.271.2518 michelle.farmer@ashrockets.org. We also need your help with donations toward our silent and live auctions as well as the bourbon pull. Please contact tricia.ferree@ahsrockets.org if you are interested in helping.  Watch for more details in the coming weeks.  We hope to see you there!


IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT FAFSA: As you may have heard, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is changing! The FAFSA Simplification Act was passed by Congress in 2020 and represents a significant overhaul of the processes and systems used to award federal student aid. This includes the FAFSA form, the need analysis that determines federal aid eligibility, changes in terminology, and many policies and procedures for schools that participate in federal student aid programs. Though historically available October 1for the upcoming award year, the 2024-25 FAFSA will not be made available by the U.S. Department of Education until sometime in December 2023.  The delay is due to major changes and improvements coming to the FAFSA, which will result in a more streamlined application process with fewer questions and expanded eligibility for federal student aid.

What can you and your student do now? Students and parents are encouraged to create an FSA ID at least two weeks prior to December 1. The FSA ID is an account username and password combination that allows students and parents to log in to StudentAid.gov and to identify themselves electronically to access U.S. Department of Education systems. To create an FSA ID, the individual will need her Social Security number as well as a mobile phone number and/or email address. At this time, it is recommended the student and both biological parents (if applicable) create FSA ID’s.

Mark your calendars for our College Financial Aid Night which will be at Assumption on December 7at 6:30 in the Humana Foundation Performing and Fine Arts Center (theater). If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to college counselors Kim Habich and Leigh Jackson. More information will be relayed to your daughter as we learn more.

SENIOR YEARBOOK TRIBUTES: Over the years, senior parents have developed a tradition of supporting certain activities important to their graduating daughters at Assumption.  One of these is helping to underwrite the cost of printing the yearbook by purchasing “Senior Tributes” that can contain text, personal photos, senior drapes, or professionally created senior pictures. “Senior Tributes” can be a great way to document and celebrate your daughter’s time as an Assumption Rocket. If you are interested in purchasing a “Senior Tribute”, you will find size, pricing information, instructions, and a contract here: 2024 SENIOR TRIBUTE INFORMATION AND CONTRACT. The deadline to submit tribute contracts is Tuesday, November 21. Please feel free to reach out to Melissa Fette, yearbook adviser, at melissa.fette@ahsrockets.org with any questions. Thank you for your support of the Assumption Rosecast!  

GOVERNOR’S SCHOLARS PROGRAM: Juniors should have received an email in September inviting them to join a group for Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) applications on Microsoft Teams. Students were invited to attend a virtual meeting about the application process. Applications are due via Microsoft Teams no later than Wednesday, November 1 at 8:15 a.m. Please contact COLLEEN MURPHY regarding any questions about the application.  

SHOUT OUT FROM SERVICE LEARNING: Many thanks to the freshman class for their service work! Home of the Innocents and St. Joseph’s Children’s Home have received over 650 Halloween treat bags to help their clients and residents celebrate Halloween. This is the largest amount we have ever donated! During their theology classes last week, all the freshmen learned about these organizations then decorated and filled bags with treats from their donations. We are proud of their generosity and enthusiasm for serving others!

On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Louisville hosted a luncheon to honor faculty for their years of service to Catholic education in the archdiocese.  Assumption had a number of honorees for the following years of service:  5 years – Rachel Brand, Laura Cronin, Jared Ramirez, Jennifer Ruckriegel, Alli Stevenson; 10 years – Katie Culver, Eileen Moore; 15 years – Kristi Becker, Ned Berghausen, Terri Kurtz; 20 years – Beth Shoemaker, Greg Smith, Lisa Wieland; 25 years – Dawn Deweese, Stacy Johnson, Meri Lou Mattingly, Tom Meagher; 30 years – Diane Darst; and35 years – Jackie Metry.  Congratulations to all our faculty who were honored! 

Congratulations to:

  • The Field Hockey team for capping off a great season by finishing as the state runner up.
  • The Cross Country team for dominating the regional championship. Senior Reagan Gilmore broke her own school record that she set just a few weeks ago and was the individual champion. Julia Schmitt placed third and had a personal record. All seven runners placed in the Top 15- Leah Penick (4th), Mabel George (6th), Lila Bensenhaver (9th), Taryn Tracy (10th), and Morgan White (14th). The JV team also won the Metro JV Regionals.
  • The Volleyball team for winning the Seventh Region Tournament with wins over Presentation, Christian Academy, and Sacred Heart.

NEXT WEEK:

Saturday, October 28

  • Cross Country @ State Meet @ Kentucky Horse Park 3:00 p.m.

Monday, October 30

  • Volleyball State Tournament first round. Opponent and time TBD

Friday, November 3

  • Volleyball State Quarterfinals @ George Rogers Clark HS 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 4

  • Volleyball State Semifinals @ George Rogers Clark HS 11:00 a.m.
  • Volleyball State Finals @ George Rogers Clark HS 7:30 p.m.