Friday, February 5, 2021
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We have much to celebrate this week! At the Catholic Schools Week Mass on Tuesday, Learning Differences Coordinator Judi Erskine was the recipient of 2021 Irene Casey Catholic Inclusion Award given by the Archdiocese of Louisville. This award was established in 1999 to honor the spirit of Irene Casey, an elementary school teacher who was dedicated to meeting the diverse learning needs of students in Catholic education. It is presented to one educator, counselor, or administrator in the Archdiocese of Louisville who exemplifies this deep commitment to inclusive practices. As we celebrate Catholic schools this week, we are especially grateful for Mrs. Erskine and all of our faculty and staff who do such excellent work with our students every day! Also, junior Gracie Bartley was announced the winner of the Catholic Education Foundation’s Catholic Schools Week Essay contest. Gracie’s award-winning essay titled “Following in Christ’s Steps” was chosen out of all submissions throughout the archdiocese and will be published in The Record. Congratulations, Mrs. Erskine and Gracie!
Additionally, on behalf of Assumption High School and the Office of Advancement, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for making this year’s Rocket Spectacular Virtual Benefit Auction such a success. Even with our event being held virtually this year, the community of Assumption showed tremendous support and generosity! Whether you bought Rocket Raffle tickets, secured or donated an auction item, volunteered your time, or attended the event virtually, YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE and we couldn’t have done it without you. As you know, every dollar raised benefits the financial needs of our students. We are proud to share that in total, we raised more than $255,000 towards our student financial assistance program.
We are also proud to announce that we reached our AHS community-wide goal and sold collectively 4,686 tickets, raising a record-breaking $117,150 for financial assistance. This is more than we have ever raised for the Rocket Raffle and the Walk for Assumption combined! Thank you for encouraging your daughter to participate in our student fundraiser for financial aid! In reaching our goal, the girls will enjoy an extra day of Spring Break, with Friday, March 26, being an official day off of school.
The lucky winners of the $20,000 Rocket Raffle are five faculty and staff members, Judi Joseph Erskine ‘82, Lauren & Matt Lega, Donna Pendleton, and Michelle Stubblefield. The lucky winner of the Tuition Raffle was Donna O’Connor Ford ‘77. Our student speaker, Kelsey Shelby, shared her story during the Sponsor a Student segment and raised over $46,000! Our sincere appreciation for the many ways you made the night a success. THANK YOU!
COVID NUMBERS: As we did last semester, Assumption will report our number of COVID positive cases and quarantines for any individuals associated with our school on a weekly basis in the Rocket Report. As of yesterday, Assumption’s COVID-19 numbers for this week are: (1/29; 2/1; 2/2; 2/3; and 2/4)
- 7 new positive COVID-19 cases (6 students/1 faculty/staff)
- 20 new quarantine cases (13 students/7 faculty/staff)
- 21 total positive COVID-19 cases as reported to our local department of health as of January 5, the start of this semester (18 students and 3 faculty/staff)
It’s important to note that there have been no known transmissions of COVID here at AHS. As a reminder to our parents, Assumption is required to report positive cases and quarantines of all individuals associated with our school to the State of Kentucky, our local health department as well as the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Although statewide the positivity rate is declining, we are seeing an increase in cases and quarantines. It is important that we do not let our guard down. In the majority of our positive cases, the transmission occurred through a social activity where health and safety precautions were not practiced. Although we have been fortunate that our current protocols and hybrid model appear to have prevented spread of COVID-19 within our building, individual cases do impact others in our community, including requiring others in the building to quarantine as a result of exposure. We are asking parents and students to continue to do their part. Please continue to talk with your daughter about the importance of maintaining good hygiene, wearing a mask, and practicing physical distancing wherever she goes.
As always, thank you for your support and commitment to the safety of our entire community.
CALENDAR NOTES:
- DAILY SCHEDULE: Next week, we will follow a special daily schedule to accommodate AHS faculty/staff receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday morning:
- Monday, February 8– Day 1: DIGITAL LEARNING DAY for All Cohorts
- Tuesday, February 9 – Day 2: VIRTUAL LEARNING DAY for All Cohorts
- Wednesday, February 10 – Day 3: In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort
- Thursday, February 11 – Day 4: In-Person – Blue Cohort, Virtual at Home – Maroon Cohort
- Friday, February 12 – No School/Winter Break Holiday/Faculty-Staff Professional Development Day
- DIGITAL LEARNING DAY: On Monday, February 8, we will implement a Digital Learning Day, not a hybrid or virtual day. On a declared Digital Learning Day, teachers for that day’s classes will post lesson plans on their class pages on PowerSchool LMS by 10:30 a.m. Students will need to check each of their scheduled classes’ PowerSchool LMS pages for the lesson plan for the day and complete the assignments by the time designated in the agenda. Students will not meet in class on a schedule as they do on virtual learning days or hybrid days. In order for us to “take attendance,” which we are required to do since this will count as an official day of school, students need to complete and submit an attendance survey by 10:30; they will be emailed the link to the survey by 8:00 a.m. Teachers will be available to answer questions from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Monday, February 8. We reviewed digital learning day expectations for students in class meetings on Wednesday. If you would like to review this information also, here’s a link to the PowerPoint presentation we shared with the girls: DIGITAL LEARNING DAY INFORMATION
- ALL VIRTUAL LEARNING DAY: Tuesday, February 9, will be a virtual learning day for all cohorts with classes beginning at 9:00 a.m. We have made the decision to institute a virtual learning day following our faculty and staff receiving the vaccination based on feedback from other schools who have already received the vaccination that many faculty and staff suffered side effects that made it difficult for them to work in person. To eliminate the possibility of the need to make a last-minute move to a virtual day based on an inability to adequately staff classrooms, we are planning ahead in announcing a virtual learning day on February 9. We will return to our hybrid model with the blue cohort on Wednesday, February 10 and Thursday February 11. Friday, February 12 is a Winter Break school holiday.
