August 2025

Dear CES Families,

We are so excited to welcome our Caring Cardinals back to Colchester Elementary School! We hope that everyone enjoyed a relaxing summer filled with joy, adventure, and memories to last a lifetime.  We are thankful to have Mrs. Kelly Bahre join our administrative team as our assistant principal.   

We are thrilled to kick off the new school year with our annual Meet and Greet event on Monday, August 25th from 3:00–4:00 p.m. This special event gives your child the opportunity to meet their new teacher and explore their classroom before the first day of school. We invite families to stop by the cafeteria for a Popsicle Social hosted by our amazing PTO, and we welcome everyone to enjoy time together on the playground following your classroom visit.

At the Meet and Greet, you will receive your child’s transportation tag. Please carefully review the information printed on the tag and notify the school immediately if any corrections are needed. This tag must be securely attached to your child’s backpack on the first day of school and throughout the month of September. These tags help our staff and bus drivers ensure students arrive safely at their correct destinations and find their way around the building with ease.  M&J has changed many of the bus routes and you may notice that your child has a new bus number.  

The first day of school for students is Thursday, August 28th. School hours for Kindergarten through Grade 2 are 8:35 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with drop-off beginning promptly at 8:20 a.m.

Preschool hours are as follows:

AM Session: 8:35–11:05 a.m.
PM Session: 12:40–3:10 p.m.

Lunch and recess times are as follows:

• Kindergarten:  11:00-12:00 (Half the classes will have lunch first and half will have recess.  Each lasts 30 minutes.)

• First Grade:  12:00-12:30 Lunch and 12:30-1:00 Recess

• Second Grade:  12:00-12:30 Recess and 12:30-1:00 Lunch

Transportation routes will be published in local newspapers during August. If you have any concerns about the routes, please feel free to contact M&J Bus Company at (860) 537-2622 or our main office at (860) 537-0717.  

For information about CES policies, schedules, and upcoming events, we encourage you to visit our school website at www.colchesterct.org. The CES Handbook is available online, and we use ParentSquare for all school-to-home communication. If you haven’t already signed up for ParentSquare, we highly recommend you do so to stay informed throughout the year.

During the school year, our office is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please don’t hesitate to stop in or reach out to us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the upcoming school year.

We are looking forward to an exciting year filled with growth, discovery, and learning. Thank you for being a part of our Caring Cardinal community—we can’t wait to see you soon!

Warm regards,

Judy O’Meara          Kelly Bahre

  Principal              Assistant Principal