January 16, 2026

Katie Culver, Service Learning Director

Since the fall of 1976, Assumption sophomores have proudly served the Louisville community through the ACTS (A Christian Through Service) program. We are excited to begin the 2026 ACTS season this Wednesday, January 21. This year we have partnered with 35 dedicated agencies who share our belief that compassion inspires. These agencies will engage our 245 sophomores in important work like caring for the young, elderly, or sick; feeding the hungry; tending to the environment; and so much more.  

We know that the Class of 2028 will embrace this opportunity with the support of the faculty and staff who do so much to accommodate this service work that happens during the school day. Additionally, we are thankful to our sophomore parents and guardians for their trust, support, and encouragement of this long-standing Assumption tradition! We ask that you keep our ACTS angels in your prayers as they live out their faith through this meaningful and life-changing service-learning program over the next nine weeks. 

Career Pathways Come to Life at RTI

We kicked off our first week back to RTI with a series of engaging, future-focused sessions designed to help students explore a wide range of career paths. As part of this experience, we were thrilled to welcome two accomplished Assumption alumnae, Amy Braden and Lauren Whitsell ’98, who generously shared their professional journeys and real-world insights.

Amy Braden, a pharmacist, provided an inside look at the many opportunities within the healthcare field and offered practical advice for students considering careers in health sciences. Lauren Whitsell ’98, Chief Production and Operations Officer at Starlink, captivated students with her perspective on careers in information technology and the rapidly evolving world of aerospace and global connectivity.

JANUARY SCHOOL SAFETY WEEK: Next week is our annual second semester School Safety Week, and we will be practicing all four of our emergency drills during the week: lockdown drill, fire drill, earthquake drill, and severe weather/tornado drill. Kentucky state law requires that all schools practice each of these drills once within the first month of school and again during January.  

This is a good time to remind you that in the case of a true emergency/disaster, parents will be notified and kept informed via emergency alerts; students will be released only to their parents or other authorized guardians and will have to be signed out before leaving; students who provide their own transportation to/from school must have parent/guardian permission to leave verified by school personnel prior to leaving, provided it is safe for them to do so.  If it is safe to enter the school building, parents will gather in the Marshall Family Atrium to await the release of their daughters; if the building is not accessible, parents will gather in the back parking lot of Highland Hall to await the release of their daughters.  

Please be sure that you are signed up for emergency alerts through School Messenger and that we have current and accurate contact information for you and others we could call upon if there would ever be an urgent situation involving your daughter. Also, please note that the person you designate as an emergency contact is the person we would contact only if we cannot get in touch with a student’s parents/guardians—the name you provide as the emergency contact should not be the same as either the first or second contact because we will attempt to get in touch with them first/before going to the emergency contact. 

UPCOMING HOLIDAY REMINDER: On Monday, January 19, school will be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. 

COLLEGE WORKSHOP AND REGISTRATION INFORMATION FOR SOPHOMORES, JUNIORS, AND PARENTS: Attention, all sophomore and junior parents and students – a college workshop will be held on Wednesday, January 21 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.  Parents and students will have the opportunity to choose from breakout sessions on topics such as Mastering the College Application Essay, Helpful Strategies for Standardized Testing, the Governor’s Scholars Program, Purposeful Planning and Course Selection, and many more. If you have any questions, please contact LEIGH JACKSON or KIMBERLY HABICH, our college counselors. 

PARENT PRAYER: Parent Prayer will resume its weekly schedule on Wednesday, January 21 at 8:30 a.m. in the AHS chapel. We will be praying for Tullamore freshmen and sophomores.  All are welcome! 

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 were excited to host two career-interest opportunities this week during RTI.  Students had the opportunity to learn about the pharmacy profession with a visiting pharmacist Amy Braden from Norton hospitals to talk about the work of a pharmacist and the training involved. We also had the opportunity to hear from Lauren Whitsell (c/o ’98 and mother to Ally 24 and Natalie ’27), Chief Production and Operations Officer for Starlims, a data management company, who came to discuss her experience at Assumption and its impact on her college and career journey.  She also shared additional careers in IT and the impact of AI on the current world of work. Students are always welcome to hear from any of these career opportunities as they occur during RTI, and we look forward to the insight they provide our students.  

