WE have two 2 hour recess para educator positions open!

Apply today! Job posting 1256

Dear Families,

This week our school community focused on the character strength of Kindness. Kindness means you are generous to others and you are never too busy to help out. You enjoy doing good deeds for other people.

Kindness is grounded in the belief of a common humanity in which others are worthy of care, attention, affection, and compassion. Kind people think about the needs and feelings of other people, and then act to help those people. Kind people are selfless. That is why a true act of kindness is distinct from helping another person in order to simply gain something for yourself. An individual with the strength of kindness helps others because it's’ the right thing to do, not because they expect any reciprocal treatment or gain in reputation.

In addition to empathy and sympathy, the character strength of kindness is indicative of an individual’s moral reasoning capacity and level of social responsibility. That means people who develop kindness possess a strong personal ethical responsibility to care for other people. And, their acts of kindness towards others lead to additional acts of kindness by those who have been helped.

Next week our school community will be focusing on the Other People Mindset of Supporting Others When They Struggle. This means when other people are struggling, we do our best to help them out.

Supporting other people when they struggle is a critical piece of being human. There are many different approaches to helping people who are struggling. These can include: listening while they describe an event and their feelings about it, taking action to help people in need, or simply just being there and sitting together in silence. Everyone faces tough days and needs support, and this support leads to a chain of prosocial behavior that makes us feel good about ourselves and our group.

To practice and encourage the character strength of perspective or kindness with your child, please visit the Positivity Project’s P2 for Families (password: P2), where together you will watch a video, read a quote, and talk about the answers to three questions.

Have a wonderful week!

Brewster PTA

Brewster Reads

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying some good books and spending time reading since the start of school. Each month starting on the 25th reporting for that month can be entered into the form in the store on Toolkit and will be open until the 5th of the next month. This year only electronic copies will be accepted and instead of 25 minutes per day the goal is 500 total minutes for the month. If you have any question please reach out to Kellie Newman kellie.newman@mac.com or Katie Baron katie.baron@icloud.com. Happy reading

Bulldogs!

Committee Chairs Needed

We have a great group of families at Brewster and we need your help! We have the following committee chairs open or in need of a co-chair. Please reach out to BrewsterPTAPresident@gmail.com if you are interested in helping or learning more!

Founders Day

Nominating co-chair

PAC Rep co-chair

Bulldog Publishing Chair

Green School

As you dig out Holiday Lights this year and you find some that are broken, please donate them to the Green School Committee. Please see the attached flyer!

Adopt-a-Book

Our Adopt-a-Book program is up and running for the year! If you are interested in adopting a book for your child please fill out the form in the Membership Toolkit Store.

Buddy the Bulldog

Have you seen Buddy the Bulldog at school events or in a neighbor’s yard? Would you like to have him visit your yard? Buddy can be rented by filling out a form in Membership Toolkit. He loves to visit so please fill out a form so he can come and visit you.

Membership Toolkit

Membership Toolkit is a website and app used by the Brewster PTA. On Membership Toolkit you can find a Brewster directory, calendar of events, and make secure purchases. You do not need to be a PTA member to use most of the features on Membership Toolkit. To create an account, you need to go the website first. Once you create your account on the website, you can download the app on your mobile device. If you already use Membership Toolkit, please log in to update your student’s information for the new school year. Use this link to create or update your account https://rhillsbrewsterpta.membershiptoolkit.com/

Brewster Facebook Group

The Brewster Facebook group is a great way to connect with Brewster families and learn about upcoming events. If you are a member of the Brewster Facebook group, please send an invite to Brewster families that are not yet members. For the safety of our students, the Brewster Facebook group is private. To join, you need to be a current Brewster family and answer the questions to join the group.

Join the PTA

You can join the PTA by going to the store on the Membership Toolkit app or clicking this link Join the Brewster PTA. By joining the PTA you will have access to the Brewster directory on the Membership Toolkit website and app.

Annual Fundraiser

The Brewster PTA has launched its Annual Fundraiser and a yellow flyer came home with your oldest child at Brewster. Our hope is to pivot from ongoing fundraising activities throughout the year that support Brewster students, teachers and staff, to a one-time donation made by each family at the beginning of the year. To make a donation use this link General PTA Donation or go to the store on Membership Toolkit. While there is no set amount that we are requesting, as we are sensitive to every family’s financial capacity, we hope and suggest the following amounts: $60 per family with one Brewster student or $85 per family with two or more Brewster students.

PTA Board Names and Contact Information

President – Jackie Bieber BrewsterPTAPresident@gmail.com

VP of Fundraising –

VP of Membership – Michelle Endres

Treasurer – Susanna Brennan

Secretary – Grant Kosch