- WINTER BREAK: School will be closed for Winter Break from Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15. Classes will resume on Tuesday, February 16.
CAMPUS MINISTRY:
- PARENT PRAYER: Parent Prayer takes place every Tuesday morning from 8:30-9:00 a.m. via Zoom 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. All are invited!
IMPORTANT 2021-2022 REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
- REGISTRATION FEE AND TUITION SELECTION VIA MYSCHOOLBUCKS: Parents or guardians of current freshman, sophomore, or junior students were emailed a letter from Mary Lang announcing our tuition for the 2021-22 school year on Wednesday, January 27. Parents/Guardians will need to log into their PowerSchool Parent Portal (direct link: PowerSchool) and pay their $225 registration fee using MySchoolBucks, which can be found on the left-hand side library of the parent portal. Contact Brent.miller@ahsrockets.org or Kathy.fleischer@ahsrockets.org if you encounter difficulties with logging into PowerSchool and MySchoolBucks. If you are unable to pay the online $225 registration fee or have other arrangements with our finance office, please contact TAMMY FINCH.
- PARENT POWERSCHOOL LOG IN FOR 2021-2022 REGISTRATION: Teachers will conference with students February 4 through February 11. Course registration will OPEN on Friday, February 12. This is a great time to have a conversation with your daughter about her classes for next year and to review the course offerings in the 2021-2022 Course Catalog. The course registration link in PowerSchool will open on Friday, February 12. At that time, the course registration link will appear and be available for you to work with your daughter on her course selections. Please ask your daughter to share the information provided during class meetings, meetings with her teachers, and guidance provided her by her guidance counselors and academic deans to complete this course registration by Friday, February 19. We will be sending a special message with more detailed information next week with information for parents regarding assisting with this process, but please make note that you will need to log into your parent PowerSchool account to register your daughter for classes next year. If you have forgotten your parent username or password for PowerSchool, when you go to the login screen for PowerSchool, just click on the link “Having trouble signing in?” and follow the directions to obtain a forgotten username or forgotten password.
- FINANCIAL AID FORM: The financial aid link for 2021-2022 has been added to the school’s website. The due date is February 28 and the form must be submitted online to FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment. FINANCIAL AID APPLICATION LINK. As a reminder, you are required to file every year to receive assistance.
- SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS: Scholarship applications for the 2021-2022 school year are now on our website. Applications are due by 4:00 p.m. via email on March 2. Please contact Advancement Services Manager JACKIE BLOYD with questions. Scholarship winners will be announced at our end-of-year celebration. You may access the applications through the following link – SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS.
BETA CLUB INFORMATION FOR SOPHOMORES AND JUNIORS: Qualifying sophomores and juniors will be invited to join Beta Club this month for the 2021-2022 school year. Beta Club is an organization dedicated to honoring academic achievement and encouraging school and community service. Qualifying students must have a 3.5 cumulative GPA and no more than two demerits on their discipline record. Members are required to attend 75% of scheduled meetings unless they have an excused absence from school. They must complete 20 service hours their junior year and 20 service hours their senior year. Members must maintain a 3.5 cumulative GPA and may not accumulate more than two demerits (equal to six detentions) throughout their membership. Parents/Guardians of qualifying students will receive an invitation letter by email. Qualifying students will receive an email invitation as well. There is a one-time membership fee of $15 to join. Details for the application process, which includes attending one of two possible discernment meetings and a discipline check, will be included in the invitation emails. *Current junior class Beta Club members will not receive an invitation as they are already members, and their membership will roll over into their senior year as long as they attend the discernment meeting and meet all qualifications at the end of the school year. This was communicated to the students directly at their junior class Beta Club meeting this week.
TEST PREP – Attention, Junior Parents: Your daughter received an email this week reminding her of ALBERT, the important test prep tool provided by Assumption. This online test prep program provides practice in each of the section of the ACT and the SAT as well as full length practice tests. Now is a great time to start this prep to achieve her goals for the Tuesday, April 13 National ACT at Assumption High School.
