August 28, 2025

Retreat Director, Lauren Monaghan ’15

In what feels like a lifetime ago, in the midst of the first Covid lockdown, a dear friend and mentor shared the words of spiritual writer, Paula D’Arcy with me: “God comes disguised as your life.” This quote was striking, especially given the circumstances of the time. But even now, six years later, I have not and never will forget D’Arcy’s words. It is so simple, yet so profound I find it difficult at times accept this sacred truth of who we are. Too often, we are blinded from the very reality of our Creator’s intimate presence in our lives, in the very core of our beings. We are distracted, we are busy, we are inundated, we are overwhelmed. It can be hard to recognize God in the midst of the mess. As a proud graduate of Assumption High School, my fellow sister alumni and I were given a tremendous gift through Assumption’s retreat program — a gift to be still, to see through the mess, to recognize God disguised as our lives. Your daughter can experience this gift, too.

On retreat, we pray, we share meals together, we learn a little about ourselves and even more about others. We laugh, play games, tell stories, and allow ourselves to breathe and be in the moment instead of worrying about our all-too-packed schedules. We take time to reflect in the presence of God and in the beauty that surrounds us. If you were to ask most alums about their favorite part about Assumption, I would be willing to bet that most of them would mention retreat. It might be the time they spent with the friends by the lake at Mount St. Francis, wandering the paths of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center, or learning to “be still” as only their voices surround them in the chapel.

I encourage you to give your daughter a nudge to sign up for retreat if she has not already done so. It can be a leap of faith for some to attend, but it is most certainly a rewarding experience. To encourage students to attend retreat, we have a generous make-up work policy. Additionally, we never want students to miss out on attending retreat due to the financial commitment. We know this is an additional expense for families and hope that you will submit a financial assistance form if you would like to seek help with these fees. Students can find these forms on Student SharePoint under Campus Ministry, or they can pick one up in the Campus Ministry office.

Thank you for your support of our retreat program.  Our goal is for students to walk away from retreat feeling spiritually engaged, closer to their classmates, and ready to take on what the rest of the school year has in store for them. Dare I say, they may even begin to see how “God comes disguised as their lives.” We look forward to spending time with your daughters on retreat! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns by contacting me directly at 502-271-2621 or at lauren.monaghan@ahsrockets.org 

AP and College Credit Success

We are so happy to share some of our AP and college credit successes from the 2024-2025 school year! At Assumption, Excellence Empowers. In our classrooms and beyond, our community strives to do their best and welcome challenges as opportunities for learning and growth.

Assumption is set a part from other schools because we encourage all of our students to participate in AP. With a strong interest in the subject matter and a teacher recommendation to enroll, our students can experience AP courses and exams. Even if the final exam is not passed, there are several benefits to taking AP courses, such as “learning essential time management and study skills needed for college and career success.” You can read more here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/…/discover-benefits

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY & LABOR DAY HOLIDAY: Students will not have school on Friday, August 29 as our faculty and staff will be participating in a professional development day. School will be closed on Monday, September 1 for the Labor Day holiday. We wish everyone a safe and restful holiday weekend!

MANDATORY FRESHMAN GUIDANCE PROGRAM: Freshman parents, please mark your calendars and plan to attend one of our mandatory Freshman Parent Drug/Alcohol Education Programs on Wednesday, September 3 at 6:30 p.m. in our Media Center OR Monday, September 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center. You do not need to pre-register; just come on the night most convenient for your schedule. This is an important program designed to familiarize you with the school philosophy and policies in the area of drug and alcohol prevention. We know that what parents say and do makes a difference in the choices their daughters make. At this meeting, you will hear from Kamaria Wesley, dean of students, and a local therapist from Innerview who will present vital information about drug and alcohol prevention. It is a program that will be worth your time and attention. At least one parent or guardian is required to attend one of these meetings.   

COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHT FOR SENIOR PARENTS:  Kim Habich and Leigh Jackson, college counselors, have provided detailed information about the college application process to the class of 2026 via the College Workshop held on August 1 and the makeup date held on August 7.  To further assist senior parents and families with the college process, there will be a college information night on Thursday, September 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Assumption’s theater.  If you have any questions, please contact Kim Habich or Leigh Jackson.

ASSUMPTION PARENT PRAYER: Our parent prayer group will meet on Wednesday, September 3 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 Birr 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.

