Asbury Thursday Folders – February 15, 2024

Posted February 15, 2024

Principal Message:

Asbury Community,

As you know, it has been a tough few weeks with budget. We found out a couple weeks ago that we had a deficit in our budget and needed additional supports to close the gap in our budget. We started with around $300,000 in deficit and moved forward with two cuts- one to our health tech office and the other to our intervention support. These cuts were made last year and we received budget for one year to keep these positions. This year, with the budget ending, we needed to move forward with cutting these positions. With these cuts, we still needed around $200,000 to ensure we could keep the additional current staff in our building. In order to do that, we went to PTSO to ask for an additional $100,000 in funds. PTSO voted and graciously approved increasing their give to support Asbury from $150,000 to $250,000 total. Even with these additional funds, we still had an additional $100,000 in deficits to solve for. As in years previous, we put in a budget assistance ask with DPS. We asked for the remaining $100,000 in deficit to ensure we didn’t have any additional cuts. We have been waiting the past week to hear from the district and we were approved for this ask. Though we are able to zero out our balance with the budget for this year, we are still reliant on our amazing community to give through Direct Give and other fundraisers to support us in raising these funds that go directly to our school- specifically to staff that supports our students.

In Partnership,

Jeanna Doung

What’s top of Mind?

Grandfriends’ Day Update

THANK YOU to the entire Asbury community for making Grandfriends’ Day such an amazing success! This day would not have been possible without such a supportive community, loving Grandfriends, excited kiddos, and all the helping hands and hearts of our incredible PTSO and staff. It was such a great day and we look forward to welcoming Grandfriends’ Day back again next year!

Reminder: No School Tomorrow or Monday

As a reminder, we do not have school on Friday, February 16. Teachers have an inservice day in which we come together and plan, learn and more deeply prepare for students. This is a day that Asbury students are not in school. Monday is President’s Day and there is no school. We will see everyone Tuesday.

Lost and Found

Our lost and found will be donated at the end of the day tomorrow. If you know you recognize anything please call Ms. Baca in the office before 4:00 pm tomorrow otherwise it will be donated.

Talent Show Update from Mrs. Batesmith

Mrs. Batesmith sent a Deet earlier this week detailing the Talent Show process this year. If your student is preparing a talent show audition, please fill out this form before March 1st. (audition day!) Look forward to attending the Talent Show on March 21st, 2024!

If you have any questions or need more information, please direct all communication to Mrs Batesmith at tillifinney_smith@dpsk12.net.

Spring Running Club

The spring session for running club will run from Thursday, March 7th-Thursday, May 2nd. We will meet on the south steps at 2:40 and students can be picked up here at 3:30. Please send a snack for your child and appropriate running shoes. We try to run outside every time, so please dress accordingly.

The cost is $40 which can be paid by cash or venmo to Mrs. Magoffin: Kimberly-Magoffin.

Please email Mrs. Magoffin to register your child. Kimberly_Magoffin@dpsk12.net

Thank you,

Mrs. Magoffin

Ms. Batesmith

Ms. McCoy

4th Grade Update

We are thrilled to announce that Ms. McCabe will be stepping into the role as 4th grade Long Term Substitute! Ms. McCabe has been a huge support for staff and students over the years at Asbury and we are thrilled to have her join us in the 4th grade math classroom for the next 5 weeks until Ms. Van Sant returns. If you see her, please congratulate Meaghan!

Parent/Guardian Request from the Kindergarten Classes:

We are working on a Careers PBL and we are learning about what characteristics and interests would be helpful to have for different careers in the future. We are bringing in guest speakers to talk to the classes about their careers. It has been a lot of fun! We are looking for the following guest speakers to speak in person or via Zoom:

veterinarian – whole group if possible. **Bonus points if they work with exotic animals

artist/fashion designer – whole group

paleontologist (small group/zoom)

professional baker or bakery owner (small group/zoom)

Please reach out to Kimberly_Magoffin@dpsk12.net and Jenna_Nelson@dpsk12.net if you are interested or know someone who might be interested! We are hoping to have these guest speakers sometime within the next two weeks if possible!

A Message from Skate City

As a token of our appreciation for your help and efforts coordinating and promoting Skate City events throughout the school year, we wanted to offer your students and parents FREE membership to the Skate City Family Freebies Club! If you don’t mind forwarding over the information below (attached) to your students and families, they can go directly to our new website or scan the QR code in the flyer (see link below) and enter the appropriate promo code to enjoy the amazing perks of our Family Freebies Club Membership. We currently have over 6000 families in our FFC and the free year of membership has a value of $5 for each guest.

Skate City Information Flyers:

Page One

Page Two

Page Three

Pictures of Items in Lost and Found – Click HERE to view the items!!! – All items will be donated by the end of the day tomorrow (Friday, 2/16)

Mental Health Minute

Social Media and Technology Safety

When was the last time you had a conversation with your child about using social media responsibly? Have you reviewed your family’s expectations and rules about technology? Per the American Psychological Association (APA), it is critical that we focus on how students use social media and what kind of content they are viewing. Unsupervised social media use is more likely to expose children to potentially harmful content and features of social media.

Know that developing brains are especially vulnerable to influence.
- Set parental controls on the type of content
- Set screen time limits to ensure adequate sleep
Monitor and discuss your child’s social media use.
- Limiting chat functions, especially among strangers.
- Research the games your child plays before allowing access.
- Allow social media use only when children are at home so that parents can keep a closer eye on their online activities.
Watch for problematic social media use. Your child’s social media use might be causing problems if:
- It interferes with their daily routines and commitments, such as school, friendships, and extracurricular activities.
- They often choose social media over in-person social interactions.
- It prevents them from getting at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
- They lie or use deceptive behavior to spend time online.
Model appropriate social media use
- Avoid using social media when at the dinner table or engaging in family time
- Discuss how and why you use social media with your children.
- Set limits for social media use for yourselves and encourage your children to follow your example

What’s Still Relevant?

HR Updates

Here are the open positions at Asbury:
- 1 on 1 Para Position: We have a 1-1 paraprofessional position for a 3rd grade student in our Special Education program. If you are interested or know of anyone who is interested, please contact Jeanna Doung!

What’s new from PTSO?

Direct Give

Asbury is a neighborhood gem, and we want to support the things that make it so special!
All this month we’ll be sharing information, games, and opportunities to support this school, stay tuned and get involved!
Donate here!

Read-A-Thon volunteering

Read a thon is a super fun, week long celebration of reading, March 2-8, and we need YOUR help!
Take a look at this Sign Up Genius and sign up for a slot that looks good to you!

University of Denver Lacrosse!- Another great opportunity to spend time with some great Asbury Families, watch an exciting game, and support Asbury!

Saturday 4/13/24.
Here is the link to buy tickets: https://fevo.me/asbury-denverpioneers2324.
Information Flyer

Spring Wing – save the date!

This event is a SUPER fun way to get to know other amazing Asbury parents (adults only) and support our school
Mark your calendars for Friday, May 3, 2024. Fun. Is. Coming.