Thursday Folders – September 8, 2022

Posted September 8, 2022

Principal Message:

Eagle Families!

We are already well into week 3 of school! We have spent time building rituals and routines and have now started engaging in math, literacy and PBL projects. This year, our priority areas are in PBL and inclusion with an emphasis on equity, social emotional learning and acceleration. To provide a little more information, please see a summary of our goals below:

PBL: Asbury students will have meaningful, engaging and enriching classroom experiences that set them up academically, socially, and emotionally to accelerate their learning. We will do this by planning for and implementing the following:
- Creating school and classroom environments where students feel a sense of belonging (SEL)
- Planning for and implementing grade-level appropriate content that is academically challenging (through high quality materials and PBL)
- Providing strong, engaging instruction where students do most of the thinking in the lesson
- Ensuring we hold high expectations for students and believing that all students can meet-grade level standards.
Inclusion: Asbury will create a safe and inclusive environment for all its students, with emphasis on our most marginalized population, including Special Education. We will maximize and prioritize student’s time in general education and plan for purposeful support both in and out of the classroom and foster a sense of belonging and honoring the individual. We will do this by:
- Providing a welcoming, happy, safe, and supportive learning environment in which everyone is equal and all achievements are celebrated.
- Writing and implementing high quality IEPs that meet the needs of students in an equitable way
- Having the educators (teachers and paraprofessionals) engage in professional development to build knowledge about these practices
- Ensuring collaboration between Special Educators, paras and Gen Education teachers, with time built into our schedule to ensure this is prioritized (as well as between paras and GenEd teachers.)

Both the PBL and Inclusion priority areas are centered around our Asbury vision, which is:

Vision: We are a diverse, vibrant community of inquisitive and engaged learners. We are committed to excellence and equity to foster self-directed, respectful, and empowered life-long learners.

We will continue to focus on these areas throughout this year.

In Partnership,

Jeanna Doung

Principal Notes:

As a reminder Thursday, 9/8 is an early release day due to heat. We will release school today at noon. We understand that this can be a challenge for scheduling and if you need any support, we are happy to support in any way we can. Please reach out to your teacher or the office.

Don’t forget to fill out this google form after reading the Family Handbook.

Know someone who would like to work at Asbury? Here are the open positions. If you or anyone you know is interested, have them reach out to Jeanna Doung:
1st grade Math Teacher Long Term Sub Position

Crossing Guard at Asbury: We are looking for a crossing guard at Asbury. This is a paid position, so if you are interested in learning more about this, reach out to Jeanna!
1:1 Special Education Paraprofessional Position for a Kindergarten Student
1:1 Special Education Paraprofessional Position for a 2nd grade Student

Discovery Link AM Program: Great News- Asbury is looking to bring back the Discovery Link AM program. Before we do that, we are looking for amazing individuals to work the am program. Click here to submit an application today!

PTSO meetings will be the first Tuesday of every month from 6:00-7:00pm. Our next meeting will be VIRTUAL on Tuesday, October 4th.

Upcoming CSC Meeting: The CSC or the Collaborative School Committee meeting is a diverse group of stakeholders that include community members, teachers, staff and parents. We come together monthly to solve different issues, including budget, positions, and curriculum. Our first monthly CSC meeting is from 5-6 on September 6 in the Library.
- Looking for community/local business to join CSC: If you or someone you know would be interested in supporting Asbury through sitting on CSC, please contact Jeanna Doung and let her know!

Save the Date: Carnival is back and in person and will be on Friday, Sept. 23rd!

Carnival tickets can be purchased here, no-cost tickets are available to any family who needs them. Please reach out to Ms. Baca with any questions!

We need volunteers for the Carnival! Please see what you can help with here.

Bus Stop Information Now Available in Parent Portal: If families reach out about their student’s bus stop information, please direct them to the Parent Portal. Please use this link that has instructions on how to find bus stop locations and pick up/drop off times.

Message on COVID Decision Tree: With the new school year comes a new COVID Decision Tree and I wanted to send it to you all so you know the current protocol that DPS is using. The main takeaways I want to highlight:

If a student tests positive, they cannot return to school until at least 5 days have passed since symptom onset or the date of the positive test. Upon returning they should continue to wear a mask for 5 days.
New this year is if there is a household exposure: Quarantines are no longer recommended for anyone exposed regardless of vaccination status, but should continue to mask around others for 10 days.

