New FieldTurf Makes Brewster Academy’s Campus Centerpiece a Draw for All Students

Brown Field’s synthetic turf upgrade highlights a commitment to performance, safety, and school community

The following story was originally published in the Fall 2025 Edition of NEPSAC News.

Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, known as America’s oldest summer resort, is also home to Brewster Academy, one of the state’s top boarding schools. Located on picturesque Lake Winnipesaukee, the town is the ideal setting for young minds preparing for future success, as much as it is for those seeking a summer respite.

For Dr. Bryan Gross, Dean of Enrollment Management & Marketing, Brewster’s enviable location offers more than just a scenic campus setting. Wolfeboro’s inherent benefits are a key pillar in the school’s mission-driven approach to preparing diverse thinkers for lives of purpose.

“You think about our location, and it just offers so much that frankly other boarding schools can’t match,” says Gross. “The other thing is our proximity to downtown Wolfeboro. Our students really have a tremendous amount of agency and can walk downtown and enjoy the local shops and restaurants. It's just an incredible opportunity for our students to spread their wings.”

Brewster, which offers grades 9-12 with a postgraduate year, encourages student development through its unique approach to education—The Brewster Model®. The model balances academic and emotional development, empowering students to do their best without having to best others. It’s also an approach perfectly designed to nurture communication and cooperation integral to athletic participation, another pillar Brewster consistently and robustly encourages.

The installation of a new FieldTurf Vertex Prime synthetic turf surface at the campus’s Brown Field, just meters away from the Lake Winnipesaukee shore, emphasizes the ongoing support and investment in Brewster’s athletic programs.

“The talented students we’re attracting from around the globe who are interested in our education, our location, and then also participating in our top-quality athletic programs is huge,” says Gross, who describes Brown Field as a campus focal point, visible from the Admissions office, Kenison Library, and the Grayson Student Center—a hub of campus life. “We intentionally have this field positioned where our prospective students and our current families are looking at it as a centerpiece. It represents a competitive spirit and the importance of athletics.”

Brown Field, home to the Brewster Bobcats’ soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse teams, had its original FieldTurf field installed in 2012. The replacement, completed in June, was delivered within a short timeframe to accommodate an upcoming lacrosse camp. For FieldTurf, part of Tarkett Sports, this meant removing the old field, installing the new surface, and performing the required testing. Finished ahead of schedule, the field hosted players three days after completion, ensuring no impact on Brewster’s summer program.

“We’re happy to extend our relationship with Brewster Academy, a valuable long-term partner, which we hope to continue working with for years to come,” says Andrew Dyjak, FieldTurf Regional Vice President, New England, who also highlights the coordination behind meeting the school’s time-sensitive needs. “We beefed up our internal installation resources to deliver the project in the necessary timeframe and ensure everything was logistically sound.”

According to Peter Gilligan, Chief Technology and Operations Officer, the performance and safety of the FieldTurf Vertex Prime system made it an easy choice when selecting a replacement field. “Our proximity to the lake makes it really difficult for us, especially with a wet spring like we had here, to be able to host games early,” he says. “This new field gives us a safer surface for the students to play on because the older one was about 13 years old and at the end of its usable life.”

Connor Wells, Athletic Director and Assistant Coach for Boys' Varsity Lacrosse, echoes that sentiment, underscoring the importance of the installation:

"It would be an understatement to call our new FieldTurf at Brewster just an upgrade. It is so much more than just a noticeable campus improvement. On it, our student-athletes are afforded the most premier and elite training and game-play surface available,” he says. “Not only are our in-season field sports able to take advantage of the turf, but our off-season training athletes, strength and conditioning courses, and a myriad of recreational activities all utilize this state-of-the-art surface on a daily basis. Our athletes now train harder, better, and more safely.”

As Gilligan explains, while the new field is essential to providing student-athletes with a top-performing athletic facility, it also serves as a popular outdoor meeting point.

“When you see this field, when sports aren't being played on it, kids are lying on it, looking at the stars, taking in the sunset over Wolfeboro Bay, they're watching fireworks displays on here,” he says. “And from the Admissions office, you can see these kids in their own little collective groups. Maybe some are kicking a ball over here. Some are just relaxing over there. And those are the times when I think the turf is more magical because it's outside its intended use.”

That kind of magic is among the invaluable qualities that have helped Brewster, which boasts two campuses in Madrid, Spain, establish a reputation beyond North America.

“We really are an international boarding school. We now have more students in our campuses in Spain than we do here in Wolfeboro, which we’re very proud of,” says Gross. “We live in a global world, and we are really at the forefront of boarding schools in terms of thinking globally.”

With its international reach, innovative approach to education, commitment to athletics, and Brown Field serving as its striking campus centerpiece, Brewster continues to show its commitment to another school motto: “Thrive here, then everywhere.”