CRPS Chronicles

Dear Conover Road Primary School Families,

October is here, and we're excited to share all the fantastic events coming up during this busy and festive month. Our little game changers at CRPS are moving forward on our game path and ready for a month full of learning, respect, safety, and fun!

Week of Respect (October 5-9)

CRPS will kick off the month of October with our Week of Respect. Students will participate in activities that promote kindness, empathy, and understanding. Children will have an opportunity to participate in daily spirit days (see calendar below) as well as participate in a School Wide Meeting, "A Little Respectful Spot" that focuses on how respect looks like and feels like during the school day and on the school bus.

Fire Prevention Assemblies

Fire Prevention week takes place in October and remind our little ones that the best game rule is , "Safety first!" Our local CNFD firefighters will visit us to teach important fire safety lessons. Students in Preschool/Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten will visit the firetrucks and will learn how to stay safe and what to do in case of emergencies.

Parent-Teacher Conferences (October 26-29)

It's time to chat about your child's progress! Look out for sign-up information coming soon. Parents will be able to choose a virtual or in-person conference with your child's teacher(s). Our team looks forward to meeting with you to discuss your child's start to this academic year as well as to share the learning plan to help support your child's unique progession. Please note that we will be operating on a SHORT SESSION SCHEDULE from October 26-30. Children will exit the building at 12:45 and buses will depart at 1:00 PM.

Halloween Parade (October 30--10:00 AM)

A spooktacular Halloween Parade is just around the corner. Students will wear their costumes to school for a fun-filled morning of parading around the building. (See the letter below with complete parade information and costume guidelines.) We're looking forward to a boo-tiful event!

October is filled with great opportunities for learning and excitement about the season ahead. As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Happy Fall!

Tricia Barr, Principal and Merri Milano, Assistant Principal

It’s time to get those costumes ready so that we may celebrate our school spirit and excitement for the season as we enjoy our favorite Colts Neck tradition! The Halloween Parade will take place on Friday, October 30 at 10:00 AM. Please note that this event falls on a SHORT SESSION day of school. Therefore, children MAY NOT be signed out from school early on this date. An early dismissal would not allow children to have attained the required four hours of school to be counted as present. Any early departures would result in the child being marked ABSENT–UNEXCUSED for the day.

Read the entirety of the Halloween letter for costume guidelines and parade information.

Our little game changers at CRPS have been rolling the dice on new learning and friendship adventures. It’s time to celebrate their many start of school achievements at our Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences! Our team looks forward to sharing information about your child’s first weeks of school during our Parent-Teacher Conferences from October 26-30. These will be SHORT SESSION days of school to allow for these valuable conversations. Parents will be invited to participate in your choice of either virtual OR in-person conferences. Virtual conferences will be considered our “default” program unless a parent specifically selects the “in-person” option in the Genesis portal. Teachers will send you a link for a Google Meet using parent e-mail addresses, not student e-mail addresses.

The Genesis Parent Portal will be used by parents to schedule all Parent-Teacher Conferences, virtual OR in-person. The Parent Portal will open on Monday, October 19 at 9 a.m., and will close on Friday, October 23 at 6:00 p.m. Parents are asked to select their conference time in Genesis on a first-come, first-serve basis. If your child’s homeroom has two teachers, you will only need to schedule with one teacher as they share a conference calendar and will both be present in the Google Meet or in-person session. Additional conferences may be scheduled with Related Arts staff members and therapists. Parents may use the Genesis Parent Portal to reference and/or cancel appointments at any time.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place as follows:

Monday, October 26, 2026

Tuesday, October 27, 2026

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Friday, October 30, 2025

Our team looks forward to productive and positive conversations that will allow us to share highlights of your child’s progress to date as well as to start setting specific academic and social goals for the school year. Kindly recall that conference appointments are for adults only. Please make the necessary childcare arrangements for students and their siblings to not be part of the conversation. Teachers will have to end the Google Meet or in-person conference according to the scheduled times so that they may stay on schedule. Should you experience any technical issues, please contact Mr. Phil Capasso, via e-mail at capasso@coltsneckschools.org.

As always, the educators of the Conover Road Primary School welcome and encourage parent input. We look forward to speaking with you and supporting your child’s individual learning goals in our school.

