Notes from Eddy

Hello Eddy Families,

My sincere hopes that you weathered the aftermath of Blizzard Hernando safely and with minimal impact to your homes, property, and loved ones. We have a wood burning stove in our house, so we spent three days heating the house and cooking food, reading lots of books, and playing games. We are certainly thankful to all the safety personnel and frontline workers who do amazing work repairing power and utility lines, from both near and far. On our street alone, we had utility workers from Vermont who were repairing power lines, cutting tree limbs, and helping make our streets passable. Thank you Brewster Police, Brewster Fire, Brewster DPW, and all the folks who make sure our students and families were as safe as they could be. It really does remind me how grateful we all are to live in communities here on the Lower Cape that look out for neighbors and one another during times of need. As Mr. Rogers said, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

Below are a few timely updates, many of which are based on our recent lost days of school this past week:

• PreK-5 Math Night, originally scheduled for this coming Monday, 3/2 at Eddy Elementary School, will be postponed with a date TBD. We will let you know once this new date has been scheduled.
• Read Across America Week, originally scheduled for this coming week at both Eddy and Stony Brook, will be delayed one week, with the same list of spirit days at both schools on the same days, but just delayed one week's time, to begin Monday, 3/9. Those spirit days are:
• Monday, March 9: Pajama Day
• Tuesday, March 10: Silly Hat/Silly Hair Day
• Wednesday, March 11: Favorite Color and Favorite Book Day
• Thursday, March 12: Dress As A Favorite Book Character
• Friday, March 13: Read My Shirt Day
• There is an early release this Friday, March 6 @ 11am for students for staff professional development.
• The PTO's Boosterthon is officially here! Signups began this week, and the event is during the morning of Friday, March 20 (this is also a half day early release @ 11am). Family, friends, and loved ones can donate towards the Brewster PTO prior to, during, and after the Boosterthon Fun Run event. Registration is now open, and you can register your student at: https://mybooster.com/v3 and clicking the blue "I'm a parent/guardian" button.

I wish you some normalcy and hope for a return to routine over these next few days. We look forward to seeing Eddy students on Monday morning at 7:40am!

Best,

Steve Guditus

Eddy Elementary Principal and Lead Learner

Please save the date! Eddy Elementary School will hold its Scholastic Book Fair Monday, 3/16/26 through Friday, 3/20/26. Students can purchase during the school day, before school, and families may make purchases the evening and afternoon of family conferences on 3/19 and 3/20.

• Eddy Elementary Scholastic Book Fair E-Wallet & Share The Fair Page
• If you are willing to help by volunteering some time at the book fair, please sign up here!

You can load funds onto your student's e-wallet (so they are not carrying cash to school) and also donate to the "Share The Fair" fund, which helps students who cannot purchase a book to do so (and any remaining funds will be used to purchase books for the Eddy Elementary Library). Purchases made by adults may be made by card, cash, or e-wallet.

A portion of all sales comes back to Eddy Elementary School to help fund field trips, enrichment opportunities, and buy books for the Eddy Library.

We are looking for volunteers to help supervise the book fair during the following times, and no experience is needed, just a smile and a willingness to help!

• Thursday, 3/12/26: 1:00-3:00pm (help setup)
• Monday, 3/16/26: 7:30-8:00am
• Tuesday, 3/17/26: 7:30-8:00am
• Wednesday, 3/18/26: 7:30-8:00am
• Thursday, 3/19/26: 7:30-8:00am and 2:00-6:30pm (during evening conferences)
• Friday, 3/20/26: 7:30-8:00am and 11:30am--3:00pm (during afternoon conferences)

If you were not able to attend the Digital Mindfulness and Safety evening parent/caregiver meeting with Richard Guerry last month, his presentations and resources can be found below. All fifth graders in the district met with Richard last month about this very topic as well.

• Visit: https://www.iroc2.org/733.html

• Username: NPS

• Password: Community

We are asking that you help us ensure that students keep toys at home. We are seeing an uptick in students bringing in toys, which has become more distracting to learning, and unfortunately, is also causing unnecessary drama between students, further distracting from learning. Unless there is a special celebration, day, or sharing of something from home invited by the teacher, please help us by telling your student "no" to bringing in toys into school.

