Centus Schools Annual Luncheon

We would like to cordially invite you to our Annual Luncheon, which will be held on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, located at 51 Grape Street in Denver, CO.

Join us as a Sponsor and Champion for hopeful and healthy living today!

The mental health crisis affecting the well-being of students and faculty in Colorado schools, both public and private, is widely acknowledged. Susan’s School Counseling Program at Centus provides effective one-on-one counseling to students enrolled in nine local private and public schools in Denver. We address the mental health needs of their families, care-givers and faculty, reaching over 2,500 individuals annually.

We hope that you will consider joining us for this important event. Your attendance and support will help us continue to provide vital mental health counseling services to students in our community.

Become An Event Sponsor
Make a gift in celebration of Susan Shamos

Sponsorship

Join our lead sponsors, Susan and Jeremy Shamos, Sharon and Lanny Martin and CAPTRUST, and become a champion for hopeful and healthy living today!

For questions about making your sponsorship or gift commitment, please contact Greg Movesian at gmovesian@centus.org or (303) 506-2204.

About Centus Counseling

Founded in 2010, the Centus School Counseling Program places experienced counselors & social workers in schools that otherwise would not have access to high-quality mental health services for students.

Our program promotes student development & achievement, while also equipping parents & teachers with knowledge and skills that help students thrive both in and out of the classroom.

After 11 years of creating and operating this program, our Program Founder, Dr. Susan Shamos passed the torch to a new generation. In honor of her the name of the program was changed to “Susan’s School Counseling: A Centus Program.”

The Centus School Counseling Program is focused on preparing young people to live vital, healthy lives! It is an extension of Centus Counseling, Consulting & Education – a Denver-based, non-profit that provides top-tier mental health & wellness services.

Centus Counseling provides the following services:

  • In-school counseling for individual students
  • In-school counseling for groups of students
  • Workshops & presentations for parents
  • Workshops & presentations for school staff 

Watch this video & learn about how Centus Counseling has helped children blossom.

Learn more about our Director Emeritus, Dr. Susan Shamos, and her vision for Susan’s School Counseling: A Centus Program

Our Schools

The Centus School Counseling program currently serves nine Denver schools. Each school provides exceptional education to high-need students but does not have the resources to provide counseling and supportive services without Centus engagement, despite a growing need. Students, teachers & parents regularly work with a dedicated school counselor and child psychologist to uncover & address developmental and learning challenges, family disruption, discipline issues, and more.

Escuela de Guadalupe Elementary

660 Julian St. Denver, CO 80204

A dual-language K-8 school, Escuela teaches classes in both Spanish & English. Students are predominantly Latino, with 57% of students qualifying for free or reduced price lunch and 95% receiving some form of scholarship assistance. More than half of the students enter as native Spanish speakers. Despite the stress of poverty & language, barriers, more than 90% of the school’s alumni have graduated from high school or are on track to do so.

St. Elizabeth’s School

2350 N. Gaylord St. Denver, CO 80205

An intentionally inclusive K-8 Episcopal school, St. Elizabeth’s offers a sliding scale tuition system to make world-class education accessible to any child. Forty percent of St. Elizabeth’s students are from very low income families, and an additional forty percent are from lower-middle-income families.

Rocky Mountain Prep, Creekside Campus

7808 Cherry Creek Drive South, # 3-300, Denver, CO 80231

Rocky Mountain Prep is a Denver Public School Charter network, with elementary schools that serve low-income families and which emphasize academic achievement. Creekside is the network’s flagship school, and it serves more than 600 students (pre-K through 5th grade). The students are predominately African-American and Hispanic, and come from low-income families. More than 50% are learning English as a second language. Centus Counseling is proud to provide supplemental mental health services that help generate the best possible outcomes for these students.

Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment

1151 Newport St., Denver, CO 80220

Montclair is an ECE to grade 5 Innovation School in east Denver. Its education program is based on personalized learning practices with a strong emphasis on math, literacy, art music and tech. Part of Denver Public Schools, Montclair enrolls 400 students, 80% of which are minority and 75% are from lower income families. Montclair is a member of the Northeast Innovation Zone which consists of six innovation schools, grades ECE-12, that are governed by a nonprofit board, not district administrators.

McAuliffe Manual Middle School

1700 E. 28th Ave., Denver, COO 80205

McAuliffe Manual Middle School (6-8) is modeled after the distinguished McAuliffe International School in Park Hill. It is an International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate school that offers students a challenging, well-rounded liberal arts education that is based on learner-centered classrooms, character education and international-mindedness.  Located in northeast Denver, McAuliffe Manual has an enrollment of 310 students, 79% minority, 70% lower income. McAuliffe Manual is in the Northeast Innovation Zone, which has six schools that pool resources so they can operate in an entrepreneurial manner.

Manual High School

1700 E 28th Ave, Denver, CO 80205

Manual High School, serves a population similar to Manual McAuliffe Middle School’s. The high school joined us as a school partner in 2022.

