Friday, September 11, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians, 

After our second week of school, we are so pleased with how our students are adjusting to our new protocols and policies.  They have been amazing in adapting and complying with the many changes this new year and we are grateful to them for their commitment to keep all of us healthy during this time.    

We continue to monitor our number of COVID-19 positive cases associated with the school.  As we reported in the past, Governor Beshear is publishing the number of COVID -19 positive cases at schools throughout Kentucky. The data is available on the State’s COVID-19 website (kycovid.19.gov) under K-12 Schools Public Health Report.  As of September 9, the State has reported twenty COVID-19 positive cases at Assumption High School – 17 students and 3 staff.   As we promised, AHS is sharing the number of positive cases that we have reported to our local department of health each week in the Rocket Report. Last week we reported the COVID+ cases since the start of the school year, but based on the state numbers above, we realize that the state is reporting cases since August 1.  Therefore, AHS will do the same.    

Since August 1, there have been  22  COVID+ cases associated with Assumption.  Of those 22 cases – 19 were students and 3 were staff.  Please note that Assumption is legally required to report any student or employee who is COVID+ no matter where they contracted the disease.  Therefore, any time a student or employee notifies us that they have COVID, we must report it to the local department of health and the Archdiocese.     

It’s important to note that none of these cases were transmitted at our school.  These transmissions occurred mostly through social activities held outside of school.  Of these  22  cases, only one individual who was COVID+ came to our campus and that was before she knew she had been exposed.  That resulted in the notification that was sent to all parents and guardians on August 24.   

What that tells us is that our policies are working.  We thank our parents for adhering to our health and safety protocols and keeping your daughter home when she is ill or not feeling well and contacting our school nurse in the event your daughter:    

  • has tested positive for COVID-19, or   
  • suspects she may have COVID-19, or   
  • has been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or      
  • undergoes testing because she has COVID like symptoms or has been advised by her health care provider to undergo testing; or    

and now if anyone in her home is being tested for COVID-19 due to symptoms.   

In each of these situations, your daughter should not come to school.  Our school nurse, Laura Burnam, can be reached at Laura.Burnam@ahsrockets.org or 271-2507.    

Again, we appreciate your understanding and support! 

CALENDAR NOTES FOR NEXT WEEK:  

  • DAILY SCHEDULE:  Next week we return to our traditional hybrid schedule: 
  • Monday, September 14 – Day 1: In-Person – Maroon Cohort, Virtual at Home – Blue Cohort 
  • Tuesday, September 15 – Day 2:  In-Person – Maroon Cohort, Virtual at Home – Blue Cohort 
  • Wednesday, September 16 – LEAD & Learn Wednesday:  All Cohorts Digital at Home 
  • Thursday, September 17 – Day 3: In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort 
  • Friday, September 18 – Day 4:  In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort 
  • FRESHMAN PARENT MANDATORY DRUG/ALCOHOL EDUCATION NIGHTS: Freshman parents, there is one more opportunity to attend our mandatory Freshman Parent Drug/Alcohol Education Program on Monday, September 14, at 6:30 p.m. 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 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 freshman parent or guardian is required to attend. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Please complete this Wufoo survey to sign up for the event and receive the Zoom link: https://assumption.wufoo.com/forms/pwtklw1162y5te/ 
  • COLLEGE INFORMATION NIGHTS FOR SENIORS AND PARENTS:  Leigh Jackson and Kimberly Habich, college counselors, have provided detailed information about the college application process to every senior.  To further assist seniors and their parents with the college process, there will be a college information night for all seniors and parents on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.  Admission representatives from a variety of colleges and universities will discuss the college application process.  This panel will provide helpful hints and advice to seniors as they begin their own college process. If you have any questions, please contact LEIGH JACKSON.  We will also be hosting a virtual Financial Aid Information Night on Monday, September 21, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.  If you have any questions, please contact KIMBERLY HABICH. All seniors and parents are welcome to attend both events. A link to the Zoom meeting will be emailed prior to the events.  

