October 4, 2024

We have been working to secure a new date for the AHS Walk, a 41-year-old tradition that has never been cancelled and is a true rally point in the year for our community!  It’s taken some time as October is a busy month full of fall break, retreats, and other activities.  Additionally, we had to file for another walk permit with the city which also takes time.  So, thank you for your patience as we have sorted out all the many details! 

Our new walk date will be, Friday, October 25.  It will follow the traditional walk schedule ending with an early dismissal for all students, faculty, and staff. 

To keep our instructional days balanced in our unique block schedule, we have made a change to the schedule for Monday, October 28.  While our faculty and staff will be participating in a professional development day as planned, our students will utilize this day from home in a similar way to our LEAD & Learn Days incorporated last year instead of as a digital learning day.  Students will be trained on how to design their day to position themselves for success in the next part of the semester.  Students will be asked to identify how they can most productively utilize the day to achieve academic and co-curricular outcomes for the semester and may choose to engage in a variety of activities to accomplish these goals. These could include catching up on homework or working ahead on a project, writing college essays or completing college applications, making a college visit, completing service hours, or engaging in standardized test prep. This could also include some time for rest, mindfulness, or exercise. As a final step in solidifying their purposeful use of the day, students will be required to submit their plans for the day by 12:00 p.m. via email through an Attendance Forms Survey. This survey will serve as their virtual attendance for the day.  

A few other notes about retreats scheduled on October 25: 

  • The freshman retreat scheduled for October 24-25 has been moved to October 23-24 
  • The sophomore retreat scheduled for October 25 is tentatively moved to November 1. 

The retreat office will be communicating with students and their families about these upcoming changes.  

As always, we are so grateful for your commitment and flexibility as we work to provide your daughters all aspects of the Assumption educational experience! 

Donuts at Dawn

Students are always coming up with new and exciting ways to build community together and this Friday morning gave the junior class the opportunity to come to school together to enjoy Doughnuts at Dawn! We are so grateful to Thorntons who generously donated 20 dozen doughnuts as a part of this fun morning.

MOTHER-DAUGHTER BUNCO: A long-standing Assumption tradition—Mother/Daughter Bunco!  The Rocket Parent Network’s Mother/Daughter Bunco will be held on Wednesday, October 9 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 or $3 per individual player, and you do not need to have any prior knowledge of bunco to play and have a great time.    

TESTING DAY: Thursday, October 10 is the National Testing Day for all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.  We will dismiss at approximately 12:00 p.m. So as to not disturb any testing, we wait for all rooms to finish before we dismiss.  If your daughter is in our Learning Differences program and qualifies for extended time testing, please ask her what time she will finish.  Juniors will be taking the new digital PSAT by reservation, sophomores will be taking the PreACT or PSAT (depending on their English class), and freshmen will be taking the PreACT test.  All students taking the PSAT MUST bring their laptop computer with the Bluebook software downloaded and fully charged.  Please encourage your daughter to maximize the benefits of this day by getting a good night’s sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, and bringing her calculator and pencils with her on Testing Day.  There is no make-up day for these tests and no replacement for the valuable feedback they provide for both the school and your daughter, so attendance on this day is very important. Please note: 

  • There will be no after-school supervision on Testing Day.  Please make plans to have your daughter picked up accordingly. 
  • Those parents/guardians/grandparents picking up students on testing day may park in any open spot on campus (all senior spots will be open) to wait until your daughter is dismissed.  Please be sure to do this if the car pick-up lane is already lined up to Bardstown Road when you arrive so that traffic does not get backed up on Bardstown Road.   

UPCOMING FALL BREAK – Friday, October 11 – Tuesday, October 15: On our fall break holidays, school will not be in session.  Classes will resume on Wednesday, October 16. Remember that a doctor’s note must be provided if your daughter misses school the day before or after any holiday break. If your daughter is absent and does not have a doctor’s note for her absence before or after a break/holiday, her absences will count towards her cumulative absence totals for the semester.  

ASSUMPTION PARENT PRAYER: Our parent prayer group will meet on Tuesday, October 8 from 8:15-8:45 a.m. in the AHS chapel.  Please park in any open space and enter the school through the main entrance.  We will be praying for the Carlow family juniors and seniors.  Please join us for any or all of these opportunities. 

GRANDPARENTS MASS: All Assumption students and their families are invited to celebrate a special Mass with their grandparents on Sunday, October 20, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Raphael Church. We hope our school families will extend the invitation to all grandparents, and the whole family is welcome for this special celebration. 

ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOULS DAY:  The Assumption community will celebrate All Saints Day with a Mass at St. Raphael on Friday, November 1. Archbishop Shelton Fabe will be our celebrant. 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 the following 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 by October 28. 

PRAYER INTENTIONS: All Assumption parents and alumnae are invited to share prayer intentions. Periodically, we will include the line of “prayer intentions posted online by AHS parents and alumnae” as part of our morning prayer over the P.A. Likewise, feel free to include the intentions you find there in your own personal prayer. To participate, please follow this link.  

We are excited to celebrate our incredible fall sports on Monday, October 7 at our first pep rally of the school year.  Our student-run Varsity Club has been working hard to prepare this “blackout” themed event for all students and staff.  Students are invited to wear black spirit wear on Monday to really get into the theme and witness our community in action.  We look forward to celebrating another season of athletic excellence as well as dancing, laughing, cheering and being together.   

MID-SEMESTER PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT CONFERENCE COMMUNICATION: This semester, teachers will be sending an email to the parents of any student whose grade in their class is a D or F as of Thursday, October 17.  We ask all parents who receive an email to respond in a timely fashion. Parents may request a conference virtually through Teams during the conference window of Tuesday, October 22 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. A link will be provided in the teacher’s email. Of course, any parent may request a conference call via phone or team or in-person meeting with a teacher at any time during the school year to discuss a student’s progress in a course.  We appreciate your shared commitment to our partnership to best help our students achieve academic success. 

FRESHMAN-SOPHOMORE SEMIFORMAL DANCE: We hope that our freshmen and sophomores are looking forward to attending this year’s dance for their classes on Saturday, November 16. This dance is a traditional semiformal school dance, and students may choose to bring a guest if they wish. We are aware that many students who are excited about attending have started shopping for the dance!  With that in mind, our Dean of Students, Kamaria Wesley, will discuss dance policies and dress code with students next week. As the dance gets closer, we will share information about the theme and ticket details in a class meeting and with reminder emails and announcements.  Please reference the handbook Dance Dress Code Policy for more information. 

CANDY DONATION REQUEST & ASSUMPTION FAMILY HALLOWEEN NIGHT: The Assumption Alumnae Association, along with the Advancement and Marketing & Admissions offices, are once again hosting the annual Family Halloween Night on Thursday, October 24 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. Current families are invited to donate a bag of candy to support this important engagement event. Please click here to sign up to donate candy. This event is open to all AHS alumnae, families, faculty, staff, and future Rockets but is most suited for elementary aged children and younger. There will be activities including trick or treating, face painting, coloring, and more. For more information about the event, please contact ELISABETH CASSADY OR KELSEY GUNTER.  

PUTTING STUDENTS FIRST – KENTUCKY CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT 2:  The Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools has asked us to share:  On November 5, 2024 Amendment 2 will appear on the ballot, offering a critical opportunity to expand educational resources to all Kentucky students, no matter their zip code or background.  Supporting Amendment 2 will provide financial support for students in addition to public schools, so every child has access to the education they deserve and allow parents the right and ability to make better choices surrounding their child’s education.  This amendment has the potential to benefit many of our current and future students but we need your support—encourage your family and friends to vote YES on Amendment 2. For more information, visit www.Kentuckystudents.org or Putting Student First materials here.  

ROSE AWARD NOMINATIONS: When you think of an Assumption employee who is a role model and positive influence on our community, who comes to mind? Please take a moment to nominate a current administrator, faculty, or staff member who has made a significant difference in your life or your daughter’s life.  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. Past winners are Sandy Maxted, Katie Hughbanks, Kelly Kirwan, Kathy Fleischer, Dawn Deweese, Angela Lincoln, Barry Haworth, Jackie Metry, Judi Erskine, James Sutherland, Mary Ann Steutermann, and Janet Adkins along with several other retired faculty and staff members.  These individuals aren’t eligible to win again. Nominations may be submitted through this link:  2024 Assumption High School Rose Award Survey and are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 18.  Nominations must include a detailed description (two-paragraph minimum) supporting your nomination.  The award will be presented at the Thanksgiving Celebration on Tuesday, November 26.  If chosen, your nomination submission may be read at the prayer service. 

TESTING DAY FOR SENIORS: Since seniors are not involved in taking standardized tests on Testing Day, Thursday, October 10, they are excused from coming to school on this day. We strongly encourage seniors to use this day for making college visits. Since Friday of that week and Monday and Tuesday of the following week are Fall Break days, this is a great opportunity to make a visit to an out-of-town college. 

COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID NIGHT DATE CHANGE: The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be available to all students and families after December 1. In the meantime, students and parents are required to register for an account, made up of a username and password. This account is used to access certain U.S. Department of Education websites, including the FAFSA. These credentials are used to confirm your identity as well as to electronically sign federal student aid documents. In most situations, one parent will be required to create an account as the student’s contributor. The following site has information regarding the FAFSA, who should be a contributor, college costs, and more: https://studentaid.gov/resources/prepare-for-college/parents.  As a result of the FAFSA delay, Assumption’s College Financial Aid Night has been moved to November 13th. More details to come.  

TESTING DAY FOR JUNIORS: Attention, Junior Parents: Your daughter received an email from Colleen Murphy last week with instructions for downloading Bluebook, the digital platform for the PSAT. Please check with your daughter to make sure that she has downloaded this program and has her ticket to log in for testing day, October 10. She should bring a calculator with fresh batteries and a fully charged computer!

JUNIOR ACTS SERVICE HOURS: This is a reminder that the first seven (7) service hours for Junior ACTS are due on Friday October 18 for all students who are currently taking Catholic Social Teaching. These hours will need to be logged in and verified in MobileServe by 8 a.m. on October 18 for them to be approved and counted. The remaining eight (8) hours will be due on December 6. Fall break would be an excellent time to get some service in!  

Eleven members of the Class of 2024 who were designated as recipients of an AP Capstone Award this fall: recent alums Samantha Bradley, Erin Hynes, Josie McRae, Lillie Roberts, Madeline Schellenberger, Sophia Van Noy, and Anna Whinnery received the AP Capstone Diploma and Stella Bensenhaver, Taylor Field, Erin Kirwan, and Elena Page received the AP Seminar and Research Certificate. The AP Capstone Diploma Award is granted to students who earn scores of 3+ in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP exams of their choosing. The AP Seminar and Research Certificate Award is granted to students who earn scores of 3+ in both AP Seminar and AP Research. Congratulations to each of these alumnae for their hard work, dedication, and excellence while at Assumption! 

Winter Sports Tryout Information 

Archery:  

  • First practice October 29 @ Highland Hall 6:00 p.m. 

Basketball:  

  • October 15 Varsity and JV 5:30-7:00 p.m. and Freshmen 7:00-8:30 p.m.     
  • October 16 Freshmen 4:00-5:30 p.m. and Freshmen 5:30-7:00 p.m.  

Swim: October 15, October 16, October 17 @ St. X.  Time TBA 

All athletes trying out must have a current KHSAA physical on file.  Please email Christy.hulsewede@ahsrockets.org if you have questions regarding the status of an individual’s physical. 

Congratulations to:

  • The Freshman, JV, and Varsity Volleyball teams for beating Sacred Heart 
  • The Cross Country team for a strong showing at the Palatine Invitational in Chicago. Varsity finished fourth, JV seventh, and Freshmen/ Sophomores fifth.  All three teams had several girls make the podium with top-20 finishes 
  • To the Golf team for placing 3rd in the first round of the state tournament which advances them to the state finals next weekend 

Next Week:

October 4-5 

  • Volleyball @ Asics Challenge in Chicago, IL 

Friday, October 4 

  • Field Hockey @ Villa Duchesne (MO).  JV 1:00 p.m., Varsity 2:30 p.m. 
  • Field Hockey @ Cor Jesu (MO). JV 5:00 p.m., Varsity 6:30 p.m. 

Saturday, October 5 

  • Cross Country @ Great American in Cary, NC 9:00 a.m. 
  • Field Hockey @ MICDS (MO). JV 8:30am, Varsity 10:00 a.m. 

Monday, October 7 

  • Soccer Districts @ Collegiate 8:00 p.m. 

Tuesday, October 8 

  • Volleyball @ Holy Cross. Freshmen 5:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m., Varsity 7:00 p.m. 
  • Varsity Field Hockey vs Atherton 6:00 p.m.  **Senior Night** 

Wednesday, October 9 

  • Soccer District Finals @ Collegiate 6:30 p.m. 

Thursday, October 10 

  • Volleyball @ Mercy. Freshmen 5:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m., Varsity 7:00 p.m. 
  • JV Flag Football vs Central 6:00 p.m. 

Friday, October 11 

  • Varsity Field Hockey vs Thomas Worthington (OH) in Columbus, OH 5:30 p.m. 
  • Varsity Field Hockey vs Olentangy (OH) in Columbus, OH 7:00 p.m. 

Saturday, October 12 

  • Soccer first round regionals TBD 
  • Cross Country @ Haunted Woods @ Oldham County HS