MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Dec. 13-19 – EMS ticket qualifiers (sold 15 or more), out of uniform
Dec. 19 – 11:00am school dismissal (no after-school care)
Dec. 20 – Jan. 2 – Christmas/New Year Holidays
Dec. 24-26 – Parish office closed
Jan. 3 – Back to school
Dec. 23 – The church will be decorated for Christmas following the 10:30am Mass
Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve Mass times are 5pm & 9pm
Dec. 25 – Christmas Day Mass at 9am
Jan. 14-18 – EMS ticket qualifiers (sold 15 or more), out of uniform
Jan. 30 – 9:00am-6:00pm Open House/Registration
Mar. 18-22 – EMS ticket qualifiers (sold 15 or more), out of uniform

CONGRATULATIONS TO ASCENSION’S 1ST TRIMESTER HONOR ROLL STUDENTS
Principal’s List
Gr.4-Landen Blincoe & John Bowling
Gr.5-Edyn Brock, Maddie Hartlage, Sam Schweickhadt & Isa Verdi
Gr.6-Samantha Bowling, Madison Wagner, Ian Beierle, Teddy Marx, Sierra Molnar, Juliet Church, Eli McCoy, Cole Ungar & Avery Lewis
Gr.8-Erin McLarney

1st Honors
Gr.4-Priya Sutaria, Carley Amon & Piper Steurer
Gr.5-Felice Pappalardo, Hannah Gohmann, Sam Gohmann, Emma Tingle, Lila Watts & Amina Bektasevic
Gr.6-Jaylynn Jaggers, Chase Busby, Landon Lentini-Brown, Ellie Phelps, Parker Steurer, Kaelin McGlincy, Kyle Bibelhauser, Jackson Ungar & Jackie    Krebs
Gr.7-Joseph Oeswein, Maura Cornell, Gabe Mingus & Preston Dean
Gr.8-Ella Brock, Aidan McCaffery, Trey Thompson & Michael Towles

2nd Honors
Gr.4-Jackson Evans, Kingston Baer, Sam Will, Nick Yorgy, Matt Yorgy & Tatum Mullaney
Gr.5-Sean McCulloch, Jordyn Murrell, Maddie Gipson, Darian Stoner, Savannah Smith, Jack Cochran, Braden Baker & Carson Rush
Gr.6-Isabella DiMauro, Gabriella Graves & Jack Burns
Gr.7-Ethan Benner & Ryan Stich
Gr.8-Xavier Koontz

TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR 2019/2020 SCHOOL YEAR
The Catholic Education Foundation, the Archdiocese of Louisville and funding partners are helping more families than ever who cannot afford the full cost of educating their children in a Catholic elementary school.
All families with one or more children enrolled in or applying to a Catholic elementary school in the Archdiocese of Louisville are eligible to apply.
Tuition assistance applications should be submitted between December 15, 2018 and February 28, 2019.
The FACTS management application, will be used for all forms of Catholic elementary school tuition assistance. Families must use the online application available on the website, www.ceflou.org.
When submitting your application, you must submit your 2017 federal income tax return and 2017 W-2 information. A new application is due each year.
Tuition assistance award letters will be mailed to families no later than June 15, 2019.
Completed applications received by February 28, 2019 will participate in the initial grant awards. A much smaller amount of tuition assistance may be available for forms submitted after that date.
Complete only one FACTS application for your family, including all students in the family (elementary and high school) on the same form. FACTS will send a need evaluation to all funding sources for which each family could qualify as well as the schools you have listed on the form.
If you have questions, please call the Catholic Education Foundation at (502) 585-2747, or visit them online. They will be happy to assist you!

FREE MONTHLY WORKSHOPS FOR PARENTS
“Digital Footprint” – January 31, 2019 6:30-8:00pm at St. Leonard School
This crash course in social media offers tools to protect and empower children in our data-driven world. Healthy screen usage, monitoring screen time and privacy concerns will be covered. Call 897-5265 to RSVP for this workshop.

“Mornings without Tears” – February 28, 2019 6:00-7:30pm at St. Leonard School
Time-tested tools, techniques, and tips will be offered for taming crazy mornings. Plan to share your own expertise and learn from local experts in this hands-on workshop for parents. Call 897-5265 to RSVP to this potluck supper and workshop.

