Notes from Eddy

Hello Eddy Families,

I hope you have had a chance to get in some R&R and help your student recharge for returning to Eddy Elementary School! As we all know from the current forecast, a storm is coming our way, and Superintendent Brand will communicate any delayed start or cancellation of school.

I am attaching a link to a seven minute video of author Dr. Jonathan Haidt, author of the book The Anxious Generation, on CBS News. Dr. Haidt claims that there is causation between social media and negative impacts on our children's mental health. Specifically, he suggests four norms:

1. No smartphone, iPhone, Android phone, tablet, or iPad before high school. If your child needs a phone, give them a flip phone.
2. No social media before 16.
3. Phone-free schools.
4. More independence and free play in childhood.

I welcome the conversation about supporting our students' mental health, and protecting them and supporting them as a community. If you are interested in joining a book club of caregivers and parents reading this book and discussing its impact on our children and community, please sign up here. Depending on interest, I imagine we would hold one to three conversations either in person or remotely.

Our Scholastic Book Fair is the week of conferences, 3/16-3/20. See below for more information. Here are two important links regarding the book fair:

• Scholastic Eddy Book Fair page (you may load funds to an e-wallet starting Monday, 2/23)
• Book Fair Volunteer Signup (we need help with setup and checking out purchases during conferences)

We are having a Read Across America Spirit Week the week of March 2-6, which is the same for Stony Brook.

• Monday, 3/2: Pajama Day
• Tuesday, 3/3: Silly Hat or Silly Hair Day
• Wednesday, 3/4: Favorite Color and Share Your Favorite Book Day
• Thursday, 3/5: Dress As Your Favorite Character Day
• Friday, 3/6: Read My Shirt Day

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school, students, and staff! Here's to a great week of learning!

Best,

Steve Guditus

Eddy Elementary Principal and Lead Learner

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.

Please save the date! Eddy Elementary School will hold its Scholastic Book Fair Monday, 3/16/26 through Friday, 3/20/26.

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).

Eddy Elementary Scholastic Book Fair E-Wallet & Share The Fair Page

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. You can set up your student with a Scholastic e-wallet (preferred), where you load money onto the e-wallet, so no cash exchanges hands. You may also send your student in with cash if you prefer. Parents and caregivers may also purchase books and items for students before school or during evening and afternoon conferences on 3/19 and 3/20, using cash, card, or e-wallet. Students may purchase books or other items before school the book fair week, during library class, or during evening and afternoon conferences (see schedule below). 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 are willing to help by volunteering some time, please sign up here!

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

The PTO's annual Boosterthon fundraiser is coming! Signups begin this Tuesday, 2/24, 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 opens this Tuesday, 2/24 and you can register your student at: https://mybooster.com/v3 and clicking the blue "I'm a parent/guardian" button.

Congratulations to our three Eddy R.E.A.D.Y. award winners this past week! Congratulations to Rowan, Joshua, and Adrian for demonstrating our school's core values of Respect, Empathy, Accountability, Determination, and Your Best! We are proud of all our students who earned green cards this past week, and congratulations to Ruby, Maisie, and Cora!

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.

• Tuesday, February 24: Boosterthon signups begin
• Monday, March 2: PreK-5 Math Night @ Eddy, 5:30-6:45pm
• Thursday, March 5: Brewster School Committee FY27 Budget Public Hearing @ 6:30pm
• 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