Posted January 16, 2025
Dear Asbury Community,
This is the time of the school year that school budgets for next school year are determined. This process can feel fast and furious with a lot of meetings, numbers, and scenarios shared. During this time it is important to remember that we need to hold on to the priorities of our building to make any budgeting decisions necessary to ensure students at Asbury are supported. Our funding supports our school and our students, so understanding where our hearts/priorities lay, helps direct us with where funding should be allocated.
Prior to break, a survey was sent out to get input about priority funding areas. These thoughts and priorities captured from the survey will be leveraged during our budget conversations and in planning for the next school year. Asbury is a community school that values stakeholder input from parents, teachers, staff, and students! In this priority, it was clear that we value Asbury! One very important trend came out and that is folks love our community- response after response included comments about how people are drawn in and keep coming to Asbury because they are drawn in by the community! In addition to that, we noted comments about the importance of having a focus on SEL, academics, and high quality teachers and staff. All of these notes are important to remember as we have conversations around budget.
So, what is the budget timeline? The critical dates for this budget season are:
We welcome you to join our in-person CSC meeting occurring on 1/21 starting at 4:00 in the library at Asbury. During this meeting, we will be reviewing the Asbury budget and weighing in on where funding should be prioritized. We will be leveraging the survey results from the priority survey as we process. If you have any questions, please contact me!
In Partnership,
Jeanna Doung
Asbury Food Drive
The Student Council will be hosting a food drive to support Asbury’s Food Pantry/Backpack Program. The drive will run from Tuesday, January 21st to Friday, January 24th. (There is no school on Monday, January 20th.) Please help us by donating nutritional non-perishable food items in boxes or cans. Please no glass containers. The room with the most donations will receive a class prize! Please see the food list below to find out which items are most needed. Thank you for your support!
Items we need:
Community Circle Friday, 1/24
Community Circle will be Friday, 1/24, starting at 7:50. This will be a virtual community circle. This is a time of us to come together as a community and celebrate Asbury doing their BEST, get moving and dance! We encourage you to join us as well! Please join us using the link below.
Zoom Link –
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 860 1019 6049
Passcode: 895132
Update Emergency Contact information
Please ensure you review and update your emergency contact information through the Parent Portal or your school’s main office. Each student should have at least two emergency contacts. These individuals do not need to be family members; they can be any trusted adult known by the family. We also ask that families identify those authorized to pick up their students (including older siblings) from school if a parent or guardian cannot.
We also encourage you to take a look at and to opt out of the school’s directory by completing this form. Directory information is an exception under FERPA. Government agencies may seek directory information without a warrant or other legal justification.
Grandfriends Day
Your students cordially invite you to Asbury’s Third Annual Grandfriends Day!
February 13th, 2025
Kindergarten – Second Grade – 7:40 am-9:10 am
Third Grade – Fifth Grade- 9:10am-10:40am
Please fill out this form regarding your participation in Grandfriends Day by February 7th. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Batesmith at tillifinney_smith@dpsk12.net.
Winter Art News from Ms. Werner
Asbury News in the Air Newspaper
Message from 5th Grade:
5th Grade Asbury Community Yard Sale – Sat. 2/22 – Save the Date! This is a NEW date from the originally announced one!
Purpose: To raise funds for the 5th Grade Legacy Mural PBL Project as well as to support other activities and PBLs in 5th grade.
Date: Saturday, 2/22
Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm
Coming Soon! 5th Grade is asking for gently used or new donations for our yard sale that will be coming in the new year. More information to follow, but for now, as you are going through things over the holidays and doing a little winter cleaning, please pull aside some things that you could donate that are in good condition to the fifth graders’ yard sale. Thanks so much!
Donation Drop Off: Before or After School starting Tuesday, January 7.
Donations need to fit into a box or bag that can be carried into school. Large-sized item type donations can be brought in after school on Friday, February 21st. If you need other arrangements, please reach out to either Mr. A or Mrs. Ravel and we can work it out.
Stay tuned for more information to follow!
Thank you in advance for your support.
Mr. A – Steven_Altenburger@dpsk12.net
Ms. Baker – Jennifer_Baker@dpsk12.net
Mrs. Ravel – Amy_Ravel@dpsk12.net
Winter Ball – January 24
Register before Tuesday, January 21st at:
$5 admission Fee goes to Asbury Office funds. You can bring $5 to event or Venmo @AsburyPTSO-AsburyPTSO
If you are interested in volunteering, either fill out the google form above or email Meaghan McCabe @ Meaghanomccabe@yahoo.com
Message from Mrs. Batesmith – Talent Show Committee Members Wanted!
Mrs Batesmith is looking for a few more people to be on the Talent Show Committee for this spring’s upcoming Talent Show! Members of this committee will serve as a think tank for logistics and processes on how to improve the Talent Show. Members of this committee may also have the opportunity to serve on the audition panel if that is a direction the panel chooses to go. The time commitment on this is low, culminating with the Talent Show performance, and will involve a handful of virtual meetings and information exchange via email.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please send an email to Mrs Batesmith (tillifinney_smith@dpsk12.net) by Thursday 1/16. Thanks for your consideration!
Message from Mr Howard
On January 30, the Colorado Avalanche are coming to Asbury to do a special presentation for our students called Hockey 101 PE Takeover! In order for your student to participate, parents must sign a waiver. Click HERE to view the QR code to fill out the waiver.
Or, you can click on this link directly – https://waiver.smartwaiver.com/e/X7BeRdPwgB4eywZqEMeavZ/
For participating in this event, Asbury families can order discount Avalanche tickets. Click HERE for that QR code.
PBL Request for 5th Grade
Do any of you have any connections to shoes! We are looking to get new white sneakers (one pair for each student in their size ideally!) for a Geometry PBL that they will be working on coming soon. Please reach out to Amy_Ravel@dpsk12.net if you have any connections or ideas on how to make this dream a reality!
Asbury’s Talent Show will be on Thursday, March 20th, 2025 at 4:30pm. Keep an eye out for more information about auditions in the near future!
Mark Your Calendars: 2025-26 SchoolChoice Round 1 Dates
SchoolChoice Round 1 for the 2025-26 school year will open on Jan. 15, 2025 and close on Feb. 18, 2025. These dates will be publicly announced in Our DPS Weekly on Friday, Nov. 1
Families can apply here. Families with existing Parent Portal accounts can log in using their username and password. Families who don’t have Parent Portal accounts will set up a new account.
Message from Mr. Howard
Speed Stacking Tournament: “2025 WSSA Colorado Open” (all ages and levels) Information Flyer
I just wanted to quickly share that Speed Stacks, Inc. is hosting a cup stacking competition at Douglas County High School on Saturday, Feb. 15th, 2025 in Castle Rock, CO.
I would love to have your students participate in this event, whether they’re new to cup stacking or experienced. This competition is for students for all ages and abilities! We’ll have individual events and if they want, they can participate in relay events too. Plus, students can participate in only certain events such as 3-3-3, 3-6-3 or even the cycle – it’s not mandatory to do them all.
Note – Your students do not need their own cups! I will provide cups for students who do not have their own.
HR Updates
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