The nursing office is very happy to see maskless smiles this year, but let’s continue to keep our community safe and wear a mask if we have mild symptoms or stay home when feeling sick. As always, feel free to reach out with questions or concerns.

Message from the Health Office on Medications, Vaccines, and other Health Info: If your child requires medication at school, please bring the required paperwork and unexpired medications to the health office as soon as possible. Qualified staff members will be available to receive medications during school hours beginning 8/17. Please note that school staff cannot administer medication at school without appropriate documentation signed by both parent and physician (this includes over the counter meds, lotions, etc). Specific medication forms can be found here: Medication Forms
- Once complete these can be emailed to the school nurse or faxed to (720)424-9775

If your child has new/specific health care needs, please make the school aware of these prior to the beginning of the school year.
Colorado State law requires that children be fully vaccinated to attend school. If necessary, exemption forms for medical and nonmedical purposes can here.
- Denver School Based Health Centers provide immunizations to all DPS students at no cost. Feel free to reach out to the nurse with any additional questions or concerns.
If your student does not have a health care provider, please contact our school nurse or front office for help with finding available resources.

Questions? Contact Emma Green (Nurse): emma_green@dpsk12.net-Safety- kiss and go expectations

BEST Awards (1st two weeks) Video

PTSO Information:

PTSO is the Parent, Teacher, Student Organization. It is a partnership between the school, families and the community.

Our main goals: Build Community, Support Teachers/Staff and Fundraise!

Thank you to all the parents that have joined the PTSO for the 2022-23 school year. Special thanks to those who attended our first meeting! If you have yet to join, please do so here. It is $15 per member for the academic year. You can pay via Venmo @AsburyPTSO-AsburyPTSO, cash or check. **Financial assistance available. Please email asbury.PTSO@gmail.com if you would like more information regarding scholarships.

Please remember to sign up to volunteer at the Carnival on Sept. 23rd!

You can buy tickets here – please note that EVERYONE is welcome! No-cost tickets are available to any family who needs them.

We were recently asked “what is the benefit of being on PTSO?” Well…we are GLAD you asked!

1) You receive email information regarding upcoming meetings, events, volunteer opportunities.

2) You attend PTSO meetings once per month to learn about our school, help make decisions and network with other parents, teachers and Asbury staff. (Free food and childcare is provided)

3) You have the ability to vote on important PTSO decisions for our school.

4) You can be informed and serve as a champion for Asbury when it comes time to state and local education issues.

5) It’s a great resume builder (well…maybe not…) but it’s FUN and your participation adds so much VALUE to our school and community!

Another Question we received: What else can we do to help out the school??

No-Brainer Fundraisers – FYI: Asbury Website has all the info you need! Dine Out Events will be updated soon!

Amazon Smile – now on the mobile app too!
Grocery Cards – King Soopers & Safeway
Store Give-Back Programs – American Furniture Warehouse
Community Dine Out nights/days (Sweet Cow today!)
Company match donations – always worth it to inquire with your place of work about this!

Don’t forget to fill out the volunteer interest form to tell us where and with you you would like to be connected.

Interested in becoming a business sponsor? Contact Kelly Smith at ksmith@studioshoparchitects.com

Gather your friends, neighbors and teammates and join us for the last Rapids home game! Buy your tickets HERE!

Asbury has a community assistance fund and backpack program to help those families in our community who could use a little over the weekends with food. On Fridays families are provided a backpack of food at no cost. If you would like to become part of the program please apply HERE!

For more information, any questions, ideas concerns, etc. please reach out to Asbury.PTSO@gmail.com

We appreciate you!

Weekly Flyers:

September 27 – Camp at Lincoln Elementary

Letter about camp relocation from Asbury to Lincoln

Yoga with Ms. Werner – Register here

Sticky Fingers (healthy cooking)

Creative Dance – Hip Hop (NEW!)

Creative Dance – Tumbling (NEW!)

KidStage (theater)

Young Rembrandts

Play-Well (Legos)