SPRING DUAL CREDIT – All students enrolled in a spring dual credit class received this information in an email on Thursday, January 27: Thanks for taking care of the necessary information for registration and for your questions. Good news – we are ahead of the game at this point of the semester and your transcripts, ACT scores, and other required information have been sent to the appropriate intuitions. We are waiting to hear from KHEAA about deadlines for applying for the dual credit scholarships. It will still be a few weeks because we first have to provide your information to the Archdiocese of Louisville who then provides it to KHEAA and we have not yet been asked to provide this information. We are also awaiting final word about the availability of the Work Ready Scholarship for the business classes at WKU. Those monies may no longer be available for these courses. We will let you know as soon as we know. Full information about AHS Dual Credit is always available on our website at: AHS Dual Credit Information Any questions can be addressed to
Judy.Fieldhouse@ahsrockets.org
LEAD & LEARN WEDNESDAY UPDATE: During our LEAD & Learn Wednesday this week, students began the day in homeroom where their student leaders once again led an activity that allowed homerooms a time to have fun together and reconnect. These were followed by information-packed class meetings. Seniors discussed our upcoming Mission Week and class officer-led activities. Underclasswomen received information about Mission Week as well as information about the logistics of how to register for next year’s classes. After lunch, students had the option to attend optional elective interest sessions to learn more about electives available for next school year and sophomores provided ACTS service.
RPN (Rocket Parent Network) NEWS:
- ZOOM MEETING: Interested in learning more about RPN and helping with programming? Please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, February 9, at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Link to join Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89312244657?pwd=V1RGb3I3MGUyenRNRkZ0RVlHSExlUT09. Meeting ID: 893 1224 4657, Passcode: Q8smVK
- GUEST SPEAKER: We also want you to SAVE THE DATE for our next RPN speaker program. Dr. Amy Greenamyer will be our special guest on Tuesday, February 23, at 6:30 p.m. Dr. Greenamyer will lead a discussion about how to talk with your teens about drugs and alcohol. A link to this Zoom meeting will be sent to all parents a few days before the event.
ASSUMPTION PARENT ORGANIZATION (APO): Rocket Spectacular Virtual Benefit Auction 2021:
Parents, we cannot thank you enough for all your help and support in making this year’s event such a success! It truly takes the dedication and time of many to pull off such an amazing evening. With everyone working together, we are able to ensure that financial assistance continues to be available for our students.
LUNCH UPDATE FROM FLIK: Please remind your daughter to pre-order her lunch for next week if she plans to have FLIK provide her lunch on her hybrid in-person days. Lunch orders must be submitted by 8:30 a.m. the morning of but can be ordered a week in advance through this link: www.flikisdining.com. Your daughter will receive an email confirmation when the order is placed. If she does not receive a confirmation email, the order was not received by FLIK. For full information about the lunch ordering process, please click on this link: INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING LUNCH MENU AND ORDERING
- MAIN ENTRÉE LUNCH MENU OPTIONS for February 10-11 (Blue Cohort Only): Steakhouse Marinated Pork Chop on top of rice, Cheddar Cheese or Spicy Beef Quesadilla, Spanish Rice, Roasted Corn
UPCOMING CLUB OPPORTUNITIES: Be sure to ask you daughter to take some time to check out the upcoming club meetings that will continue to be posted regularly on the website calendar linked here: https://www.ahsrockets.org/events/event/
ATHLETICS: From the Athletic Office: Tryouts for lacrosse, softball, tennis, and track & field will begin Tuesday, February 16. Students who are interested in trying out can get more detailed information at this link: https://www.ahsrockets.org/athletics/winter-sports-tryouts/. Competitions will begin as early as March 10. Updated schedules will be posted on our website.
ARCHDIOCESAN DIVERSITY CLUB GUEST SPEAKER: Parents and students are invited to join the Archdiocesan Diversity Club for a special guest speaker on Wednesday, February 10 at 3:15 p.m. The speaker is Dr. Courtney Wright, a professor at UT-Knoxville in the Communications Department. She has a prolific career writing about DEI initiatives in education including an article for Inside Higher Ed entitled, “Inclusion Beyond Appearances.” Her research and teaching interests include: Interpersonal/Relational Communication, Conflict Management & Dialogue, Inclusion & Communicating Differences, Instructional Communication & Teacher-Training, and Communication Training & Development. Here is some additional info about Dr. Wright: https://cmst.utk.edu/profile/courtney-wright. To join the Zoom meeting on February 10 at 3:15 p.m., use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81525379360?pwd=L2xBaWwvSkZkTXo4cWJiR2VQZEhYdz09
HOUSE BILL 149 INFORMATION FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE: The Archdiocese of Louisville has asked us to share this message with you: House Bill 149 (Education Opportunity Accounts) is on the move! Please call 1-800-372-7181 for the state legislative message line and the operator will leave a message for your state representative based on your home address. You can also email by clicking here. Ask your state representative to make sure HB 149 is passed out of committee as soon as possible and that they vote for the bill when it reaches the House floor. Families are depending on them to bring educational choice to Kentucky! Education Opportunity Accounts are privately funded by citizens and businesses who donate to non-profit Account Granting Organizations (AGOs). The AGOs then use the donations to award needs-based funding to eligible families. Funding can be tailored to a student’s specific needs and used for K-12 public and non-public school tuition and fees, online learning programs, tutoring services, therapy programs, transportation to and from school, and more.
Gratefully,
Martha Tedesco
Principal