AMAZON SMILE
If you shop Amazon, please consider shopping AmazonSmile! AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know (same products, same prices, same service)! Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to Ascension! Please support Ascension School by continuing your shopping with Amazon at https://smile.amazon.com/ch/61-0652304. It is a win-win for Ascension and our students!
Our organization is listed as Church of the Ascension School Louisville, KY.

YEARBOOKS 2018-2019
Orders can only be placed online at ybpay.lifetouch.com, our yearbook code is 12159319.

EASY MONEY SWEEPSTAKES WINNERS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 10
Date/Payout/Winner/Seller/Grade
12/10 $25 Bud Sanderfer, Allie Sanderfer Gr.8
12/11 $25 Sherry Schulz, Connor Gaesser Gr.8
12/12 $25 Ginger Luzon, Church Sales
12/13 $25 Michael Hesse, Josie Hesse, 3’s
12/14 $50 Steve Mingus, Gabe Mingus Gr.7

WHY SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING?
The following information is from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is composed of the present and past presidents of the Conference. This task force is charged with advancing the proposals for bishops’ accountability identified at their November meeting. As part of their work, they receive regular updates, including recent articles about sexual abuse in the Church. They recommend one to you authored by Msgr. Stephen Rossetti from the magazine The Priest, published by Our Sunday Visitor. Msgr. Rossetti teaches at the Catholic University of America and is a consulter to The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. This article provides a great overview of how the Church has handled sexual abuse since 2002. You can read it here.

We received another good question from one of our pastors who was reflecting concerns he has heard from parishioners. Here is another entry to our frequently asked questions:

Question: As a parent, I am the best protector of my children. Why do I have to attend safe environment training sessions when all of this is happening because of abuse by Catholic clergy?

Answer: There are several reasons why the safe environment training has been so valuable for our Catholic community.

• This training emerged from the reforms of 2002 contained in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which sought to address the terrible reports of priests and other Church leaders who abused children. No child should ever be abused, especially by someone whose task it is to nurture that child’s faith. In addition to many other reforms, the Charter very wisely called all U.S. dioceses to provide education and training on the issue of childhood sexual abuse for persons of all ages.

• Sexual abuse happens in all segments of society, and 80% of all abused children were abused by parents or other family members.

• The Church is a very large youth-serving organization. We know that one out of four girls and one out of six boys will be abused by the time they reach adulthood. Even if a priest never abused any children, we should be doing this training anyway.

• Because we do live training in the Archdiocese, we are able to interact with thousands of individuals (more than 48,000 since the training started in 2003). After the training, we have people lining up to tell their stories. Just this month, we were told of the arrest of a father who had been abusing his children because one of his adult children attended a safe environment training and felt empowered to report. Others talk to us about their abuse as children. They tell us how the class helped them to recognize that they need help, and we are able to refer them to the assistance they need. Many attendees who come in with skeptical expressions and crossed arms leave with heartfelt thanks for all they learned.

• This training also helps adults who may not have experienced abuse in their own lives recognize the signs of abuse in children they may encounter, whether that abuse happens in the context of the Church, a sports program, or a neighborhood. Many adults are not fully aware of their responsibility to report. In this training, they learn of the mandated reporting laws for all adults in Kentucky to report child abuse, and they learn how to do it.

• The education and empowerment that results from this kind of training, as well as the education provided to children and youth, is one way that we can help to bring about systemic change to combat sexual abuse in our community.

BOX TOPS COLLECTION
Our goal is to raise $2,000 in FREE money for our school! Neatly cut and collect unexpired box tops and send them into school on a collection sheet or in a Ziploc bag with your child’s name on it to the PTO mailbox located in the school office. Ask family, friends, and neighbors to save Box Tops for you! We will have two submission dates: October 15 and February 15. For each submission date, the class that brings in the most box tops will receive a popsicle party!
Download the Box Tops Bonus App today to earn Bonus Box Tops!

REMINDER
Student’s who are absent should be phoned in or emailed to Ms. Thomas by 8:30am. There is a 24 hour message system for you to phone in absences, 451-2535 ext. 18.
Also, it is very important that your child/ren arrive at school on time daily! Students should be in their class and chair by 7:55am. If your child is late, you must come in to sign them in. Thank you