ACCREDITATION SURVEY: Because of Assumption’s commitment to continuous improvement for excellence, we are currently preparing for a Cognia (formerly AdvancEd) accreditation review in March 2026. Over the next two weeks, we are surveying students, parents, faculty, and staff.  Please look for a Cognia accreditation survey that was emailed to you on Wednesday, January 7 and again on Thursday, January 15. Our goal is to have each student represented in the parent survey response, so we ask that at least one parent of each student take the survey – more than one is even better!  Please respond to the survey by Sunday, January 18. Thank you, in advance, for helping us shape the future of Assumption High School with your feedback.  We value your input!  

IMPORTANT HELP NEEDED WITH SAFETY & TRAFFIC FLOW PROTOCOLS: 

• DROP OFF REMINDER: Students should be ready to exit the vehicle as soon as it comes to the first complete stop in the carpool line.  Students are not to wait until reaching the main entrance to get out of the vehicle as doing so causes disruption to the traffic pattern of the carpool lane.  

• DROP OFF/PICK UP ON TYLER LANE IS PROHIBITED: A reminder that students may not be picked up or dropped off on Tyler Lane, and cars may not wait/park on Tyler Lane at any time.   Picking up/dropping off students on any part of Tyler Lane violates our binding elements issued by the City and opens us up to additional traffic restrictions from the City if neighbors petition for it.  We have received complaints from neighbors recently that AHS parents are also making illegal U-turns in the middle of Bardstown Road in order to get in the queue line next for arrival and dismissal, creating a hazardous situation and blocking normal traffic flow.  Mr. Rob Owen, our Director of Safety and Security, will be monitoring Tyler Lane and directing any stopped cars to move.  Students have been notified that if they are picked up or dropped off on Tyler Lane, they will receive detentions. 

• REQUEST ON BEHALF OF STUDENTS WHO PARK AT STRATHMOOR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH & ST. RAPHAEL LOT: Please do not wait in the Strathmoor parking lot across Bardstown Road from Assumption or the St. Raphael lot to pick your daughter up at dismissal. Parents who do this are forming their own carpool lane of sorts, and this blocks our students who rent spaces at Strathmoor into their parking spots. 

PARENT SUPERVISION VOLUNTEERS: We are very grateful to the parents who volunteered to assist with supervision during new Rockets Taking Initiative (RTI) period which occurs from 10:50 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  Parent volunteers are needed to serve as substitutes for our RTI  supervisors when teachers are out of the building to go on retreat, to attend professional development, or for other personal/professional reasons. As the new semester begins, we want to remind our parents that whether you can volunteer once this school year or multiple times, we would love to have you join us in supporting this important work. Please note: All volunteers working with students are required to attend the Safe Environment Training provided by the Archdiocese of Louisville and to complete a background check with the archdiocese. If you have never attended this workshop and are interested in volunteering, see the schedule of trainings here:  Archdiocese of Louisville Safe Environment Training.  You can also click HERE for a link to the background check form to complete. If interested in volunteering, please complete this PARENT SUPERVISION VOLUNTEER QUESTIONNAIRE. If you have questions, please email Tatum Park.  Completed background check forms may also be emailed to Mrs. Park as well. Thank you in advance for helping us support your daughters and our teachers! 

SPRING DUAL CREDIT CLASSES: If your daughter is enrolled in a spring 2026 dual credit class, she may have already filled out an online application in December or will be completing this over the next few weeks and will need to have a parent signature on at least one emailed form.  If your daughter is taking DC PreCalculus, DC Calculus, DC Public Speaking, DC English IV, DC Intro to Business, DC Personal Finance, DC World Religions, DC Foundations of Instruction, or DC Human Development and Learning, please talk to your daughter about any parent forms that you need to complete from your email and if she still has remaining KHEAA scholarships to pay for these courses.  She will be invited to an RTI session in February to fill out her KHEAA scholarship preferences for spring is she has not yet done so. She can log into her KHEAA account HERE.  If you have any questions, please contact Jenny.Friedenberg@ahsrockets.org. 

FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE: The Father-Daughter Dance will be held on Saturday, January 31, from 7:30-10:30 p.m. in the gym. This dance is open to ALL students— freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We encourage all to attend and dance the night away with their fathers or father figures!  Tickets may be purchased in advance via GoFan (GoFan link: https://gofan.co/event/5808532?schoolId=KY6124) or at the door the night of the dance. Tickets are $25 per couple and $10 for each additional daughter. The dance theme is “Great Gatsby Masquerade” and guests are invited to dress for the theme, but of course, themed attire is not required.  Music will be provided by Assumption’s very own DJ, Jared Ramirez. Hope to see you there! 

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS: Scholarship applications for the 2026-2027 school year are on our website. Applications are due via email by 8:00 p.m. on Monday, January 19 via this link: Scholarship-Directory-2026-2027.pdf. Our Advancement Services Manager, Jackie Bloyd, is happy to answer any questions you may have about scholarships or the application and awards process and can be reached at Jackie.Bloyd@ahsrockets.org.    

ROCKET SPECTACULAR BENEFIT DINNER AND AUCTION 2026: Saturday, February 7, 2026. The reservation deadline is Friday, January 23 and will be a SELL OUT! Reservations are subject to availability. Donations for our silent and live auctions and bourbon pull are still welcomed! For more information on how to help support the event, contact Sarah Brady @ sarah.brady@ahsrockets.org or call (502)271-2519 by January 30. Don’t miss out on our raffles: a limited number of tickets will be sold for various items!  Please visit this link for tickets and raffles. All proceeds from this event go to the financial needs of our students. 

GRADUATION INFORMATION FROM JOSTENS – GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENTS: There is still time to order graduation announcements. Orders may be placed online at Jostens.com or using the QR code on the flyer linked here: Josten’s Flyer 

If you have any questions, you may contact our Jostens rep at (502)499-7100. 

SERVICE HOURS:  Juniors who are in Catholic Social Teaching this semester will have 15 service hours to complete as part of their class curriculum. Their service commitment form, which needs to be signed by a parent, is due Friday, January 30. This form, the syllabus with all the due dates and requirements, and a long list of approved agencies can be found on Student SharePoint. 

ACTS SERVICE BEGINS NEXT WEEK: This is a reminder that students will begin Sophomore ACTS next Wednesday, January 21. For the next nine weeks, students will go to their ACTS agencies to do service for most of the school day. They will leave after attending class during first block. Please help your student to remember to wear her Assumption uniform pants OR black leggings under her skirt, pack her lunch, and wear a coat if it is cold. Thank you for your support of this program! 

Winter sports are in full swing, and our Rockets are competing with incredible energy and excellence across the board!  

Over the weekend, both our Dance and Cheer teams represented Assumption at the KHSAA State Championships. Our Dance team earned an impressive second place in Hip Hop and third place in Jazz. Our Cheer team also had a strong showing, finishing seventh in the state. We are so proud of all their hard work and the way they represented AHS!  

Congrats to Basketball for defeating top ranked Danville Christian 71-32.   

Looking ahead, Rocket Aerials will take center stage this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the gym for their highly anticipated Winter Showcase. Imagine Cirque du Soleil meets The Nutcracker  in a stunning blend of athleticism, artistry, choreography, and theatre, all wrapped into an unforgettable one-hour performance. Trust us… you won’t want to miss it!  

Spring Sports Tryout Information: Please note: Sports physicals must be up to date before athletes are permitted to tryout. Please email christy.hulsewede@ahsrockets.org for questions.  

• Lacrosse: February 3-5 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. 

• Softball: February 10-12 after school 

• Tennis: February 17 at 3:45 p.m. at Louisville Indoor Racquet Club 

• Spring Track: early March, details to come 

Next Week: