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Head Lines
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Staying the Course, Maintaining Focus
July 2011-- As we bid farewell to another graduating class and said our goodbyes to underclassmen for the summer, the past year offers much to reflect on in the way of student accomplishments. Consider these accomplishments, some personal, some team oriented, but all examples of students working toward and accomplishing goals.
Some of the Year’s Highlights
Three upper school students spent 12 hours in a classroom (during spring break!) using mathematical modeling to determine the economic and hydrologic impact of long-term drought in the Colorado River Basin as part of the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge. We had a junior participate in the New Hampshire Astronomy Bowl and a sophomore who had her AP English paper published in the state newspaper. A senior won acceptance into the New Hampshire Film Festival, and five students (out of thousands of submissions) earned recognition in the New Hampshire Scholastic Art Awards competition … and the Winnipesaukean continues to earn a place in “the best of the best book” published by the company who prints the yearbook.
Nearly one quarter of the graduating class will play sports in college. We had a team play for a national championship, another team earned a New England title, four teams earned bids to New England playoffs, and four teams earned Lakes Region League titles, including baseball, its first outright title. We celebrated a Lakes Region Runner of the Year, a US Lacrosse Coach of the Year, an All-American lacrosse player, watched two students represent their countries in world games and, for the first time in many years, we sent sailors to a national competition. To cap things off, Jason Smith, our boys’ varsity basketball coach, was the coach for the All-American Championship Team East during the NCAA Tournament in Houston this past March.
Alumni of Note
We are proud of these Bobcat accomplishments, as well as the many other team and personal accomplishments of our students; however, it doesn’t seem right to talk about the Brewster family without mentioning just a few accomplishments of previous students. We shared in the success of two NBA draft picks, an alumnus who was named international student of the year, and a former Bobcat who became the first woman to throw batting practice in Major League Baseball; two film producers who released a major motion picture (one of whom starred in it); two lacrosse players drafted to professional teams; a documentary filmmaker who traveled to Brewster for the screening of his award-winning film about a high school slam poetry competition — having had such an impact on Brewster students and faculty that we have added a performance poetry class to our curriculum.
There are many more accomplished alumni and students, and we are honored to know that Brewster was a step in the right direction along their successful journeys. In fact, according to the alumni mentioned above, it was their days at Brewster that helped identify their strengths and helped them determine their initial direction and maintain a focus on their goals.
Maintaining Focus
And that’s what I want to talk about in this Head Lines, maintaining focus.
At graduation, we listened to the words of an alumnus who returned to deliver the commencement speech. He said, in short: “Life is about extra credit. … Just doing what is expected is no longer enough.”
Topher Grace ’97 could not have been more accurate. Brewster could be average. In fact the world is built for people who want to be average, according to Grace. Instead Brewster remains steadfastly focused on moving from “Good to Great” while maintaining our focus and, like our salutatorian Dana Hughes encouraged, setting and keeping our priorities in focus.
Fulfilling Great Expectations
Maintaining our focus begins with a plan and that plan is set forth in Fulfilling Great Expectations, Brewster’s strategic plan published this spring. Fulfilling Great Expectations is Brewster’s roadmap to how we will realize our emerging priorities while continuing to build on the positive momentum the school has enjoyed with the success of its program. At the same time, we must continue evolving to a new level of excellence to position ourselves for a bright future by confronting our most compelling issues in an intentional, targeted manner with a cogent and thoughtful plan.
For the entire plan, I encourage you to read Fulfilling Great Expectations but here I offer a glimpse of our immediate endeavors.
Curriculum: Social and Emotional Literacy
Before closing out the academic year, faculty completed their training in the social and emotional literacy curriculum (RULER) begun a year ago. With extensive research on success and readiness in the workplace showing that social and emotional literacy is four times more important to professional success than IQ, we were compelled to ensure through our curriculum that our graduates have the personal and social skills for success. Given Brewster’s successful academic program coupled with its comprehensive community life approach, the addition of teaching and guiding students in social and emotional literacy is another step toward educating the whole person.
With faculty training complete, we will begin to bring the same elements and level of training to the students in the fall.
For our new families who are not familiar with this program or for our returning families who want to learn more, please visit All About Emotional Intelligence. This is an evolving area of our website and will be updated as we continue down the path toward full implementation of this program.
Solid Enrollment, Girls Making History
With the economy making a slow comeback and knowing that discerning families have many excellent choices in a competitive independent school market, I’m pleased to report that we are nearly full for the upcoming school year.
The Admission Office had its highest yield to date (74 percent) from our Revisit Days in the spring. Of note is that the incoming freshman class has the largest percentage of girls in the school’s history: 68 percent. Although with a few spots remaining (mostly in grade 10) it’s too early to determine definitely, but when the doors open in September the overall student population will likely be approximately 45 percent girls and 55 percent boys.
While we are pleased to report on our incoming student body, we also are pleased to know that the college retention rate of our recent graduates who return from their freshman year in college to their sophomore year is 97 percent (the national average is around 75 percent). This percent is based on a yearly survey conducted by our College Office. It’s nice to know that we have prepared students well for the rigors of college study and college life in general.
Facilities Maintenance and Upgrades: Getting Ready for Another Year
In this area, we continue to let our facilities master plan guide us. The six residence halls that make up Lamb Court (Harris, Lamb, and Vaughan Houses) and Mason Court (Spencer, Mason, and Hughes Houses) are currently undergoing extensive renovations. New roofs and windows, insulation upgrades, and individual room heating controls will help tighten the buildings and increase their energy efficiency as well as the comfort of our students. Additionally, new carpets, furniture, and fixtures, as well as painting throughout will offer a facelift and make these dormitories even more welcoming. Last summer we completely renovated the inside of Kimball House as an ongoing commitment to keep our dormitories in top shape.
Last fall we received a generous donation to purchase and install a dance floor in the Rogers Building, which has enhanced our dance program considerably. The floor was installed in November and ready for our dancers upon their return from Thanksgiving break. As the photo will attest, this is truly a studio with a view!
The garden that welcomes visitors to the Estabrook from Lamb Green and that looked so young at the completion of the Lamb Green beautification project last year, is maturing rapidly and has blossomed into a welcoming site of perennial trees and plants.
As we ready ourselves for another academic year our new faculty are becoming immersed in our curriculum through their attendance at the Brewster Summer Institute (BSI), the school’s pre-service training program for new faculty, the many planned projects for renovation and renewal are well underway, and the excitement is beginning to grow as we contemplate the arrival of our new students and look forward to welcoming back our returning students.
On the Move
I often hear from alumni how the school is no longer the school that they attended. While I can certainly appreciate that sentiment, my response is, if we were the same school today as we were then, we likely would not be filling these paragraphs with the great news about our exciting growth and development as we continue to evolve and respond to an ever changing world. What’s most important to convey to you is how steadfast we have been in remaining true to our core values over the years, the same core values of character development and commitment to academic excellence that John Brewster had in mind when he made provisions in his estate to transform and grow our great school. You should take tremendous pride in the school and feel good about where we are headed. Whether you are an alumnus or alumna who graduated in the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, or ’00s, or are currently experiencing a Brewster education, know that we are continuing to guide the school toward best practices in education while remaining consistent with our past so that we may stay the course and focus on what is of greatest importance to our strategic growth and development.
Best regards,
Mike Cooper
Head of School
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