On Wednesday, September 16, Mrs. Barr and Mrs. Milano presented the CRPS Attendance Corrective Action plan to the Colts Neck Board of Education. Thank you to all of our families who took part in our attendance survey to share insights about our attendance policies and your personal experiences getting little ones off to school.

10.3% of our school's children were marked as "Chronically Absent" during the 2024-2025 school year. Chronic Absenteeism is defined as a child missing 10%, or 18 days, of an instructional year. This number falls above the state's limit of a 10% Chronic Absenteeism rate. As a result, Conover Road Primary School has to make efforts to remind families and students that regular attendance is important to your child's success. The presentation linked below will help families understand that there are only seven approved reasons for "excused absences" in the state of NJ. Parents will note that illness and family travel or other family obligations are not considered "excused" by the NJDOE.

Parents are reminded that children are expected to be in school for the duration of each instructional day and that doctor's appointments and family travel should be scheduled at times that do not conflict with the school calendar. Also, please note that it is never our intention to give the impression that it is okay to send sick children to school. If your child is ill, please keep them home until they are well so as not to infect others. If your child will be visiting a physician, a counter note from your child's visit should be submitted to our school nurse and attendance officer, Mrs. Kelleher. While this absence is still recorded as "unexcused," it is not an absence that is counted towards truancy. All absences should be reported to our school attendance line on the day of your child's absence.

Our new school attendance procedures will include a personal phone call to each family upon the occasion of your child's 5th unexcused absence. Letters will be sent on the 5th and 10th and 15th unexcused absence, and parents will be invited to an attendance improvement meeting with our school administrators at the time of a child's 10th unexcused absence.

Attendance matters and is an important indicator of your child's academic and social success. Thanks for your anticipated cooperation and support.

Health and saftey is the name of the game here at Conover Road Primary School. The well-being of children enrolled in the Conover Road Primary School remains our utmost priority. Therefore, we are adding this important information to this newsletter to seek your assistance in maintaining a safe learning community for all students.

Students who have potentially life-threatening allergic reactions to peanuts and tree nuts are immersed in many of our school classrooms. These anaphylactic allergic reactions could occur through the mere contact with or ingestion of foods that contain even trace amounts of these ingredients. Of course, the only way to avoid these allergic reactions is to minimize, if not eliminate, exposure to these allergens. For that reason, should your child eat any food product containing nuts or nut oil prior to the start of school, please carefully monitor your child’s hand washing with soap and water, and have your child brush his/her teeth before coming to school. In addition, we ask you to share this information with your child with an emphasis on the importance of not sharing foods.

A detailed food allergy plan is in place with provisions for managing food allergies in the cafeteria and on the school bus. The situation must also be carefully monitored during daily snack times. Children eat snacks in their classrooms each day and are seated in close proximity where incidental exposure to an allergen becomes more likely. To help us maintain the safety of our food allergic students, please follow these important guidelines for daily classroom snack time:

· Snacks containing nuts or nut products may not be consumed during the daily snack time.

· Children are permitted to enjoy these items in our cafeteria during the regular lunch periods only.

· Staff members will send home permission slips in advance of any project work or special event that involves food products.

In the early days of the school year we will be introducing students to resources from FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) to empower our youngsters with tips to keep their food allergic friends safe and healthy in our school. Thank you for your cooperation and support of our efforts in maintaining the health and safety of all students.

Pomptonian Food Services is committed to providing our food allergic students with healthy meal options and providing parents with peace of mind as they guide children in selecting food products that are safe. Please review the two attached documents from Pomptonian that encourages families of food allergic children to pre-order foods purchased from our school cafeteria.

Please use this calendar to make note of the upcoming school events and school holidays for the 2026-2027 School Year!

• Monday, October 5-9, 2026--Week of Respect
• Friday, October 9, 2026--BLUE and GOLD Day
• Monday, October 12, 2026--Staff Development Day/School Closed for Students
• Tuesday-Thursday, October 13, 14,15--Preschool Trips to Carm's Farm
• Friday, October 16, 2026--Wear PINK
• Monday, October 26-Friday, October 30, 2026--Short Session Days (Conferences)
• Friday, October 30, 2026--Halloween Parade--10:00 AM

Email: barr@coltsneckschools.org
Website: coltsneckschools.org
Location: 56 Conover Road, Colts Neck, NJ, USA
Phone: (732)946-0055
Facebook: facebook.com/ConoverPrimary
Twitter: @ConoverPrimary