Brewster Schools to go all remote after December 11.

Brewster Schools superintendent, Dr, Laurie Bandlow, and her staff issued the following letter earlier today to the community regarding student instruction changes and recent challenges

Dear Brewster Community, 

This note is to inform you that it is necessary to move to 100% remote instruction after Friday, December 11 because infection rates are rising in Putnam County and in the Brewster community. All teaching will be conducted remotely from Monday, December 14 through Wednesday, December 23. Also, we will remain fully remote during the week of January 4-8. 

We strongly believe that school-aged children belong in school. During the weeks ahead, we will continue to monitor infection rates and mitigation efforts in our community, county, and state to determine when it is feasible to safely resume in-person teaching. We will provide you with as much advance notice as possible given the circumstances. 

Offering in-person and remote instruction this fall has been challenging for school children, parents, faculty, staff, and everyone in the Brewster community. We deeply appreciate the hard work, dedication, and determination that faculty, staff, administrators, and board members have demonstrated to take care of our students. And we are so thankful to parents and to our students themselves for rising to the occasion and working with us to overcome these challenges Also, we need to thank the Putnam County Department of Health and our own Medical Director for their incredible service and guidance. 

"Everyone working in our schools has put all their energy into making sure all our students are educated during these very trying times. The goal is to keep our students in school whenever possible and as a District we have done our best in that challenge. The Board of Education supports and will continue to support the decisions of the District as we know they are based on all available information and what is best for both our students and our staff," states Board President Sonia Mesika, on behalf of the Board of Education. 

Going forward, we want you to know that we will be working to implement a robust COVID-19 testing structure in January with the assistance of state authorities. We will share further information about this with you in the coming weeks. Our hope is that adding another layer of assurance to our existing safeguards will allow us to reopen and continue in-person teaching while keeping all parties protected. 

As you all know, challenges caused by this pandemic are evolving daily. We will continue to share what we know with you as soon as we know it. 

Going forward, we want you to know that we will be working to implement a robust COVID-19 testing structure in January with the assistance of state authorities. We will share further information about this with you in the coming weeks. Our hope is that adding another layer of assurance to our existing safeguards will allow us to reopen and continue in-person teaching while keeping all parties protected. 

As you all know, challenges caused by this pandemic are evolving daily. We will continue to share what we know with you as soon as we know it. 

With deepest gratitude, 

Laurie Bandlow, EdD Superintendent of Schools 

Michelle Gosh, EdD Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum, Assessment & Instruction 

Elizabeth Kennedy, EdD Director of Pupil Personnel