November 8, 2024

Deans of Studies, Theresa Schuhmann and Judy Fieldhouse

As we prepare to welcome prospective students and their families to Assumption on Saturday, we have been excited about adding information to our Open House experience to highlight the benefits of our new schedule implemented this school year and how it can impact prospective students’ high school experiences.  As we share this information with new members of our community, we thought this would also be the perfect time to share additional information about the background, philosophy, and purpose of these changes with our current parents and guardians.  We encourage you to read on to learn more! 

Our students, faculty, and staff have come together to put the theoretical into action, and, as we have watched our new processes unfold, we are confident that we have only scratched the surface of the opportunities and outcomes that can be gleaned from this innovation. As noted, a community working together is key to making change work!  This is why we also want to say thank you to the parents who answered our call earlier in the semester to serve as substitute supervisors in our RTI Family Rooms described below.  If you would be interested in learning more about this volunteer position, please reach out to Tatum Park, assistant to the deans, who can provide additional information.   

FOUNDATION OF OUR NEW SCHEDULE: RESEARCH-BASED AND STUDENT-CENTERED 

Assumption’s schedule, newly implemented in the 2024-2025 school year, marries the best of our past with our eyes toward the future.  This is not the first time that Assumption High School has led the way in the Archdiocese of Louisville by pioneering a cutting-edge, researched-based schedule to meet the evolving needs of the young women we serve.  As we prepared to enter the 21st century, Assumption spearheaded change in Catholic schools in the area as we introduced the block schedule,  a model of learning that calls on students to utilize their abilities to collaborate, communicate and think critically in order to engage deeply and authentically with new content.  We then went on to train the faculty of every other area high school who implemented the block.   

Our most recent strategic plan called on us to evaluate our schedule to ensure that it maximizes student learning. Our research with education experts affirmed that the depth of learning that occurs in the block schedule should remain a cornerstone of our work.  Our research also showed that, in the quarter century since we implemented the block, the demands on the time of students have drastically changed and dramatically increased.  Working with Independent School Management, the premiere support firm for private independent schools, we affirmed that we were aligned with other highly successful schools with the strengths of our rotating block schedule but were challenged to envision ways that we could create a consistent time in the school day to incorporate community building, individual choice for students, and student access to teachers for support and extension in their learning.    

And, as a result, our Middle Block came to be.  We have strengthened the impact of our tried-and-true rotating block schedule by anchoring it with our new Middle Block. Created by re-envisioning the way we organize every minute of our school day for maximum impact, our Middle Block allows for: 

+ DEDICATED and INTENTIONAL time for community building within our homerooms, families, and classes. 

+REGULAR time for students and teachers to meet during the school day for additional support and growth in student learning. 

+FLEXIBLE but FOCUSED time for students to choose to pursue both academic and co-curricular development by scheduling time for support or enrichment activities or independent work time. 

+PROFESSIONAL time for teacher teams to meet and plan together to ensure that all students learn from a guaranteed and viable curriculum that maximizes their learning outcomes. 

+CONSISTENT class time that has increased the instructional minutes for students in classrooms by 13% from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025. 

COMMUNITY DAYS AND ROCKETS TAKING INITIATIVE DAYS 

COMMUNITY DAYS:  On Community days, each student’s homeroom is her home base from which she moves to a wide variety of programming to help her engage with her peers in her homeroom, her family, and her class.  Elected student leaders, class counselors, and homeroom teacher teams work within these communities on Mondays and Fridays to develop strong cultures of connection that ground a student throughout her four years at Assumption. 

RTI DAYS:  On Rockets Taking Inititative (RTI) days, students are based in mixed-grade level family rooms where they can choose to report to work independently. This home base is the jumping off point for students on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  If not in their RTI Family Rooms, student can be found working with teachers to promote their mastery of essential learning standards, taking advantage of resources in our guidance office, Learning Support Center or Achievement Center or participating in a variety of enrichment activities that are directly tied to the Outcomes of an Assumption Graduate. 

MIDDLE BLOCK MISSION 

Assumption’s Middle Block is designed to help meet students’ academic and personal needs in the moment while also fostering their ability to purposefully manage independent time throughout their days, a skill that is not only critical for college success but allows students to create more balance in their lives as well.   

ROSE THEATRE PRODUCTION

Rose Theatre Company is proud to present Jesus Christ Superstar with an all-Assumption cast. Performances continue to run through Sunday, November 10. All performances are currently SOLD OUT. If you or anyone in your party needs assistance with handicap accessibility, please reach out to us at rose.theatre@ahsrockets.org or contact Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy@ahsrockets.org.  We are so proud of all the members of the cast and crew of this incredible production! To read more about it, see the Courier-Journal’s article written about the play.

OPEN HOUSE 2024: We will be hosting Open House on Saturday, November 9, from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Families will have the opportunity to receive a personalized tour and meet teachers, students, and other future Rockets as they learn more about our community. They may register online to secure their arrival time here. If your daughter has been asked to work Open House, she will receive training next week during RTI time. As always, we want to thank you for your support of this event and sharing it with prospective families!  

