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Hello Stony Brook!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our seventh week of school… time certainly flies when you're having fun!

Our students are doing a wonderful job demonstrating our theme for the month, Respect! Throughout the building, students are also busy earning Sea Stars! Individual students and even entire classrooms earn Sea Stars when they are "caught" demonstrating our Stony Brook expectations: Be Kind, Be Safe, and Do Your Best! As the Sea Stars add up, classrooms earn special celebrations, often a favorite among our students—extra recess!

Many classrooms also have their own creative ways of recognizing positive behavior, such as collecting pom-poms or marbles in a jar. When students reach their classroom goal, they celebrate with something fun like Pajama Day, Stuffy Day, Fort Day, or sometimes all three!

There is important research behind these practices, particularly for our youngest learners. Research on positive reinforcement and schoolwide positive behavioral supports shows that explicitly teaching expectations, recognizing positive choices, and providing consistent encouragement can improve student behavior, classroom engagement, and the overall school climate. For children in kindergarten through second grade, immediate, specific recognition helps them understand exactly what they are doing well and encourages them to repeat those behaviors. When students work together toward a classroom goal, they are also learning valuable lessons about teamwork, responsibility, and celebrating one another's successes.

Of course, positive reinforcement is about much more than earning a reward. Our ultimate goal is to help children develop the internal motivation to make good choices, demonstrate kindness, and take pride in doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. We will always look for opportunities to recognize the positive, teach the expected behaviors, and celebrate growth. Our students respond so beautifully to this encouragement, and it is a joy to watch them grow academically, socially, and emotionally.

To further reinforce our theme of Respect, we are excited to welcome an all-school assembly on Wednesday morning called Invisible Differences. This special opportunity will help our students continue learning about empathy, understanding, and respecting the differences that make each of us unique. Please see the details below to learn more about this wonderful program. We have also included a link with ideas for continuing these important conversations and learning experiences at home!

A Reminder About Parent-Teacher Conferences and Early Release

Don't forget that Friday is an early release day! Students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m. to accommodate afternoon parent-teacher conferences.

Teachers will be holding conferences on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. These meetings are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child's progress, discuss their growth, and strengthen the home-school partnership. If you have not yet scheduled a conference, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and partnership in making Stony Brook such a positive place for our children to learn and grow!

Kindly,

Mrs. Kasper

As part of our ongoing commitment to school safety, Stony Brook Elementary has recently upgraded its security system with new and improved exterior cameras that provide coverage around the entire building. These cameras are also connected directly to the Brewster Police Department, providing an additional layer of security and supporting a coordinated response should an emergency arise. We are grateful for our continued partnership with the Brewster Police Department as we work together to maintain a safe and secure learning environment for our students and staff.

I am incredibly proud of our students and staff for the way they handled last week's school safety drill. Our teachers prepared students in a thoughtful, age-appropriate manner, helping them understand the importance of listening to trusted adults and following safety procedures while continuing to feel safe and supported.

While it is unfortunate that we need to practice these procedures with our youngest learners, I am confident that taking the time to prepare makes our school community safer. Our students did a wonderful job, and our staff demonstrated their commitment to keeping every child safe. As with any drill, we also identified opportunities to strengthen our procedures, which is exactly why we practice. The safety and well-being of our students will always be our highest priority.

Details coming but MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

What: STEM Night

(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)

When: 11/4/26

Where: At Eddy Elementary

2026-27 Enrichment Programs​

Winter Elements

Holiday Gifts

Fashion​​

Spring Elements

Spring Karate

The Art of Collage

Celebrating Neurodiversity at Stony Brook

Wednesday our students will participate in an interactive assembly on neurodiversity, led by Katy Boucher from The Accord School in Norwell.

To honor the legacy of her parents and introduce Kit and Jerry’s Foundation for Good to the community, Katy Boucher is offering her student assembly, "Invisible Differences" (K-2) pro-bono during the 2026-27 school year.

Program for Grades K–2: Invisible Differences

● Topic Focus: Being a curious, caring classmate; invisible differences; superpower senses.

● Length: 30-minute assembly program

● Key Takeaways: Understanding that people are different in many visible and invisible ways. Using

curiosity and kindness to connect with peers.

Families can learn more about Katy’s assembly by exploring her website . After the assembly, they can keep the conversation going at home with this quick online guide for families.

21: Neuro-Diversity All-School Assembly (Invisible Differences0

22: PreK-5 Evening Conferences

23: Early Dismissal 11:00 AM

23: PreK-5 Afternoon Conferences

November

4: Monthly All-School Assembly (Celebrate Respect and introduce Flexible Thinking)

4: Brewster Schools STEM Night @ Eddy (All PREK-5 students and families welcome)

5: Picture Retake

11: No School (Veteran's Day)

16: Brewster Town Meeting @ Stony Brook

25-27: No School (Thanksgiving Break)

In no particular order

• All students NOT going on a bus must be picked up in the Car Pool area. If you are picking up your child at the end of the day you have TWO options:

1. Drive through the Car Pool line, or
2. Walk to school or park car and retrieve your child at the Car Pool area. Please do not walk into bus area to pick up your child from the front of school. This includes those picking up siblings of Pre-Schoolers. We thank you for your cooperation with this.

• Please remember to drive slowly when entering the school zone and parking lot areas
• If you are dropping off your child at Car Pool and it is after 7:45, you MUST walk your child into the building. The adults at Car Pool after 7:45 are Pre-School staff members, not Stony Brook. Pre-School teachers are not responsible for K-2 students entering school late. Students must be signed in as tardy if it is after 7:45.

This is a comprehensive guide to everything STONY BROOK! Once in the document, you can click on any Table of Contents category to be directed right to that section

• Learn more about the Nauset App: https://www.nausetschools.org/page/mobile-app-and-rooms

• Download on Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nauset-public-schools/id6503474240

• Download on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apptegy.nauset&hl=en_US

I create a Morning Message video each morning to avoid interrupting classrooms using the PA system. I like to include fun birthday greetings to students in these videos. Basically, you email me (Kasperc@nausetschools.org) a front facing picture of your pet a few days before your child's birthday and I will include a similar greeting in the Morning Message. Here is a sample video.

Don't worry if you don't have a pet (or forget), I have plenty of animal photos to use!

• Technology and Acceptable Use Agreement: All students must have a signed District Technology agreement to utilize district devices. Please review HERE.
• Nauset School District Policies and Handbook HERE
• School Arrival: Students may arrive at school at 7:25am. Breakfast is available to all students. Students will also be assigned to one of 2 locations per week (Gym and Playground) until the first bell rings at 7:45am.

• Electronics: Upon arrival, student electronics (phone/watch) should be turned off and stowed away in their backpack. If parents/caregivers need to contact your student, please call the school at 508-896-4545, and the front office can get a message to your student.
• After-School Care: Just a reminder that NYA (Nauset Youth Alliance) offers after-school care. NYA is run separately from the school, and you can learn more about their programming here: https://www.nausetyouthalliance.org/

• Kindergarten families are invited to join a Class of 2039 Facebook Group HERE
• Can't make a PTO meeting? Join by ZOOM HERE

Meetings all take place at 7:00pm in person or on Zoom (Zoom link here):

• December 9, 2026: Stony Brook
• January 13, 2027: Eddy
• March 10, 2027: Stony Brook
• May 12, 2027: Eddy
• June 9, 2027: Stony Brook

You can learn more about the Brewster PTO at their website: https://brewsterpto.com/.