FROM CAMPUS MINISTRY:   

  • FRESHMAN–PARENT MASS – Each year we celebrate the beginning of your freshman daughter’s high school journey as a community of faith with our Freshman-Parent Mass.  This special liturgy is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Raphael Catholic Church.  If you have RSVP’d, please attend with your family.  If you would like access to the livestream of this Mass on St. Raphael’s YouTube channel, please use this link:  https://youtu.be/GEkR1rHsKIY. We look forward to celebrating with you and your family. 
  • PARENT PRAYER: The Parent Prayer group meets each Tuesday morning from 8:30-9:00 a.m. in the chapel at St. Catherine’s Convent which is right across Tyler Lane from AHS.  Parents should park in the AHS lot in a visitor space or in any open space.  Parking is no longer available at the McAuley Center itself, so parents will need to cross Tyler Lane from the AHS lot to enter the McAuley Center. If you are unable to attend but would like them to pray for a particular intention, please email it to our campus minister at maryann.steutermann@ahsrockets.org. We hope you find comfort in knowing that we are praying for your intention even if you can’t be present. New Zoom option for parent prayer: If you are unable to join us in person, please consider joining us via Zoom on Tuesdays @ 8:30 a.m. by using this link and ID/Password:  Join Zoom Meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75488139027?pwd=UDQrM3BDWlZRbElEbWdUL1FQRE4wZz09, Meeting ID: 754 8813 9027, Passcode: prayer. 

ATTENDANCE UPDATES AND INFORMATION: Taking attendance is an accountability issue (as well as a legal issue) that Assumption High School takes seriously.  Especially this school year since virtual and in-person attendance is so fluid, we are working diligently to keep accurate records. There are a couple of specific attendance details that parents/guardians need to be aware of: 

  • ATTENDANCE ON LEAD AND LEARN WEDNESDAYS: LEAD and Learn Wednesdays do count as official days of school so it is essential that students are in attendance virtually for any and all scheduled meetings at activities/events. While those scheduled activities will change from week to week because we want to make sure that the time is used purposefully to meet program and community needs, students will generally begin the day’s scheduled activities with Homeroom Meetings in Teams at 9:00 a.m. Attendance will be taken in homeroom and it will be essential that your daughter is there as this will count as her official attendance for the day since it is difficult to take attendance in large group events/activities like class meetings, prayer services, virtual assemblies, etc. Students will move to other scheduled activities after their time in their homerooms. If a student needs to be excused from school on a LEAD and Learn Wednesday for a medical appointment, college visit, etc., the parent/guardian does need to notify the attendance office/request an excused absence in advance. We will trust parents/guardians to “take attendance” during the times that their daughters are engaged in independent learning time. 
  • HOMEROOM/LUNCH ATTENDANCE WHEN STUDENTS ARE ATTENDING VIRTUALLY:  Attendance is taken during lunch when students are in homeroom.  In order to keep accurate records for students who are attending in-person each day and also to help ensure our all-virtual students’ connectedness to homeroom, during lunch block, teacher are taking attendance by doing the following:  students who are present in-person in the classroom are marked PRESENT; those who attend the lunch period virtually are marked PRESENT VIRTUALLY; and those not in attendance, either in-person or virtually, are marked ABSENT.  These are the only options available for our teachers to use when recording attendance in PowerSchool.   This means that although students in the hybrid model are not required to check in virtually at lunch time and those in our all-virtual model are only required to do so on Days 1 and 4, they will appear in the system as absent.  We want to reassure you that this will not impact their overall attendance and students will not be penalized or disciplined in any manner as a result.  Thanks for your understanding as we address this additional wrinkle this school year! 

DAILY ANNOUNCEMENTS:  We have added a new feature on the website for daily announcements. Students and parents can find them on our website under About > AHS Newsroom > Daily Announcements.  Here is a direct link to the page:  DAILY ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

VIRTUAL MOCK SCHEDULE NIGHT:  Parents – you will have the opportunity to participate in a mock schedule of your daughter’s classes to meet her teachers and learn a little bit about each of her classes. We will host our Virtual Mock Schedule Night on Wednesday, September 23, beginning at 6:30 p.m.  We will be training your daughters on how to allow you to access her Teams pages at class meetings at our next LEAD & Learn Wednesday.  More specific information will be provided closer to the date! 