RETREAT UPDATE: All sophomores, juniors, and seniors can continue to register for their retreats. Booterstown and Birr freshmen should have received their retreat applications in homeroom. All Booterstown, Birr, Limerick, Galway, and Cork parents are invited to pray for their daughters going on retreat this semester on September 3 at 5:45 in the chapel. We will wrap up by 6:30 for Guidance’s parent session to follow.

Each week all students are encouraged to attend RTI enrichment opportunities that are designed to help our students learn and grow in ways beyond our academic achievements. Students are sent a list of enrichment opportunities each Friday so they can plan ahead for how to most effectively use their RTI time the following week.  Next week we are excited to be offering leadership training open to all students, mindfulness groups, movement activities, student Bible study, and a freshman celebration during our two RTI days. Please encourage your daughter to take advantage of these opportunities next week and every week!

FRESHMAN AND TRANSFER APPLIED DIGITAL LEARNING CLASS:  A reminder to our parents/guardians of freshmen and transfers: Lessons for the Applied Digital Skills online technology course are sent on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with assignments due at the end of the following day.  Please note: this class is a PASS/FAIL course with students needing to maintain an average above 70% to receive passing status. Please encourage your daughter to complete her assignments each week. 

ACADEMIC BANQUET: Invitations were sent to parents via SchoolMessenger for our annual Academic Banquet on Sunday, September 14 at 1:00 p.m. At this celebration, we honor the academic accomplishments of the following groups of students: sophomores, juniors, and seniors who earned a 4.0 GPA during the 2024-2025 school year; newly inducted Beta Club members; newly inducted National Honor Society members; freshman and new sophomore McAuley Scholars; and seniors recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. We ask parents to check their email closely for information about attendance and the RSVP deadline of September 2. Due to space limitations, we limit guests to two per student. If you have any questions, please contact JENNY FRIEDENBERG, registrar. 

DRIVER’S ED: AHS and the Kentucky Driving School will be providing a driver’s education program September 29-October 3. Click here to learn more.

NEWS FROM THE ACHIEVEMENT CENTER: The AC team is known as the Guardian Angels of Homework. We are here to support your daughter academically in any class. Here is a list of opportunities when we are available for academic support:

During each study block.

During RTI time on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

Each Tuesday and Thursday morning before school from 7:40 to 8:40.

After school Monday through Thursday until 3:45.

If you see an academic need at home, don’t hesitate to contact us at AC@ahsrockets.org. You can also call our office at (502) 271-2532. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram to see our weekly schedule of RTI offerings, @assumption.ac. 

ATTENDANCE REMINDERS: Below are a few reminders about attendance: 

ABSENCES & EARLY DISMISSALS: If your daughter is absent or coming in late on any day, please call the attendance line at 502-458-9551, press 1, and report the absence/late arrival before 8:30 a.m. If you need for your daughter to be excused early for a medical appointment, please send a note with your daughter the morning of the early dismissal and have her bring it to the attendance office before the school day starts. This helps us keep classroom interruptions to a minimum and protects the time for instruction of our students.  All students who arrive to school late should enter the school building at the attendance entrance on Tyler Lane outside of the theater to check in with the attendance clerk/school nurse. Please be sure you plan for early dismissals no later than 2:30 p.m. in order to ease dismissal traffic congestion.

GOING HOME SICK: 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 and make our school nurse, Mrs. Kat Way, 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.

REMINDER ABOUT DELIVERIES: 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.

MONITOR AND MANAGE YOUR DAUGHTER’S HP ELITE LAPTOP: You should receive an email next week about apParent, a mobile app available to you at no cost so you can monitor and manage your daughter’s school-issued laptop after school hours. This app, if you want to install it, will allow you to view your daughter’s device screen, lock your daughter’s device with a custom message, and view 24 hours of your child’s web browsing history. Your daughter’s teachers can control their computers from 7:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. You can use the app outside of those hours on school days and all day on weekends and holidays. 

