Asbury Thursday Folders – January 11, 2024

Posted January 11, 2024

Principal Message:

Asbury Community,

We are still seeking your input! As we start the new semester and new year, it is that time of the year that we continue teaching in this school year and start looking forward to the next school year. This includes budgeting around our priority areas. Asbury is a committed community school that values the supports for students. One of the critical parts is ensuring we have identified priority areas from our students, staff, and the community. Based on that, I wanted to ask that you take about 10 minutes to fill out this priority input survey.

In Partnership,

Jeanna Doung

What’s top of Mind?

Community Circle Link from Friday, 1/5/24

Click Here to view the recording (The first song had some technical difficulties, but it gets better after that!)

January Edition of “The Asbury Era” Newspaper created by Ms. E’s Students is out. Click HERE to check it out!

Calendar Reminder: Grandfriends Day

More details to come, but we wanted to share that Grandfriends Day is returning this year! Save the date of February 14, 2024. Be on the lookout for additional details soon!

HR Updates

We have two new positions posted:
- 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!
- Long Term Substitute Position: We are thrilled to announce that Ms. Mccoy will be going on maternity leave from April through October! With that, we have an open long term substitute position for 3rd grade literacy. If you are interested or know of someone who is interested, please reach out to Jeanna Doung!
Though we do not have any details yet, I wanted to share what we do know about the budget. Please check out our Budget Development Timeline. In this timeline, you will see when the budget will be shared with me, when we will have CSC/SLT meetings, and HR impacts to the budget timeline. In addition, for more information about the budget, please attend our next CSC, which will be hosted on January 23 from 5-6 in person at Asbury.
We are so lucky to have our share table at Asbury but sometimes they are not just not enough snacks to go around. If you could we would appreciate some shelf stable snacks to have as back ups when our share table is empty and we have hungry Eagles. Some suggestions are granola bars, apple sauce, fruit cups, crackers or graham crackers. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Mental Health Minute

Why do we use the BESS?

Why do we ask parents, teachers, and students 3rd grade and older to take time out of their busy day to complete the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) three times a year? Currently, the BESS is our main tool for gathering data on students’ mental health. We track students’ academic progress constantly through homework, exit tickets, unit tests, state assessments, etc. However, that is not the case for mental health. The BESS is a valuable tool for monitoring intervention progress, identifying students in need, and gathering data from a variety of sources. At Asbury, we make social emotional learning a priority. When we say your input is valuable, we mean it!

As a reminder, the parent rating window for Winter closes January 19th. The form can be completed in less than 5 minutes at tinyurl.com/bessparent2324.

What’s Still Relevant?

Get Notified about Snow Days and Delays

To be notified of delayed starts and snow days before heading out the door, follow this guide to make sure your phone number is listed correctly in Infor. We will send a text message to the phone number you have listed in Infor, and an email to your DPS email address in case of a delayed start or snow day.

Previously opted out of text messages? Text Y or Yes to 67587 to receive text messages again. If you would like to opt-out, reply to a district text with N, No, or Stop.

You can also check dpsk12.org and district social media channels (Facebook, X and Instagram) for information about delays and closures.

Safety at drop off and pick up

There have been some unfortunate events occurring during these times. If you are parking on Lafayette during these times please lock your car doors at all times. We have been informed by the police station that there is a group going around to schools during busy times like drop off and pick up and breaking into vehicles so please take precautions and lock your doors at all times when you are not in the vehicle and do not leave valuables visible in your car when you exit your vehicle.

During drop off and pick up please be respectful of our neighbors when parking and do not block driveways even if you think that it is for a short period of time. We want to be respectful of our neighbors here at Asbury.

Outdoor Recess on Snowy Days

As a reminder, If students have boots, they are welcome to play in the field or on the playground unless it is icy- so send students with boots. If you need boots, we have a few extra pairs students can wear. Now that the weather is changing please send students with coats, gloves as we try to have outdoor recess as much as possible.

Bell Time Results

We will keep the same bell time from this year into next year. As with this year, we will continue to have opportunities to give input and shift our bell times based on what works best for our community. This year, teachers and parents weighed in on what start times work best for them and the large majority (80%) of those that took the survey indicated that it works best to keep a 7:40 start time.

Mark Your Calendars: SchoolChoice Round 1 Dates

SchoolChoice Round 1 for the 2024-25 school year will open on Jan. 11, 2024 and close on Feb. 12, 2024. If you know of any kindergarten families or new families, they can make Asbury their home schools!

The DPS SchoolChoice application and waitlist site has changed. Families interested in coming to Asury can apply here. Families with existing Parent Portal accounts can log in using their username and password and families who do not have Parent Portal accounts will set up a new account.

What’s new from PTSO?

DU Gymnastics Community Ticketing! This is another great opportunity to see some of the greatest college athletes in action with your friends in the Asbury community!
- Sunday, February 11, 2024; 1:45 pm
- Tickets are now on sale here.
- A portion of proceeds comes back to Asbury!
- Information Flyer
We’re in the midst of School Choice:! Show your support for Asbury and let the world (and your neighbors) know how much you love this wonderful school! Buy a yard sign (or two!).
- Signs are available for $10 in the office
- OR email asbury.ptso@gmail.com and we’ll deliver and set one up for you 👍
Another Delicious Dine-Out: mark your calendars for an ALL DAY dineout at Birdcall on Evans
- January 18th
- Use code AE0118.
February Forecast? Sunny with a chance to be involved!
- Direct Give is coming. This is our only major fundraiser throughout the year and it provides our small school with the resources needed to provide all the wonderful things we have at Asbury. Stay tuned for more information.
- Grand Friends day will be the same day as all the valentines day fun, so make sure to invite your grand friends!

SPIRIT GEAR! Show off your school pride this Friday, and every Friday, by wearing your Asbury Spirit gear!
DU Gymnastics camps: Planning your summer of fun?
- Check out the DU Melissa Kutcher Denver Gymnastics camp
- https://campscui.active.com/orgs/MelissaKutcherGymnasticsCampLLC?orglink=camps-registration