Newlon Elementary School

361 Vrain St, Denver CO 80219

Newlon is a dual-language elementary school nestled in the West Barnum neighborhood of Denver, serving students from ECE through 5th grade. The school has a long history in this community, celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2020. Many of the students are second language learners and Newlon is committed to supporting their English acquisition with focused instruction that includes language development on a daily basis. Newlon has a broad team of supportive staff members with whom Centus is privileged to engage to add to the vital resources used to address the social/emotional, academic, and mental health needs of the student population served.

Denver Jewish Day School

2450 S. Wabash St. Denver, CO 80231

The Denver Jewish Day School (DJDS) has been educating the area’s Jewish youth since 1975. DJDS is an independent, Jewish community day school with approximately 335 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Financial aid is available to those who qualify. DJDS is committed to educating the whole Jewish child, inspiring them to grow intellectually, socially, spiritually, and ethically in a student-centered, challenging, and nurturing environment. DJDS’s pluralistic Jewish community day school prepares and inspires Jewish students through an extraordinary secular and Judaic education to live purposefully, act ethically, and thrive in the world. The Devri Chaim is woven into the curriculum, which includes purpose, kindness, community, integrity, and curiosity. Centus Counseling is proud to provide supplemental mental health services to help support the holistic development and support of DJDS students and faculty.

Rocky Mountain Prep, Fletcher Campus, Aurora

10455 East 25th Avenue Aurora, CO 80010

Rocky Mountain Prep Fletcher is a neighborhood charter school in Northwest Aurora serving PreK-5th Grade students. RMP Fletcher, believes that school is more than just a place for your child to learn academics. Through a rigorous education and a loving environment, the staff work to support Fletcher students in growing academically, blossoming socially and emotionally, exploring different interests (such as art, science, music, dance, and PE), and building life-long skills.

Meet The Counseling Team

Denver Mental Health Counselors Assist Traumatized Children Evacuated from Israel

Denver Mental Health Counselors

Susan’s School Counseling is providing crisis counseling at the Denver Jewish Day School (DJDS) to help seventeen children as young as four years old who have been evacuated to Denver from Israel because of the war with Hamas. They are being cared for by mental health counselors Centus provides to school partners like DJDS to help students experiencing stress and trauma. Centus is assisting students at DJDS by sharing in supporting the newly arrived students, and the faculty, staff and parents who have stepped up to care for the newcomers. 

In response to the needs at DJDS, Centus has increased its staff from two to three counselors who provide 56 hours of counseling per week to help students cope with both direct and indirect trauma resulting from the war. Three other schools have made requests for additional counseling support for students because of generally increased levels of stress and behavioral issues resulting largely from the pandemic and post-pandemic traumas. Timely care and counseling can help alleviate trauma and emotional challenges, and significantly impact a young person’s life trajectory. 

Staff and increased hours have been added to Denver Public Schools’ Rocky Mountain Prep – Creekside and Manual High School (MHS), and the RMP – Fletcher campus in Aurora. Students at these schools are from families who speak more than 20 primary languages other than English. 

Centus welcomes financial help to support these students during this crisis. The mission of Centus for all ages remains the promotion of hope, healing and vital living! 

Donors may note their gift is for Centus counseling at Denver Jewish Day School, or for school counseling program expansion. 

Centus is asking people from all spiritual paths to pray for peace in our world and in the lives of these precious young people and their families.

Our Testimonials

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On Our Administration

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On Our Teachers

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From Our Parents

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From Our Students

Our Key Community Sponsors and Donors

We are grateful to these Sponsors and Donors who supported Susan’s School Counseling Program in Fiscal Year 2022-2023 through program grants and the annual School Counseling Luncheon.  Please refer to the Honor Roll on the Centus website at www.centus.org for a complete list of donors to this and all other programs.

Program Grants

$60,000

The Shamos Family Foundation

$40,000

The Anschutz Foundation: for the Post-Graduate Residency Program providing School Counselors

$12,500

The Melvin and Elaine Wolf Foundation

$10,000

MDC Richmond American Homes Foundation

The Virginia W. Hill Foundation

UMB Charitable Foundation

 

School Counseling Luncheon Sponsors

Lead Sponsors

Sharon and Lanny Martin

Jeremy and Susan Shamos/The HRP Foundation

The CAPTRUST Community Foundation

An Anonymous Donor

Event Sponsors

Judy and Jack Pottle

Empowerment Sponsors

Ann Corrigan and Kent Rice/ The Denver Foundation Corrigan Fund

Hope Sponsors 

Marsha Breit

Joy Dinsdale and Merrill Shields

Elisabeth and Peter Jacobson

Gregory Movesian and Jack Finlaw

Geoffrey Shamos and Genery Booster

Suellen and Travis White

Sara and Kaakpema “KP” Yelpaala

Community Partners

Kelly Arora, Ph.D.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Bretz and Brad Hoffner

UMB

Contact Centus Counseling

7887 East Belleview Avenue, Suite 1100, Denver, CO 80111

303-639-5240

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