DUAL CREDIT COURSE REGISTRATION: Attention, parents of students enrolled in dual credit (DC) courses: We have been quite busy during class time and RTI time getting students admitted to Dual Credit programs at WKU, UL and JCTC.  Our WKU liaison came to Louisville on Wednesday, our UL liaison came to AHS last Friday, and Mrs. Fieldhouse registered all of the JCTC students over the last week during class or RTI.  Please refer to this document for all of the courses and the partner institutions.  You should have received either via text or email (depending on what contact your daughter provided in her application) and responded to a parent form to complete her application process.  In September, your daughter will want to keep an eye out for an email from KHEAA to take advantage of the Dual Credit Scholarship, which pays for two classes for every student in the state of Kentucky for BOTH her junior and senior year.  She will be invited to RTI sessions to complete this step.  If the family does not sign up for the KHEAA account and request the scholarship, you will owe each university approximately $97 PER CREDIT HOUR for all courses.   If you have questions regarding registration or paying for dual credit courses, Dean of Studies Judy Fieldhouse will be in the cafeteria on Mock Schedule Night to answer your questions. Please stop by and see her!

GREEK ISLAND INTERNATIONAL TRIP: Now is the time to make Spring Break 2026 the BEST BREAK EVER by signing up to go on a GREEK ISLAND CRUISE!  This cruise is open to all current students and their families (although parents are not required).  A trip interest meeting will be held on Monday, September 8 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria.  Please email Dr. Lisa Wieland at lisa.wieland@ahsrockets.org for more details.

FRANCE AND ITALY INTERNATIONAL TRIP: Bonjour!  Assumption Rockets are traveling to Paris, Nice, and the Italian Riviera spring break of 2027.  All current Assumption students and adult family members are welcome to join us.  We have an informational meeting on Sunday, September 7 at 3:30 p.m. right after the Freshman Parent Mass.  Please email Madame Shirley at: Jennifer.shirley@ahsrockets.org if you have any questions.  

COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHT FOR SENIOR PARENTS:  Kim Habich and Leigh Jackson, college counselors, have provided detailed information about the college application process to the class of 2026 via the College Workshop held on August 1 and the makeup date held on August 7.  To further assist senior parents and families with the college process, there will be a college information night on Thursday, September 4 at 6:30 p.m. in Assumption’s theater.  If you have any questions, please contact Kim Habich or Leigh Jackson.

JUNIOR ACTS: During the junior Catholic Social Teaching classes last week and this week, Katie Culver, the service-learning director, reviewed the Junior ACTS (A Christian Through Service) requirements. Each junior will need to complete 15 hours of service at one agency that serves a marginalized population or do service work around a particular justice issue. These hours are due the semester they are enrolled in Catholic Social Teaching, and this includes the completion of their Junior ACTS commitment form, which does need a signature from an adult from home. Students will need to track their hours in MobileServe as they have previously done. All of the details are found in the Junior ACTS syllabus which your daughter received last semester and is on Student SharePoint as well.  If you have any questions, please contact Katie Culver at katie.culver@ahsrockets.org or 502-271-2597

PSAT ON OCTOBER 8: To prepare our students for the wide variety of college admissions processes, Assumption High School strongly encourages all juniors to take the PSAT, which is offered during the school day on October 8. Taking both this exam and the ACT in the same month will allow your daughter to compare scores and determine whether signing up for an SAT outside of school is worth her time. The PSAT, when taken in the fall of the junior year, serves as the National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test. It can also be used as a qualifying score for the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) and serves as a basis for several scholarship programs, including some which can be accessed through a parent’s employer.

All juniors will be automatically signed up to take the test. If you are the parent or guardian of a junior and would like for her to opt out of this test, please fill out this survey by Tuesday, September 9. Please note that she will be required to submit a form indicating how she plans to use her time that day (college visit, day of service, catch up on coursework) to her dean in order not to be considered absent on October 8. If you do not fill out the form by September 9, she will be signed up to take the test and expected to report to school on this day. Please direct questions regarding the PSAT to Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy@ahsrockets.org.

PSAT ON OCTOBER 8: The PSAT will be offered at Assumption on October 8. We recommend that freshmen and sophomores who are likely to use a PSAT as a qualifying score for scholarships, programs, or awards take the exam. Freshmen and sophomores in the McAuley Honors Program will be registered for the PSAT automatically. If your daughter is a freshman or sophomore who is not currently a part of this program and you would like for her to take the PSAT, please fill out this survey no later than Tuesday, September 9.  We will be happy to add her to the group. Please direct questions regarding the PSAT to Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy@ahsrockets.org.