Some students have also requested to use fidgets in the classroom. While these are often helpful for some students, they can often be a distraction for other students. If you would like to send your student in with a fidget for use in class, I am respectfully asking for you to speak with your student about what a fidget is, when it is appropriate to use, and to contact your student's teacher to let them know your concern that to request that your student use a fidget as a means to focus during classroom instruction.

If you have any questions about this or any specific scenarios you are wondering about, don't hesitate to reach out to Principal Steve Guditus at gudituss@nausetschools.org.

See below. If you know any Brewster resident whose child will be 5 by August 31, 2026, please pass this flyer along to them and let them know they can register their child for Kindergarten using the directions below. Families may call Stony Brook at 508-896-4545 x0 with any questions about Kindergarten registration. Thank you for your help!

Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod is building two new homes in Brewster- 1 two-bedroom home, and 1 three-bedroom home. Applications are due March 31, 2026, and are available at Town Hall in the Planning Department or at Brewster Ladies Library. The creation of these homes is supported by Brewster Community Preservation Act and Affordable Housing Trust funding.

Online fillable applications can be found here: Habitat for Humanity’s Homeownership Application.

There will also be two local in person workshops on:

• Tuesday, February 24th, 4:45 – 6:30 PM: Brewster Ladies Library, 1882 Main Street
• Saturday, March 14th, 10:30 AM – 12 PM: Brewster Ladies Library, 1882 Main Street

For more information on income eligibility, pricing, and the application process, please see the attached flyers and go to: https://habitatcapecod.org/to-apply-for-a-home/ or contact Habitat for Humanity at 508-362-3559 x121.

If you have any questions about Brewster community housing, feel free to contact me.

Warm regards,

Jenny

Jennifer Shaw

Housing Program Assistant

Town of Brewster

2198 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631

508-896-3701 ext. 1172

A reminder to all families that our district protocol in elementary schools is that students stow away any cell phone when they get on the school bus, and that phones are off and away in backpacks during the school day. You can contact your student at any time by calling the main office, and Mrs. Reeves can get a message to your student. If your student needs to contact you, they may always call from the main office. If a student does not feel well, they should see Nurse Miller, who will assess your student, and will contact you with concerns and let you know if your student needs to be picked up.

Similarly, we ask for you to help us keep school focused on learning by having students either keep smartwatches at home or in a watch-only mode. We have had instances of students contacting their parents via personal devices, instead of going to the nurse, and to play games during the school day. You can help by speaking to your student about the use of smartphones and smartwatches, and about the importance of seeing Nurse Miller, Mrs Bono, Ms. Williams, Mrs. Reeves in the main office, or any staff member if they need assistance, so students can remain focused on academics and the task at hand. Thank you for your help with this, and don't hesitate to reach out to Principal Guditus with any questions about this.

A group of third grade girls have created a group called "World Girls," and they are working to make the world a better place! They even made an announcement this past week asking for donations for the Animal Rescue League of Boston here in Brewster. Specifically, we are accepting donations of towels, blankets, dog beds, and anmial treats to support the Animal Rescue League; there is a donation bin in the front lobby. All are welcome to join World Girls - girls and boys alike - and they will continue their mission to make the world a better place with school, park, and beach cleanups this spring when the weather improves. Great job, girls!

A reminder that students have snack daily around 9:15am. Kindly send your student in with a healthy snack. Ideal snacks are: a piece of fruit, a small bag of pretzels, a yogurt pouch, or another healthy snack. Additionally, we have hydration stations with filtered water available throughout the school. In an effort to cut down on our use of plastic cups, kindly send your student in daily with a reuseable water bottle. If this poses a financial hardship, please reach out to School Adjustment Counselor Sonja Bono or Principal Steve Guditus.

• Friday, February 27: Boosterthon signups begin
• Thursday, March 5: Brewster School Committee FY27 Budget Public Hearing @ 6:30pm
• Friday, March 6: Early Release @ 11am for Staff Professional Development
• Wednesday, March 11: PTO Meeting @ 7:00pm at Eddy
• Thursday, March 19: Afternoon/Evening Conferences
• Friday, March 20: Boosterthon Fun Run
• Friday, March 20: Early Release @ 11am with Conferences in Afternoon