About Brewster

Brewster is the way education should be: the perfect balance of academic and emotional development in a place where all can do their best without having to best each other.  

Brewster students:

• Learn to master academic content and the skills that matter in life.
• Transform in an academically challenging environment without standardization.
• Believe in our shared responsibility for success.  
• Understand their potential.
• Feel empowered to achieve in an environment inclusive of everyone's unique talent.
• Emerge with a strong sense of self and a deep commitment to others.

OUR HISTORY

The roots of our history began in 1820 when the Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough Academy was founded. The Academy welcomed its first students in 1821 and educated many local and not so local residents including Henry Wilson (U.S. vice president under Ulysses S. Grant) and John Brewster (1812-1886), a successful Boston businessman and banker. In 1886 the estate of John Brewster, under the direction of his son William, established Brewster Free Academy for students under the conditions “that no restriction shall be placed upon any person desiring to attend and receive instruction from said school or academy on account of his or her age, sex, or color, provided only he or she is of good moral character.”  At that time, John Brewster’s gift was considered to be the largest philanthropic donation of its kind.

Serving as a school for the local population for more than 140 years, Brewster transitioned to its more traditional and current role as an independent school in 1965 when Kingswood Regional High School opened up the street. Since that time, Brewster has celebrated significant and purposeful growth in enrollment, successful program evolutions, and a campus revitalization that has honored its amazing location and local impact.