Jessica Brewer is in her first year as principal of Peebles Elementary. (Photo provided)
Jessica Brewer, Peebles Elementary
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The first thing you notice is the ever-present smile. Even in the hectic moments of getting an entire student body outside and then back in after the annual Veterans Day parade, Peebles Elementary principal Jessica Brewer, in her first year on the job, never lost the smile or the enthusiasm. That is a happiness that resonates throughout the PES building, starting first with the lady in charge.
Jessica Brewer grew up in Minford, and her educational path was different than the principals that we have previously profiled. Her mother was a private school teacher and Brewer went with her to a small private school in Portsmouth, though for two grade levels she was home-schooled.
“I’ve always liked being around kids,” Brewer says. “I knew for sure that I wanted to work with kids when I was in the hospital fighting Crohn’s Disease and while my Mom and I were walking (part of the recovery process from surgery), we saw a little boy playing in a stroller and I noticed bruises all over his face and something about that kid always stuck with me and from that point on, I was sure I wanted to work with kids.”
“My parents were the hardest workers I’ve ever met. My Dad works construction so he had to sacrifice, working away from home Monday through Thursday, then being with us on the weekends and he instilled that work ethic with us. My Mom had a compassionate side but it was a firm compassionate side and she made us understand that some things aren’t as hard as they seem to be. I was raised in a Christian household with Christian values, along with three siblings. We learned a lot about family on a tight budget.”
After high school, Brewer attended Shawnee State University, explaining that she really wanted to go away for school but family kept her close and Shawnee provided a scholarship so the choice was made. At first, she thought that she wanted to go into one of the forensic and criminal justice fields. Her mother had went to school for criminal justice and they kind of shared that passion.
“I ended up not going into criminal justice because my Mom told me that if I wanted to have a family, it wouldn’t work,” Brewer said. “Just watching my Mom as a private school teacher and seeing the work and passion she had for that job influenced me to turn towards education, which I decided before I even started at Shawnee.”
At Shawnee, Brewer majored in Elementary Special Education and Intervention and did her student teaching at Portsmouth City for two years, where she got her first job offer and began her career, teaching third grade. She remained at that position for two school years and by that time was married to her husband Ryan.
“It was just fate that I met Ryan,” Brewer explains. “We had to take elective classes and I signed up for Art and Ryan was also in that class and the rest is history. We were together two years before we got engaged and were married a year later.”
The Brewers had their first child while still working at Portsmouth, but the couple decided that was kind of far away from where they were living in West Union at the time. “So I tried to get closer,” she said. That took her to Hamersville for one year as a preschool intervention teacher. Then she ended up at West Union Elementary where she taught third grade until an increase in students after COVID forced her to move to fifth grade. She had begun pursuing her administrative degree while teaching at Portsmouth and finished it during her first year at West Union.
“There were postings for a couple of administrative jobs and I really just wanted the interview experience so I applied,” said Brewer. “None of those worked out, but then I got a call telling me that there might be an assistant principal’s job open at Peebles. I went through two rounds of interviews there and I was offered the job near the end of July, it all happened very quickly. I worked under Principal Josh Michael at Peebles Elementary for two years before he left to be the Director at the CTC.”
“Mrs. Wallace (ACOVSD Superintendent) approached me and told me I was probably going to move up and I told her I wasn’t sure I was ready. Her reply was ‘You’re ready’ and here I am in my first year as the head principal.”
“It’s been a lot these first few weeks,” Brewer continued. “There are a lot of things that people don’t realize that the head principal takes on so those learning curves have been really challenging, but I’m enjoying it. I really think the teachers here are like a big family. I feel like the culture here is very family-oriented and our staff fights the challenges really hard to do what is best for the kids. I see a lot of the same values here that I saw growing up in a private school.”
Brewer may have a little insider advantage for “principal advice” as her brother-in-law, Kyle Brewer, is the principal at North Adams Elementary. “I ask him things sometimes, but I try not to do that when we have our Sunday night dinners with his family,” Jessica says. “But throughout the day I might give him a call.”
“Every day I want kids to walk in here knowing that they’re safe and that we are going to do our very best to educate them the best we can and then they walk out of here every single day knowing they are loved. Despite the behaviors and baggage some of them bring to us, I want them to know that it’s okay to leave that hanging on the door and we will take care of you here.”
Brewer now has three daughters, 8, 4 and 2, the two oldest getting the privilege of riding to school each day with their Mom as they both attend WUES. “I try to enjoy that, except maybe when they are fighting in the back seat,” Brewer said with a laugh. “A lot of our time is spent managing those three and trying to make memories. I honestly just enjoy staying home with my family.”
As far as what she hopes people will remember about her time in education, Brewer says, “Hopefully that I cared enough and did the best job I could with these kids to educate them and teach them core values.”
