Asbury Thursday Folders – August 23, 2024

Posted August 22, 2024

Principal Message:

Welcome Back Asbury Eagle Families!

Don’t forget about tonight! 

Back to School Night: The BTSN event occurs on August 22 from 5:00-6:00. This is the event that parents (not students) will be attending to get information from teachers and leadership about the school, their teachers, and classrooms. Here is the schedule:

  • 5:00-5:20 Welcome Back and School Level Information from Jeanna Doung in the auditorium
  • 5:20-5:40 Classroom Rotation 1- Teachers will share out about themselves and important classroom policies 
  • 5:40-6:00 Classroom Rotation 2 –  Teachers will share out about themselves and important classroom policies 

Communication is important to me. Please consider my door always open and please email and contact me if you ever have questions or concerns. It is crucial as we partner to support your child to have open dialogue and communication. That said, every Thursday we send out school wide communication through our Thursday Folder newsletter. Please expect this newsletter each week. In the newsletter, it will contain a letter from me, important information in the “What’s top of Mind?” section. There will also be a spot for information that we have already shared that we feel  is still important to have in the “What’s still relevant?” section. There is also a section for information from PTSO and information about enrichments as well as flyers and important dates. 

We try to keep communication streamlined so you are not getting an overload of information, but we also have important information, so you will also be receiving newsletters from your teachers as well as newsletters from DPS. I know it can feel like a lot of information at times, so we appreciate your understanding as we try to balance communication so it feels manageable. 🙂 

In Partnership,

Jeanna Doung


What’s top of Mind? 

HR Updates:

  • Angela Malara: Ms. Malara, one of our 1st grade teachers, will be starting her journey as a mom in November- we are thrilled for her and are excited for this new journey for her. 
  • Ms. Mccoy: Our amazing 3rd grade Literacy teacher has been spending time on maternity leave and will be returning to work in mid-September. 
  • Ms. Arza: Ms. Arza, our wonderful 3rd grade math teacher will be stepping away to start her maternity leave in late september. We are thrilled for her. 

Open  Positions:

  • 1-1 Paraprofessional positions: We have two 1-1 Special Education Paraprofessional positions open right now. If you know anyone who would like to work with students in 4th or 5th grades, please have them reach out to Jeanna. 
  • Long Term Substitute Openings: We have Long Term Substitute positions open in both 1st grade and 3rd grade Math. If you are interested or know someone who is interested in these positions please reach out to Jeanna!

Marketing Team/100 Year Planning Committee

Asbury’s 100 year anniversary is coming up next school year (I know we have just started this school year)- that said, it is going to be amazing and to support this amazingness, we have a committee that is centered around planning for this party! If you are interested, we would love your help with planning- we will meet monthly on mondays. Please reach out to Jeanna if you are interested!

Heat at Asbury

As a reminder, it does get hot in our building. Make sure to bring water bottles and stay hydrated.  We work hard to ensure heat mitigation techniques are in place and we check temperatures twice daily while it is hot to make sure that the temperatures are manageable. If your child is ever feeling hot, sick or lethargic, teachers will send students to the nurse to be checked out. In addition, if it is ever unsafe to run school, then we will move forward with an early release heat day. These are approved through the district and you will be notified by 5pm the evening before if we will have an early release heat day. We do understand that these can be a difficult time for families, so please reach out to your teachers and Jeanna to support you. 

Attendance 

We are working hard to make sure that Asbury is a place where our students want to be! Our collective goal is that every student arrives to class on time and remains in school for the full day, every day. Every absence, even excused, makes it more difficult for students- and their peers- to succeed, no matter what grade they are in. When absences add up, even in elementary years, it becomes harder to graduate. Ofcourse, if your child is too sick to attend school, please keep them home. 

CSC/PTSO Meetings:

PTSO and CSC are committees that are important to Asbury. CSC, or our Collaborative School Committee, supports Asbury’s budget as well as developing our strategic school plan. PTSO or our Parent, Teacher, Student Organization supports Asbury by bringing all these different stakeholders together to ensure that we have supports in place for our school to run smoothly and we are focused on community supports and community events.  Both CSC and PTSO are hosted on the first Tuesday of each month. With one month taking place in-person and the other online. CSC runs meetings from 5-6 and PTSO hosts their meetings from 6-7. Both CSC and PTSO are open to the public, so please join us! 

End of Year/Beginning of 24-25 School Year Important Information

Mental Health Minute

I am thrilled to be back as Asbury’s school psychologist! The Mental Health Minute will continue to be a place for resources and research based information related to psychology and child development.  If you have any questions, concerns, or are in need of resources, I am always an email or phone call away. 

The BESS universal screener beginning of the year window is now open for parents. Please visit tinyurl.com/bessparent2324 to complete this 5 minute survey. More information about the BESS will be coming in the following weeks. I look forward to a continued partnership with the Asbury community this year!

Lauren Gourgues, School Psychologist


What’s Still Relevant? 

  • We hope everyone had a wonderful summer!
  • Asbury Has moved to a new message platform:  We have switched to a new messaging platform. District text messages will now come from 98900. Phone calls will come from 720-423-3000 or your school’s front office phone number. Emails will come from a DPSK12.org email address.

What’s new from PTSO?

  • SAVE THE DATE (and save your toys for prizes 😉 ) CARNIVAL 2024! 
    • The date has been set for September 20, 2024, 5-7 pm! We can’t wait!
    • We need your help! If you’re interested in helping plan this incredible event, please email asbury.ptso@gmail.com.
  • Asbury is an incredibly special community, and we need YOU, members of the community, to help maintain it!
    • Not sure if you can come to all the meetings? No problem! You can still join the PTSO – whether or not you are able to come to meetings. This will ensure you get our communications and stay informed!
    • Our first meeting will be in the Asbury auditorium on Tuesday, September 3, at 6 pm. Childcare, translation, and pizza provided! Please join us!
  • Monday, August 26 – don’t feel like making lunch or dinner? Get some delicious Maria Empanada and earn money for Asbury! These freeze great, you can keep some on hand to pack in lunchboxes or for after school snacks.
    • Maria Empanada will donate 25% of sales of all guests who use CODE Mmmm
    • 1298 S. Broadway

What’s going on with Enrichments?

Please visit the Asbury Website for more information and details about enrichments offered during this session:  Asbury Enrichments Schedule (update in progress)


Enrichment Flyers


Community Flyers


Upcoming Dates

  • 8/22 – Back to School Night (adults event) – 5:00-6:00 pm – Tonight!!
  • 8/26 – Maria Empanada Dine Out – use code Mmmm
  • 8/28 – Welcome back with Kona Ice, Asbury Blacktop
  • 9/3 – PTSO meeting, in person – Asbury auditorium
  • 9/19 – Skate City Asbury Night