Washington, D.C., July 17, 2000 — The Edward E. Ford Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant today to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., to create and implement a model internet/intranet learning community that will continue transforming the school's web site from showcase to workspace.

To date, Brewster has designed and built software that enables each teacher to develop curriculum using well-researched teaching practices to personalize the learning experience for every student. Brewster's goal is to employ the web to create a genuine electronic learning community that will leverage the collective teaching and learning capability of the school.

"The board of the foundation responded to the exciting things that the school has already done and the promise in the project it has proposed," said Walter Burgin, executive director of the Foundation.

With the grant money awarded by the Foundation, Brewster will build a web site where teachers can launch all of the tools they need for classroom management, lesson planning, curriculum design, student evaluation, and professional development. The school will do the same for every student by providing a place where they can access curriculum, manage their day and schedule, access their grades and current performance, share their portfolio items, and exchange class information with their teachers.

Additionally, the site also will enable parents to have a heightened level of knowledge and participation in the lives of their children at school, something that is very significant for the boarding school parent.

"This grant furthers both the Foundation and the Academy's missions to refine our service to our own school community and to be in a position to make these advances available to other schools interested in educational reform," commented David M. Smith, headmaster of Brewster Academy.

Smith expressed his deep appreciation to the trustees of the Edward E. Ford Foundation for both their support of the school's initiative and for the fact that this Foundation's specific mission is to support the advancement of independent school initiatives.

The Edward E. Ford Foundation was established in 1957 by businessman and philanthropist Edward E. Ford. For many years and until his death in 1963, he was a member of the Board of Directors of IBM. A major objective of the Foundation is to encourage and improve secondary education in independent schools in the United States.

Brewster Academy is an international leader in independent secondary education and is widely recognized for its success in using advanced learning and information technologies to accelerate student growth in a vigorous college preparatory environment. Brewster provides its 367 students (Grades 9-12 and post-graduate) with a personalized curriculum based on individual mastery and best-teaching practices in a sophisticated technology-rich learning environment.

Brewster Academy is accredited as a secondary school by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges, Inc.

The Academy is located on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in the resort community of Wolfeboro, N.H. Learn more about the Brewster difference by visiting us at www.brewsteracademy.org or giving us a call at 603.569.7494.