BrewsterConnections - Brewster Academy

already been done for him, I’ll remember Mr. [David]
Smith dreaming of improving the community. I
dread leaving my beloved school. I’m unsure of
what it will be like when I next visit. Perhaps I just
envy those who will follow me in that they will have
opportunities I didn’t have. Yet I had the chance to
grow with Brewster. I will always be proud to have
been a part of that growth. One aspect, I’m sure, won’t
change, and that is the community. I bid farewell to my
Brewster and say hello to future Brewster.”
Matt Woodward ’89
At the end of our freshman year Houses One, Two, and
Three were built. The construction of the three dorms
improved living conditions for both the students and
the faculty. The new buildings and the area around them
soon became the focus of the campus. The next major
change came during our junior year when House Four was
constructed in the Bearce Hall area. While this put two dorms in the area,
they were still rather isolated from the rest of the campus.
During these three years the school’s population continued to grow,
slowly but steadily. In order to help accommodate the increased student
body, two new classrooms were constructed. The Business Office was
moved to a newly leased building on the far side of the campus and the
building that house the Alumni and Development Office became the new
[Arts and] Writing Center. The greatest changes have taken place during
this past summer and as seniors we are the only class to have been able
to watch the new growth all come together, and the only class to really
appreciate what we have in the new facilities.
We returned from the summer to find House Five and Six completed and
this construction has made the Bearce Hall area the focus of the campus.
The completion of the boathouse that our class has lived with in one stage
or another for our four years has changed the waterfront dramatically
and has given the school an area where the entire school can gather for
meetings. Not only have new buildings been built, but also old buildings
have undergone a lot of renovation. New siding has been put on Sargent
Hall, making it conform to looks of the new houses. All of the smaller
dorms along Main Street have also been insulated and covered with
siding. The three entrances to the Academic Building have had new steps
and brickwork completed and the main steps have been greatly enlarged.
All the old buildings look much better than when we arrived for our
freshman year.
Today they are Spencer House and Mason House but in the 1980s they were simply Houses One and
Two, the first of the six residences built in the mid- to late eighties.
additions are completed and formal dinner has had to be revised. When
the school meets together in the First Congregational Church, the building
is filled to its maximum.
While Brewster’s growing pains are yet to be over, they have been exciting
to live with for our class, especially the 12 lifers, and now as seniors we are
fortunate to be the first to benefit from the new facilities. The school year
has just started and there will be many months ahead for us to enjoy the
new campus, but although the school has grown and changed, the people
are the same. And our friends and faculty will be with us forever as we
remember Brewster.
Brewster’s Success
Why did Brewster continue to be successful and attract new enrollment
while other schools were having difficulties Was it the beautiful location,
the expanded facilities, or a program that was earning a reputation of
educating the whole person All of these factors were likely reasons.
Headmaster Smith often reminded faculty and staff that they were here to
serve the needs of young people during a crucial stage of their lives. Those
teachers who have walked the Academy’s halls since the school’s founding
and long after have known what a great opportunity Brewster has to
positively influence the next generation within this beautiful environment.
But as the reflections of Chuck and Matt remind us, the essential
ingredient of Brewster Academy is its community of students, faculty, and
staff who bond together to support each student in his or her growth into
self-confident, respectful adults.
Along with all the new buildings, the student and faculty population has
grown to be the largest in the school’s private boarding history. With more
people on campus there is less space in the dining area until the Estabrook
Bob and Shirley Richardson were long-time faculty members who
retired in 2004. They are the authors of The Brewster Story: A Definitive
History of Brewster Academy, published in May 2011.
44 BrewsterConnections – Fall 2011