TECHNOLOGY PSA – RESTARTING TABLETS:  This week we reminded all students how important it is to restart their computers daily to prevent technology glitches.  In particular, it is important for students to restart their computers while on our wifi network.  When students restart on our network, we are able to send important updates to their computer.  In our hybrid/virtual model, it is not possible to restart computers daily since students are not in the building daily; however, students should restart while at school on their in-person days.  Virtual Only Students:  It would be helpful for virtual only students to restart their computers once a week, if possible.  Virtual students do not need to be in the building for this to work.  They just have to be able to get on our wifi which students can do as long as they are close enough to the building.  We suggest coming up to the Tyler Lane doors to access our wifi.  This can be done in the evenings, on weekends, or any other time that is convenient.  This will really help keep a great many issues from occurring. 

POWERSCHOOL GRADES:  PowerSchool grades are available for your view via your PowerSchool account.  The following reminders are important to keep in mind: 

  • PowerSchool grades are provided as our first line of communication to our families regarding your daughter’s progress, but it is important to keep in mind that no first semester grades are final until January 2021. 
  • As indicated in the Student Parent Handbook, if a student is absent or misses class any school-related function, we use a PLACEHOLDER ZERO to help her remember to make up this work.  This PLACEHOLDER ZERO will be replaced with the actual grade once the student completes the makeup work and the teacher is able to enter it in PowerSchool. 
  • Teachers are asked to have grades as up to date as possible by the 1st and the 15th of each month.   
  • If you or your daughter have a question regarding a grade recorded in PowerSchool, please have your daughter reach out to the teacher with her question.  You are always welcome to follow up with the teacher as well. 

DUAL CREDIT INFORMATION – COURSE REGISTRATION: Attention, parents of students enrolled in dual credit (DC) courses:  If your daughter is enrolled in DC English, she began her registration for this course through University of Louisville this week.  All other students enrolled in Dual Credit classes this semester will be enrolling in the next week.  (EXCEPTION:  DC Precalculus and DC Calculus are considered Spring courses and students will register in January.) Full information regarding dual credit classes is available through this link:  AHS DUAL CREDIT FACT SHEET 2020 – 2021.  DUAL CREDIT SCHOLARSHIP: In late 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 throughout her high school career.   Each of our partner schools (WKU, UL and JCTC) has different requirements for courses and Assumption will take care of getting the transcripts and test scores to these schools.  It is the student/parent obligation to make sure she is registered with the university and to pay any tuition not covered by the KHEAA scholarship.  Information regarding the KHEAA scholarship can be found at https://www.kheaa.com/website/kheaa/dual_credit?main=1 but the system is not yet ready to accept applications.  If you have any questions, please contact JUDY FIELDHOUSE.  

PLEASE CHECK YOUR DAUGHTER’S FLIK LUNCH ACCOUNT BALANCE:  Please check your daughter’s lunch account at www.myschoolbucks.com if she is pre-ordering lunches. All of the balances that were left from last year have been carried over to the new school year. You can add money to your account online or have your daughter drop off the check in the cafeteria drop box during school hours.  A few reminders: 

  • CANCELLING ORDERS IF DAUGHTER IS ABSENT: If your daughter has pre-ordered lunch and is absent on that day, please go to the website and cancel your daughter’s order before 8:00 a.m. on the day the lunch is to be delivered or the lunch will be charged to your account.  

IS YOUR DAUGHTER’S UNIFORM SKIRT TOO SHORT? The uniform skirt is to be worn at or near the waist and should be of moderate length (all the way around, front and back) at least an inch longer than the student’s fingertips when her relaxed arms are down at her side. As we have been monitoring the students as the move through the halls at class changes, we are seeing many, many, many skirts that are several inches too short. You may need to let the hem out of the skirt or buy your daughter a new (and longer) skirt. Please help your daughter avoid receiving a detention by making sure that her uniform skirt is in compliance with our uniform code. After a two-week grace period with several reminders to students, we will start issuing detentions next week. 

