October 3, 2025

Deans of Studies Judy Fieldhouse & Theresa Schuhmann 

The month of October is an important one as we work to help empower our students to reach their full academic potential. As a college preparatory environment, we want to make sure students are prepared with skills to help achieve their college and scholarship goals. One aspect of that process is preparing students to take the standardized tests that play a role in the college admission process. Throughout October, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors can take standardized tests that serve as building blocks toward the ACT and SAT. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who signed up to take the PSAT will do so next Wednesday. On Tuesday, October 28, all juniors will take the National ACT, and freshmen and sophomores will take the PreACT. Juniors will have the same opportunity again in March.   

As we have shared information regarding our plans for the national ACT and PreACT, we have received questions from parents who were aware of the state of Kentucky’s very recent announcement about a change they are making in college entrance exams.  On September 23, the state of Kentucky announced that it had updated its financial contract to offer the SAT instead of the ACT for national in-school testing.  While Kentucky has changed its contract to provide the SAT for state testing, the state’s requirement has not changed. Students are required to take a college entrance exam to graduate — and both the ACT and SAT meet that requirement. 

Assumption currently holds a contract with ACT and will offer school day testing to our juniors twice this year, with the first administration on Tuesday, October 28. This continues to support your daughter in achieving her academic goals because both the ACT and the SAT continue to be accepted by colleges and universities nationwide. At Assumption, we are committed to helping students identify the test that best showcases their strengths. To support this, we offer both the PreACT and the PSAT, giving students valuable insight into which exam may yield their best performance and highest score.  Over the years, our faculty has intentionally aligned learning targets with ACT standards, a strategy that has consistently led to excellent outcomes for our students. As always, as we plan for the future, we will continue to consult with our professional organizations and college counseling team to ensure we make the best decisions about which national test to offer during the school day. 

No matter the test taken, providing students with the opportunity to take these tests is only one piece of the puzzle. When these test results are returned to students later this year, teachers will take time in classes to coach students on how to analyze their performance on these tests and use the results to set personal goals for growth. The process of reviewing their strengths and areas for improvement each year helps to demystify the standardized testing process for students and provide tools and resources that empower them to take ownership of their preparation and planning leading up to the ACT or SAT.   

We know that you are doing your part at home to emphasize how your daughter can maximize this opportunity, including by encouraging her to get a good night’s sleep the night before the test, to come prepared with her calculator and pencils, and to eat a good breakfast! We will follow up in the Rocket Report later this year to tell you more about the standardized test prep analysis work and how you can support her in that review at home as well. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact us for additional follow up. 

Academic Award Celebration

On Sunday, we were excited to celebrate the academic achievement of students at our annual Academic Awards Celebration. We honored 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 McAuley Scholars and newly inducted McAuley Scholars; and seniors recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. We applaud all our honorees listed in the awards program linked here: ACADEMIC AWARDS CELEBRATION PROGRAM

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

LEAD & LEARN DAY – Wednesday, October 8: Our first semester LEAD & Learn Day will occur on Wednesday, October 8. While our faculty and staff will be participating in a professional development day, our students will utilize this day from home. 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.  

  • PSAT INFORMATION: Only students who have opted to take the PSAT will come to school on this day.  The families of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who registered for the PSAT should have received an email yesterday detailing the following logistics: Testing begins at 8:10 a.m.; students should arrive at the regular time. Standard time testers will finish between 11:00–11:30 a.m. (most by 11:15); extended time dismissal is closer to 12:30 p.m. Room assignments were emailed by Colleen Murphy and will also be posted on test day. Students practiced using the Blue Book app during RTI this week; if they missed these sessions, they should see Hannah Valenzuela in the Boeckmann Lab. A practice test is available in Blue Book and online. Students should remember to eat breakfast, bring a fully charged laptop, and wear their school uniform. Thank you for helping your student prepare for a smooth test day. 

UPCOMING FALL BREAK – Thursday, October 9 – Monday, October 13: On our fall break holidays, school will not be in session.  Classes will resume on Tuesday, October 14. 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 and all missed assignments, tests, and quizzes will be penalized by 50%. 

CAMBODIA SCHOOL DONATIONS UPDATE: Compassion inspires at Assumption! Our community raised over $3,000 from the dress-down day we held on Friday, September 26 in support of Assumption’s school in Cambodia. These funds will help support the English and computer education programs there for another academic year. Thank you to all who sent in donations!     

ASSUMPTION PARENT PRAYER: Our parent prayer group will meet on Wednesday, 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! 

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.  

Our first fall pep rally of the year will take place on Monday, October 6 at the end of the school day.  Students are invited to wear dark/black Assumption spirit wear to participate in this “black-out” themed pep rally in celebration of our fall athletic programs.  

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 16.  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 21 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 22. This dance is a traditional semiformal school dance, and students may choose to bring a guest if they wish, but guests are not required. 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 all freshmen and sophomore students. 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 Tuesday, October 28 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, pumpkin decorating, coloring, and more. For more information about the event, please contact ELISABETH CASSADY OR KELSEY GUNTER.\ 

ROSE AWARD NOMINATIONS: Do you know an Assumption employee who is a true role model and a positive influence on our community? We invite you to nominate a current administrator, faculty, or staff member who has made a significant difference in your life, your daughter’s, or your granddaughter’s – someone who embodies what it means to be a role model and a positive influence on our community. Thanks to a generous $5,000 grant from an anonymous donor, we have the chance to recognize a special employee who has changed someone’s life and who represents Assumption in a profound way. Please take a moment to submit your nomination. The deadline is October 24. Take a moment to share your story and help us celebrate the people who make Assumption extraordinary: Rose Award Nominations The award will be presented at the Thanksgiving Celebration on Tuesday, November 25.  If chosen, your nomination submission may be read at the prayer service. Past winners are Katie Hughbanks, Kelly Kirwan, Kathy Fleischer, Dawn Deweese, Angela Lincoln, Barry Haworth, Jackie Metry, Judi Erskine, James Sutherland, Mary Ann Steutermann, Janet Adkins, and Jessica Williams, along with several retired faculty and staff members. These individuals are not eligible to win again. 

COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID NIGHT: The 2026–2027 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now open. However, it is recommended to wait 2-3 weeks before completing it to ensure the system is running smoothly. Per KHEAA’s policy, we are unable to share the recording of last night’s College Financial Aid presentation. Instead, we encourage you to explore the resources below. Important Note: Students should not use their Assumption email when completing the FAFSA.  

JUNIOR ACTS SERVICE HOURS: This is a reminder that the first seven (7) service hours for Junior ACTS are due on Friday October 17 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 5. Fall break would be an excellent time to get some service in!  

Our Varsity Quick Recall team who came out victorious against the highly competitive Francis Parker High School last week! Congratulations to seniors Elise Crump, Nikita Nair, and Ellie Hertel for earning top scorers, followed by buzz-in support from senior Stella Derenge and juniors Kate Jarboe and Maria Brasler.  

Our JV Quick Recall team who defeated St. X in a scrimmage this week.  Shout out to top scorers Harper Joaquin and Emma Edelen, along with Avery Schuhman and Bennett Arnold adding points to the board. 

Winter Sport Tryout Information:  

Archery: There will be open gym sessions held on October 19, October 26, and November 9 from 3:30-5:15 p.m. The first practice will be November 4. All events will be at Highland Hall. 

Basketball: October 15-16.  Freshman 3:30-5:30 p.m., JV/Varsity 5:30-7:30 p.m. 

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 Field Hockey team for beating Ballard 
  • The Flag Football team by opening their season with a win over Male 

Next Week: 

October 3-4 

  • Volleyball Asics Challenge in Chicago, IL 

Friday, October 3 

  • Field Hockey vs Thomas Worthington (OH) 5:30 p.m. 

Saturday, October 4 

  • Cross Country Great American in Cary, NC 9:00 a.m. 
  • Field Hockey vs Glenbrook North (IL) 9:00 a.m. 
  • Field Hockey vs MICDS (MO) 10:30 a.m. 

Monday, October 6 

  • Soccer District Tournament vs Brown @ Male 5:30 p.m. 
  • Field Hockey AHS Maroon vs Oldham County 5:30 p.m. 
  • Field Hockey AHS White vs North Oldham 6:30 p.m. 

October 7-9 

  • JV Field Hockey Stick Tournament @ Ballard 

Tuesday, October 7 

  • Volleyball vs Holy Cross. Freshman 5:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m., Varsity 7:00 p.m. **Senior Night** 
  • Flag Football vs Bullitt Central @ Mercy 7:30 p.m. 

Wednesday, October 8 

  • Soccer District Championship TBD 

Thursday, October 9 

  • Volleyball vs Mercy. JV 5:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m. 
  • Field Hockey @ John Burroughs School (MO). Varsity 4:00 p.m., JV 6:00 p.m. 

Saturday, October 11 

  • Cross Country Haunted Woods @ Oldham County 8:00 a.m. 
  • Field Hockey @ Christian Academy. JV 4:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m.