FRESHMAN PARENT TECHNOLOGY ORIENTATION: At least one parent for each freshman needs to complete the required online technology orientation by Monday, September 2. This training is essential for supporting your daughter’s academic success through her technology. The training will walk you through the most frequently asked questions about her HP Elite laptop and what is expected of your daughter when using the technology. When logging in to view the training, please enter your daughter’s name as the nickname so we can accurately mark your completion. Access the training here.

PSAT ON OCTOBER 8: The PSAT will be offered at Assumption on October 8. We recommend that freshmen and sophomores who are likely to use a PSAT as a qualifying score for scholarships, programs, or awards take the exam. Freshmen and sophomores in the McAuley Honors Program will be registered for the PSAT automatically. If your daughter is a freshman or sophomore who is not currently a part of this program and you would like for her to take the PSAT, please fill out this survey no later than Tuesday, September 9.  We will be happy to add her to the group. Please direct questions regarding the PSAT to Colleen Murphy at colleen.murphy@ahsrockets.org.

ATHLETICS MEET & GREET: On Tuesday, September 23, we are hosting an Athletics Meet & Greet Night for seventh-, eighth-, and current ninth-grade families to meet coaches, players, and parents from all sports. This is a great evening to hear a little bit about our athletic department and make contact with coaches and sports your daughter might be interested in. Fill out this form to let us know you are coming!

FRESHMAN ACTS: This week, Katie Culver, service-learning director, visited all the freshman theology classes.  She spent time teaching the students about our legacy as a Mercy school and the goal of creating a servant’s heart in each of our students. Additionally, she informed the students of their Freshman ACTS (A Christian Through Service) service requirement. In addition, all students learned how to log and verify their service hours through the program MobileServe. All freshmen are required to complete five (5) hours of service before April 2, 2026.  All of this information and directions on how to use MobileServe can be found in the Campus Ministry tab in Student SharePoint. If you have any questions, please contact Katie Culver at katie.culver@ahsrockets.org or 502-271-2597.

FRESHMAN PARENT MASS – Save the date! This Mass is a beautiful way to celebrate your freshman daughter’s high school journey as part of a community of faith.  It will be celebrated on Sunday, September 7, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Raphael Catholic Church.  Please come even if your family isn’t Catholic.  Siblings are invited as well – bring the whole family! 

Please join us at The Assumption Green for field hockey and soccer games, at the gym for our volleyball home games, and at the courses for our cross country meets and golf matches.  All of our athletic team schedules can be found on the Athletics page of our website: ATHLETICS.

Ticket to all home games can be purchased at the door for $8, cash or credit card.

Congratulations to:

The Soccer team for winning the Smoky Mountain Cup Championship in Gatlinburg, TN

The Volleyball team for winning the Showdown at the Sunsphere in Knoxville, TN

The Golf team for placing second at the Larue County Invitational

The Field Hockey team for starting the season by going 4-1 in the Apple Tournament

Next Week:

Saturday, August 30

Cross Country Tiger Run @ Champions Park 8:00 a.m.

Golf Gene Hilen Invitational @ Juniper Hills 9:00 a.m.

Soccer vs Manual. JV 9:30 a.m., Varsity 11:00 a.m.

Volleyball vs Cathedral. Freshman 3:00 p.m., JV 4:00 p.m., Varsity 5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, September 2

Soccer @ Male. JV 5:30 p.m., Varsity 7:00 p.m.

Volleyball vs Sacred Heart. JV 5:00 p.m., Varsity 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 3

Cross Country JV Meet @ Seneca Park 4:30 p.m.

Volleyball vs Providence. Freshman 5:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m., Varsity 7:00 p.m.

Soccer @ South Oldham. JV 6:00 p.m., Varsity 7:30 p.m.

Field Hockey @ Collegiate. JV 6:00 p.m. Varsity 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, September 4

Golf vs Sacred Heart @ Seneca 3:30 p.m.

September 5-6

Field Hockey @ Ring of Champions in Virginia Beach

Saturday, September 6

Cross Country Rumble in the Jungle @ Creasey Mahan 8:30 a.m.

Soccer vs Henry Clay. JV 10:00 a.m., Varsity 11:30 a.m.

Golf Marcus Camacho Classic @ Dry Ridge 1:30 p.m.