OPEN HOUSE HOLIDAY: Monday, November 10, is our Open House holiday, and school will be closed. 

RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE: Assumption is hosting an American Red Cross blood drive on Wednesday, November 13 in the school gym. Student donors must be at least 16 years old. Students who are 16 must have parental permission; students 17 and older may give without parental permission. We encourage you to talk with your daughter if she plans to donate and ensure that she understands the importance of eating well and drinking lots of water several days prior to donation day. The Red Cross provides more information for students at this link: Red Cross Student Guide to Blood Donation.pdf. Parents are welcome to be donors at our drive as well; at this point, we do have some open appointment times. Please contact diane.darst@ahsrockets.org for scheduling if you are interested.   

ASSUMPTION PARENT PRAYER: Our parent prayer group will meet on Tuesday, November 12 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 Cork family juniors and seniors.  Please join us for any or all of these opportunities. 

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.

This week we had the opportunity to celebrate National French Week as a community.  This weeklong celebration of all things French took place not only at Assumption but in communities and American Association of French Teacher chapters across the U.S.  Under the leadership of our French teacher, Mme. Shirley, our French Club and French Honor Society students decorated the main hallway, delivered our daily prayers in French, and worked to educate our community about all the reasons to learn French. We appreciate the work of our student groups to celebrate diverse cultures all over the world.  Merci beaucoup!  

AP EXAMS: If your daughter is taking an AP course this year, she has been busy signing up for AP college exams and AP portfolio submissions. These AP courses will be administered the first few weeks of May at Assumption High School. AP exam and AP portfolio submission invoices will be sent to parents via email from Blackbaud Tuition Management in January. If you paid your tuition in full in July, please also be on the lookout for this email as you will need to make this payment.  Please take a moment to talk with your daughter about the exams she is registered to take.  Exams and art portfolio submissions are $99 each except for AP Research and AP Seminar which are $147 each. For more information about AP exams and CollegeBoard, visit https://parents.collegeboard.org/college-board-programs/advanced-placement-program. Please contact Judy.Fieldhouse@ahsrockets.org or Kathy.Fleischer@ahsrockets.org if you have any questions. 

CAREER DAY: Assumption students will be participating in our annual Career Day on Monday. November 18. This event will take place during our student RTI time. Students in all grade levels will engage in activities to help them think about careers and college. Freshmen will use a skill inventory to explore careers that match their interests and hear from an alumna 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 visit with more than 70 alumnae and learn information from over 40 career fields, including engineering, finance, aviation engineering, government law and services, and many more from alumnae who specialize in those fields. Seniors will have the opportunity to hear from recent Assumption alumnae about preparations for college and beyond.  They will have a chance to ask questions, hear perspectives, and gain insight from young women who once sat in their seats at Assumption.    

TESTING ALERT SYSTEM ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15: We will conduct our annual test of our weather and emergency alert system on Wednesday, November 15 at 5:05 p.m. All parents who have set their options in PowerSchool will be sent a test message to their email and/or phone via text or voice. We strongly suggest following these ​pdf icon directions in advance to ensure your settings are correct.  If you do not receive the message as expected, please double check your options by following the above directions or contacting our IT Department for assistance. Please email Brent Miller or call him at 502-271-2527. 

SOME REMINDERS ABOUT ABSENCES: Assumption no longer distinguishes between excused and unexcused absences. A student is considered absent from her class if she is not present for the class. Please keep this in mind as you are making holiday plans for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Students are required to provide a doctor’s note for an absence just before or after an extended break from school. Without a doctor’s note, the absence will automatically count towards your daughter’s semester attendance. Please remember that all attendance-related information should be communicated by emailing attendance@ahsrockets.org or by calling the school. Full details about our attendance and absence policies and procedures can be found in the STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK.  

  

GOING HOME SICK: On a related note, if your daughter contacts you during the day telling you that she is sick and needs to come home, please do not just come to school to pick her up; instead, please call the attendance office at 271-2507 and make our school nurse, Mrs. Miranda, aware of the situation. She will find your daughter, assess the situation from a medical perspective, and then give you an update and let you know if you should come to take your daughter home, make arrangements for her to be seen by a doctor, etc. 

GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: Applications for GSA area available now! This program is open to sophomore and junior students interested in the performing, visual, and creative arts. The application deadline is Sunday, January 12, 2025, and information can be found HERE. Interested students should watch the informational video found at the link above and contact their guidance counselor for additional information.  

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, which will be held from 8:00-11:00 p.m. in the gym. This dance is a traditional semiformal school dance, and students may choose to bring a guest if they wish. Some important highlights include:   

  • Tickets are $20 per person and must be purchased in advance.  No tickets will be sold at the door.  Every student and her guest must have a ticket. 
  • Tickets will be sold during lunches beginning Tuesday, November 12. 
  • To ensure student safety, all students and guests must arrive by 9:00 p.m. and stay at the dance until 10:30 p.m.   
  • All Assumption students must show their student ID when entering the dance.   
  • All students and their guests will be monitored with the use of a passive alcohol sensor. 
  • Information about dance dress code requirements has been reviewed and emailed to each student.  

