Notes from Eddy

Hello Eddy Families,

Let's get down to what everyone is wondering...will we have school tomorrow or not? Sadly, I don't have that information for you. Superintendent Brand is the one who makes that decision, and any news on a delay or cancellation of school will come directly from him via email and text (text number is 98900). If you unsubscribed you can text the word "START" to 98900 to receive texts from the district. If there is an official delay or cancellation from Dr. Brand, we will follow in suit via email, text, and social media.

Next up...Did you know that Massachusetts has a teacher of the year award? We would love for you to recognize a member of the Eddy teaching staff who has made a difference in the life of your student. Nominations are due on Monday, January 26 at Noon. You can nominate someone here: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8452903/MA-Teacher-of-the-Year-Nomination-Form-copy. The nomination form is very short, and there is one main question:

Why do you feel this teacher should be recognized?

The nomination form also asks for the staff member's email address, which is, generally speaking, lastnamefirstinitial@nausetschools.org. (example: Steve Guditus = gudituss@nausetschools.org) Thank you for considering nominating a deserving Eddy teacher!

With two full of weeks of school after the holiday break, we have been able to make good strides with momentum of curriculum, and we are thankful for the additional focus on teaching, learning, and curriculum. For the last two weeks, all students engaged in our winter universal screenings, called iReady, where students utilize an adaptive digital screener, which allows us to better understand where students' strengths and areas of growth are right now, in various domains of math and reading. This coming week, we take a look at this data as a grade level team, to help us see where students need additional support and intervention, and where some students need additional challenge and enrichment. These universal screeners occur three times a year (September, January, and June), and allow us to best support student learning.

You may have seen in recent Brewster School Committee meetings that our budget process is underway. We will have additional updates on the next fiscal school year budget at the February school committee meeting. I encourage you to follow along with School Committee meetings for budgetary updates and implications to our school programming for next year.

Here's to a great week of learning!

Respectfully,

Steve Guditus

Principal and Lead Learner, Eddy Elementary School

Text messages from Nauset Public Schools are sent from 98900. Please save this number in your contacts to ensure you get all messages from the district. Texts from all schools in Nauset come from this number. Phone calls do not come from this number - only texts. If you save this number in your phone, it will ensure this is a trusted sender and prevent important messages from being sent to spam. If you opted out of text messages earlier this year and would like to re-enroll, you may do so by texting START to 98900. Any weather cancellations or delays will be communicated by text, phone, and email, as well as other important information and reminders.

The Brewster Ladies Library will host a free concert for children on Saturday, February 7th at 3pm. It is free of charge and all are welcome! You can learn more about the Ciocosa Chamber Music performers here: Young Person's Concert | Giocosa

The Nauset Public Schools are beginning the development of a new district strategic plan that will serve as a shared roadmap to guide district priorities, align resources, and support student success across our schools. Meaningful community voice is essential to this effort.

To ensure broad and diverse stakeholder input, the district is forming a Strategic Planning Committee. All Strategic Planning Committee meetings will be held in person from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at Nauset Regional Middle School on the following dates:

• Meeting #1: Tuesday, January 27, 2026

• Meeting #2: Tuesday, February 24, 2026

• Meeting #3: Tuesday, March 17, 2026

• Meeting #4: Tuesday, April 28, 2026

• Meeting #5: Tuesday, May 19, 2026

• Meeting #6: Monday, June 15, 2026

To ensure district-wide representation, we are hoping to include the following stakeholders on the committee: School Committee Representatives (6)

One from each School Committee, plus two regional representatives

• Parents/Guardians (7) - One representative from each school

• Community Members At-Large (4)

• NPS Staff (8–10)

• Students (4) - Two from Nauset Regional Middle School and Two from Nauset Regional High School

If you are interested in helping shape the future goals of Nauset Public Schools, or if you have any questions about the committee, please email Victoria Saldana, Assistant Superintendent at saldanav@nausetschools.org and cc Allyson McGillveary at mcgillvearya@nausetschools.org.

Dear Nauset Families,

With the understanding that families have many options when deciding where to send their children to high school, I believe it is important that we do all we can to share clear and helpful information to support informed decision-making and ensure a strong educational fit for a student and their family.

I am pleased to share a short video (approximately five minutes in length) that highlights the educational community at Nauset Regional High School and showcases why it is such an outstanding option for high school–aged students in our region. Please share this informative video with family and friends to help them learn more about what it truly means to be a Nauset Warrior.

Sincerely,

Glenn Brand, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

5th graders had a terrific visit to Nauset Regional Middle School, where they shadowed classes with a Brewster sixth grader, had a tour with student leaders, met Principal Peter Cohen and Guidance Counselor Eric Saum, had lots of opportunities to ask questions, and then ate lunch in the NRMS cafeteria. Students then had a chance to visit NRMS again this past Thursday, to meet with fifth graders from Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro, and listen to a presentation from digital mindfulness and safety coach Richard Guerry, a national speaker on these topics. Mr. Guerry has parent/caregiver resources to share if you were not able to attend the parent/caregiver session on Thursday evening at NRMS - we will pass these along as soon as we have that information!

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 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.

Please be sure to send your student into school with winter gear. We will be going outside when it is clear and the windchill is 20F or above. Sometimes students are without a jacket, hats, and gloves. If this poses a hardship, please reach out to our counselor Sonja Bono at bonos@nausetschools.org.

We will celebrate 90s day on Tuesday, the 90th day of school!

If we have no school on Monday, Wednesday becomes the 90th day of school to celebrate!

We are holding a PreK-5 Literacy Night on Wednesday, February 11 @ Stony Brook from 5:30-6:45pm. Our PreK-5 Math Night will be on Monday, March 2 @ Eddy from 5:30-6:45pm. Please mark your calendars! All are welcome: siblings of all ages, parents and caregivers, grandparents and loved ones. Please join us for a family-friendly event where literacy and math are celebrated!

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 Rowan, Joshua, and Adrian!

• Tuesday, January 27: Celebrate 90s Day for the 90th Day of School!
• Wednesday, February 4: Walk, Ride, and Roll to School Day @ 7:15am
• Wednesday, February 11: PreK-5 Literacy Night @ Stony Brook, 5:30-6:45pm
• Wednesday, February 11: PTO @ 7pm at Stony Brook
• Thursday, February 12: Brewster School Committee @ 6:30pm at Town Hall
• Monday, February 16: Presidents Day (No School)
• Tuesday, February 17-February 20: No School for Winter Break
• Monday, March 2: PreK-5 Math Night @ Eddy, 5:30-6:45pm