Dear West Belmar Families,

November is a time to reflect on the academic progress that your child has made this new school year.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held on the 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th for grades K-5. There will be a 1:05 PM dismissal on these days. The night conferences will be held on Tuesday the 5th from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. At the conferences you will have the opportunity to sit with your child’s teacher and discuss the academic process your child has made. There are no report cards distributed for grade K-3 during the first marking period. The standard-based report card will be distributed at the end of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th for grades K-3. Grades 4 & 5 will be transitioning to a traditional grading system for reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. The 4th & 5th grade report cards will be posted on November 11th at 3:00 pm in the Genesis Parent Portal. Please make sure your Genesis Parent Portal is up to date.

At the conference, keep an open mind. Remember that you and your child’s teacher are a team and want to help your son or daughter succeed. Your goal is to work for cooperation between you and the teacher. Here are a few more helpful hints: 1. Ask to see your child’s work. 2. Ask the teacher to explain anything you don’t understand. Every profession has its own terminology which can be hard to understand. 3. Sum up what has been said at the conference. Make sure both you and the teacher agree on any decisions you have made about your child. Finally, stay in touch with your child’s teacher throughout the school year.

West Belmar School will be closed on the 7th and 8th of the month for the annual NJEA Teachers Convention held in Atlantic City. Educators from across the state will attend these conferences to obtain information on the most current educational topics. For our teachers they will bring the information back to our school to continue to build a tradition of excellence.

The end of the month will be the celebration of Thanksgiving. The kindergartners and 1st graders celebrate their annual Thanksgiving Feast on November 27th. The students will prepare for the feast by studying the early settlers of the pilgrims and Indians. They will read and write about stories and make costumes for their special feast!

This is a time of year for all of us to think of the many things we are thankful for.