DETENTION: Detention will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams on Wednesdays from 7:30-8:00 a.m. and from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Detentions will continue to be 30 minutes in length, but this time frame will allow a student to serve multiple detentions if necessary and provide both before school and after school options. Detentions/demerits will be issued to students via email. After a detention/demerit is issued, the assistant to the deans will contact the student to schedule the time she is to serve it and add her to the Detention Meeting on Teams for the specific day/time. Please note: parents/guardians are not notified when single detentions are issued; it is the student’s responsibility to let you know about this. Parents/guardians will be copied on emails in which students are being issued demerits as these are for more serious infractions. 

STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK & COVID-19 SUPPLEMENT:  Parents – please take time to review the STUDENT-PARENT HANDBOOK 2020-2021 and the COVID-19 HANDBOOK SUPPLEMENT that are both available on our website. Please review the handbook and supplement carefully as it is part of the legal agreement between you and Assumption High School—it lets you know what you can expect from us and what we expect from you and your daughter. Your daughter will be asking you to sign a Student-Parent Handbook Agreement Form verifying that you have read and agree to be governed by the rules and policies in the handbook. The printed form is on the first page of her Student Planner and must be signed by both the parent and student and returned to your daughter’s homeroom teacher by Friday, September 18 (the planners had to be printed in July before we knew exact re-opening plans so the deadline date on the form has been modified). 

ATHLETICS LIVE BROADCAST AVAILABLE:  With limited attendance policies this season, please consider cheering on your Rockets by watching them on our live streaming service. The NFHS Network broadcasts our Rocket athletic events for all levels in basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, and volleyball. AHS games can be watched from anywhere on your phone, tablet, computer, or smart TV.  By subscribing to the NFHS Network, you get full access to all content on the network for our school and any other broadcast nationwide.  To subscribe, use our school short link: tiny.cc/Assumption or go to www.NFHSnetwork.com, enter Assumption in the search box, then click “follow” so you can stay up to date on all upcoming Assumption events and click “subscribe” for all subscription options for our school. You will have two choices on subscriptions: a monthly subscription for only $10.99 or a yearly subscription for $69.99. This will include any postseason state events in Kentucky as the KHSAA is an NFHS Network member as well. A portion of your subscription does go to support AHS Athletics. 

65-YEAR ANNIVERSARY: Assumption marked an important milestone this week! This past Sunday, September 6, was the 65th anniversary of the day that AHS opened its doors! Since 1955 Assumption has been educating young women to be the Christian leaders who have shaped our world, our church, and the Louisville community for over six decades. Throughout this year, we will celebrate this milestone in many ways! We will share more information about these activities and events through email and social media. Be sure you like and follow AHS on social media if you don’t already. More information will be shared in the coming weeks and months about plans to celebrate Assumption’s 65th anniversary! Any questions, please contact Abby Blandford. 

GIVE FOR GOOD LOUISVILLE: We hope you will join us in marking our 65th anniversary by ensuring that AHS is able to educate young women in Louisville for at least another 65 years! Mark your calendar for September 17, 2020, which is Give for Good Louisville Day, a 24-hour giving day where individuals can support area nonprofits. As a result of COVID-19, Assumption has seen a significant increase in the need for tuition assistance. Now more than ever, we need your support to help our Assumption families. Please consider a special anniversary gift on September 17 or celebrate AHS today and make your gift now by clicking here! Interested in being an advocate for AHS during Give for Good Louisville? Contact Abby Blandford for more details. 

MAIN OFFICE AVAILABILITY:  To adhere to state mandates in response to COVID-19 and to continue to keep our entire community safe and healthy, we are continuing to recommend that parents email or mail any school-related items instead of dropping them off at school.   Assumption’s Main Office is open from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.  In line with Assumption’s Re-opening and Learning Plan, visitors to the school will continue to be limited.  Any visitor who has an appointment requiring them to come into the building should come to the Tyler Lane door, ring the buzzer, and will be met there.  Visitors must wear a mask, undergo a temperature scan, and complete a health screening before entering the building.  Please feel free to contact Amy Schelb at 502-458-9551, option 0, or email at amy.schelb@ahsrockets.org for questions regarding the above or if you need assistance during this time.   

Gratefully, 

Martha Tedesco 

Principal