DUAL CREDIT TUITION DUE TO WKU, JCTC, AND UL: Students enrolled in a dual credit class this semester need to make sure they pay any tuition owed by the beginning of December. Students should log into their accounts on www.KHEAA.com to double check which colleges they chose for disbursement for the Dual Credit Scholarship and then need to log into their JCTC, WKU, and/or UL account to pay any remaining tuition due for this semester. This includes all first semester and yearlong DC courses except for Precalculus and Calculus, which will register for credit in November. If you need help knowing which course is associated with which university, consult this sheet from our website: DUAL CREDIT INFORMATION 2024-2025. If you have any questions, contact JUDY FIELDHOUSE.  

ROCKET SPECTACULAR BENEFIT DINNER AND AUCTION 2025: Saturday, February 1, 2025. Mark your calendar–you won’t want to miss it! This event will SELL OUT. This year’s theme is “Platinum Jubilee,” and plans are underway!  We are currently looking for event sponsors. If interested, please contact Michelle Farmer at 502.271.2518 or  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!  

COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID NIGHT: 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 Wednesday, November 13 and will be held in our theater. The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be both livestreamed and recorded. Please reach out to Kimberly Habich or Leigh Jackson if you have any questions. 

COLLEGE APPLICATION DEADLINE REMINDERS: If your daughter is applying to a college with a December 1 deadline, she needs to submit her application to the college and submit her Transcript Request & Application Checklist (TRAC) form to Guidance by Monday, November 4.  If your daughter is applying to a college with a December 15 deadline, her application must be submitted to the college, and her TRAC form is due to Guidance by Tuesday, November 19.  If you have any questions about the college application process or deadlines, please reach out to Leigh Jackson  (A-L) or Kim Habich  (M-Z).   

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 contain a message of congratulations and your favorite photos of your graduate. “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: 2025 Senior Ad Letter and Contract. The deadline to submit tribute contracts is Tuesday, November 26. 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!   

GRADUATION INFORMATION – GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENTS: Information regarding graduation announcements and other 2025 graduation items from Jostens was shared with the seniors on Monday, November 4.  Please be sure to check with your daughter about the information she received during her class meeting this week. Our Jostens rep will be back on campus during all lunches on Tuesday, November 19 or on online at Jostens.com.  Free shipping on all orders over $200.  If you have any questions, you may contact our Jostens rep at (502)499-7100. 

Jennifer Ruckriegel, our Class of 2027 guidance counselor, for being named the Kentucky High School Counselor of the Year by the Kentucky Counseling Association!  

The entire cast and crew of the Rose Theatre Company for a successful opening weekend of the fall musical production, Jesus Christ Superstar, including multiple SOLD-OUT performances! 

The JV Quick Recall team who placed fourth in KAAC JV Challenge!  Congratulations to the following sophomores who placed individually in the competition:   

  • Kate Jarboe placed 3rd in Mathematics 
  • Marielle Treese placed 5th in Science 
  • Lily Combs placed 5th in Social Studies 
  • Leah Willan placed 5th in Composition 

The team also won their match against Presentation Academy this week! Maria Brasler and Chloe Wells earned top scorers of the game, along with teammates Matilda Reinhart, Lily Combs, Kate Jarboe, and Chiagoziem Ibeawuchi who also added points to the scoreboard! 

The Rocket Speech Team who competed at their first tournament this past weekend.  Congratulations to: 

  • Breigh McFadden – tournament champion in Impromptu Speaking 
  • Agnes Boyer and Nikita Nair – tournament champions in Duo Interpretation 
  • Agnes Boyer – 2nd in Storytelling  
  • Nikita Nair – 6th in Storytelling 
  • Leah Johnson – 6th in Informative 

Fall Athletics Signing Day: Assumption will host a signing day ceremony for seniors who are committed to continue to play their sport in college.  The ceremony will be held in the gym on Thursday, November 14 starting at 3:30 p.m. 

Congratulations to:

  • The Cross Country team for winning the KHSAA State Meet for the second year in a row!  The team scored 80 points better than the runner-up.  This is the program’s ninth state championship. 
  • The Volleyball team for advancing to the quarterfinals of the State Tournament! 

Next Week:

Friday, November 8 

  • Volleyball State Quarterfinals vs McCracken County @ George Rogers Clark 1:30 p.m. 

Saturday, November 9 

  • Volleyball State Semifinals @ George Rogers Clark 1:30 p.m.  TBD 
  • Volleyball State Finals @ George Rogers Clark 7:30 p.m. TBD 

Monday, November 11 

  • JV Flag Football vs Central @ Mercy 6:20 p.m. 

Tuesday, November 12 

  • Varsity Flag Football vs Iroquois @ North Bullitt 9:00 p.m. 

Thursday, November 14 

  • Fall College Signing Day in the Gym 3:30 p.m. 

Saturday, November 16 

  • Cheer KHSAA Regional @ Shelby County HS 10:24 a.m. (All-Girls Medium) and 12:51 p.m. (Game Day Large) 
  • Dance KHSAA Regional @ Manual 9:00 a.m. (Hip Hop) and 10:35 a.m. (Jazz)