Brewster Academy - Review #7

One of the most unique aspects to Brewster Academy is the amazing location. This prep school sits right on the beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee. The stunning view from both the academic building as well as the athletic fields provides both students and the faculty with a gorgeous setting daily. In addition to the setting, one of the biggest attractions to Brewster Academy is the town of Wolfeboro. Within walking distance of this boarding school is a small community that offers local restaurants, grocery stores, ice cream shops, and other small shops. This town and view combined together offer a great location for students to spend their high school experience.

My best memory at Brewster Academy was beating our Lakes Region rivals in the New England Championship for field hockey my sophomore year. This was such a huge achievement for Brewster because it was the first time the field hockey team had ever won the championship. With field hockey being my favorite sport and feeling the tension from our rivals, winning in strokes after two overtimes was the best feeling ever!

The only thing I would have done differently at Brewster Academy was to not fight my parents about attending the school prior to ninth grade. I was scared to enter a prep school setting but once arriving the first day, all of my worried disappeared.

Overall, I loved the small community that Brewster Academy creates for the students. With everyone knowing everyone, it is so nice to see familiar faces and to feel a sense of belonging on campus. Whether a student is a freshman of senior, day student of boarder, they feel important and comfortable on campus. That is something that can’t be replaced!

My advice to students who are entering Brewster Academy would be to get involved as much as you can. In such a small community, it is super easy to get involved in many different aspects of the school. In taking advantage of everything this boarding school has to offer, the student will definitely come away with a positive experience.

Brewster Academy sets every student up for success academically. Within this prep school, each class typically has eight to twelve students with one teacher. This small intimate classroom setting allows each student for a lot of individual attention and to not be lost in the crowd at any point. In addition, students are leveled among every class into groups. With leveled grouping, students are taking part in the same classes but each student is pushed to meet their abilities. Students in the advanced grouping may have the opportunity to learn in more detail about the topic being taught or be assigned a bit extra work for homework to ensure students are always being challenged in the classroom. In addition, there are designated days throughout the year where students from each level becomes an “expert” in a particular aspect of the subject being taught and has the opportunity to teach this material to the other level students. This “jigsaw” type of learning is a great opportunity for students to become the teachers and take ownership in their learning. In addition to the leveled grouping and taking a teaching role throughout designated days, every day in the academic setting, students are interactive with their learning. There was never a day I spent listening to the teacher lecture for a whole class period. The classroom is built around cooperative learning where students are hands on and engaged in the learning process. This unique set up makes learning fun and exciting everyday.

For a student athlete like myself, Brewster Academy was the perfect environment for my high school experience. Playing field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse for this prep school I was looking for a competitive and successful career in athletics, and that is exactly what I got! Each year, I enjoyed competing for the Lakes Region Championships in all of my sports and vied for a New England Championship multiple times as well. My athletics experience at this prep school was so rewarding for me because of the unique friendships that were created while playing on these teams. The sense of family was built among all three of my different sporting teams that I took part in throughout my time at Brewster Academy and allowed for such great friendships to be made. In addition to the team, the coaches I had here are ones that allowed me to thrive as an athlete. Their high expectations from the players motivated each team to compete to the best of our ability.

While at Brewster Academy, I would have labeled myself more as an athlete than an artist however I definitely felt it was necessary to delve myself into the visual arts aspect to this boarding school as well. While attending, I took part in HOWL, which is the schools chorus. Being part of this group was voluntary and was a great opportunity for me to be an active member of the arts as well. Throughout my career at Brewster, the visual arts program grew stronger and stronger. The photography class, drawing, and pottery classes were a huge hit with a variety of students. One of the unique ways that the arts are incorporated into Brewster is for students to have introduction courses to each of the courses offered throughout the student’s freshman and sophomore years. In having a very quick introduction to these classes, students have the opportunity to select any of these art classes to continue to study throughout their junior and senior year in more detail.

Outside of the classroom there are many extra-curricular opportunities. Students have the opportunity for community service hours and trips weekly, as well as many different clubs that form throughout campus. These types of activities allow each student to find their niche at this boarding school.

Although I was a day student in this prep school community, Brewster Academy did a fantastic job including each student in the dorm life experience. At the beginning of the year, each day student is assigned to a dorm that correlates to their gender and age group. From there, day students are given the opportunity to attend dorm meetings, dorm trips, and any other activity that the rest of the girls or boys are taking part of throughout their year. Allowing day students to be included creates a comfortable setting where they are welcome to go after school before athletics and to hang out with the boarding students.

The dining hall at Brewster Academy was fantastic! Looking back at the options and the variety that was offered to the students’ everyday was truly impressive. For every meal there was at least three different options in order to please the three hundred and fifty students plus faculty. I really liked the layout of the dining hall as well. The round tables offered a nice set up for students to get together with friends and be able to talk to one another over each meal. In addition, one night a week served as formal dinner night, which allowed the community to get dressed up in dress code and sit at assigned tables with different faculty members and students. This setting allowed students to meet new people from the community and spend a meal with the whole community at once where announcements and messages were given.

As mentioned earlier, the town of Wolfeboro is one of the best places for a boarding school to be located. This small town is walking distance from the school and offers grocery stores, restaurants, and many small shops. Having the ability to walk down and get an ice cream on a nice spring day or to get a sandwich from the local sub shop offers students the freedom to get off campus if a break is needed. In addition, the Chinese and pizza restaurants provide great dorm trips during the weekends!

At Brewster Academy the sense of community and family is undeniable. With such a small school, everyone knows everyone. Having this familiarity with the school gives students a sense of comfort and belonging to the boarding school setting. In addition, the relationships that students can create with teachers are unique as well. Not only do faculty members serve as students’ teachers throughout the day, but also as coaches for athletics, and dorm parents at nights. In addition, the whole community eats at the same dining hall and the connections made outside of the classroom are something that is unique to the boarding school environment.