What is at the core of a Brookfield Academy education?

by Dr. Robert Solsrud, Head of Brookfield Academy

During a Memorial Day Celebration, I heard the words, “We should honor those who honor us.” This statement brought to light how BA, through its understanding of a Liberal Arts Education in a Free Society, so meaningfully “honors those who honor us.”

Georgetown University Professor James V. Schall explained that “The terms of liberal education and free society arise out of the same source, out of the classic notion that we can and should first rule ourselves and that such rule is in our personal power.”


BA School Goal #1 - Character: Learn to act responsibly in a free society realizing the moral consequences of our actions.
To learn to act responsibly in a free society requires us to understand the need to rule ourselves for some purpose. We must teach our students the difference between an evil purpose and a noble purpose.


BA School Goal #2 - Individuality: Learn to appreciate their unique talents and to exercise these gifts responsibly.
To learn to act responsibility in a free society requires us to seek the truth because that is the highest power we have – to know the truth of things.


BA School Goal #3 - Truth: Recognize and pursue transcendent, objective truth.
To learn to act responsibly in a free society requires us to be a learning community that nourishes wonder, provides curiosity, stimulates creativity, and inclines the minds.


BA School Goal #4 - Intellect: Understand that learning is a goal in itself, and perfection of the intellect is the purpose of a liberal education.
To learn to act responsibly in a free society requires us to bring our students to an understanding that self-rule is at the heart of civil order.


BA School Goal #5 - Heritage: Understand the traditions of western civilization and particularly the United State of America.
At Brookfield Academy, we do “honor those who honor us” by graduating responsible, constructive, free people.”

Spring Sports Highlights

Boys Track Takes Three Conference Crowns

The Brookfield Academy boys track team recorded three first-place finishes at the Midwest Classic meet on Tuesday, May 17, at BA's Fields of Freedom.

• Senior Fred Willis - 100 meter dash (10.54)
• Junior Ethan Jaynes - 200 meter dash (22.65)
• 800 Meter Relay Team -Willis, Jaynes, senior Alex Vipond and freshman Ryan Send (1:32.99)

Girls Track Wins Two Relay Conference Championships

• 800 Meter Relay Team - Sophomore Mary Liz Kim, Senior Catherine Courchaine, Junior Bailey Vipond, and Freshman Mackenzie Bonk (1:50.28)
• The same four sprinters won the 400 Meter Relay (52.65)

Girls Soccer Team Conference Champs

BA is now 16-3-2 and 10-0 in conference play. The Blue Knights are ranked fifth in the state in the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association state poll.

• Ally Anderson named Defensive Player of the Year
• Eimile Pesch named Offensive Player of the Year
• Liz Collins unanimous First Team
• Ana Bayerlein First Team
• Kristen Collins First Team

Baseball Takes Second in MCC Standings

The Blue Knights concluded conference play with an 11-3 record, finishing second in the Midwest Classic Conference. BA will host a first-round WIAA playoff game on Friday, May 27 at 4:30 p.m. against Waterloo.

• Junior Jake Kolasinksi named Player of the Year

Boys Tennis Takes Second in Conference

• Junior Justin Saeian placed first at no. 4 singles and earned first-team all-conference

Golfers Continue Good Play

As the weather improves, so does the Brookfield Academy Golf Team. BA place fourth in the MCC Championship at Hartford Country Club on May 18, shooting its lowest 18-hole total of the season, a 347.   The team also placed second in the regionals and will now travel to sectional play.

• Freshman Daniel Romero was first-team all conference and Player of the Year for the MCC.
• Freshman Liam McCarty Conference Champ

Oh, What A Year!

With the number of days left on the school calendar now in the single digits, it is the perfect time to take a look back and reflect upon the year Brookfield Academy and its students have had. BA is proud of its many accomplishments during the 2010-11 school year including:

• Record enrollment of 855 students at the end of the year.


• Ten seniors named National Merit Finalists, with two earning National Merit Scholarships. Five additional students were named National Merit Commended Scholars.

• Freshman Liam McCarty won the 12th Annual Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

• Dozens of BA students performed on stage in one of many performances including Dear Edwina Jr., The Curious Savage, The Music Man, Hamlette, Hard Candy, and The Adventures of Lewis & Clark. Many more participated in the many music events held on campus throughout year.

• Senior Kelsey Hojan-Clark won her fifth and sixth WIAA swimming state titles.

• Senior Jawad Arshad placed first in the 2010 Stock Market Simulation essay contest and was also named a runner-up in the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.


• The Middle School MathCounts team placed fourth regionally.


• The Upper School academic decathlon team placed second in the state.


• The BA chess team placed ninth nationally.


• Senior Sofya Kozlova was awarded two national silver medals for photography in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.


• BA students performed countless hours of community service throughout the year.


• Graduation of the 64 amazing students in the Class of 2011 who are ranked among the best scholars in the nation and had 308 college acceptances!

These are just a few of the too-numerous-to-list accomplishments by our fantastic students throughout the year. It would take several pages to make this list complete. As we head into the final days of this highly successful school year, we encourage you to stay connected to BA during the summer months. Visit the web site, follow BA on Facebook and Twitter, and watch for email newsletters with all the news you need to know. Have a great summer!

Winter mornings are bitterly cold at the top of the hill, but Lower School scholars warm our hearts with cheers of delight when we announce that the sledding hill is officially open for its first riders of the season. Their enthusiasm for this longstanding Brookfield Academy tradition is infectious.

If our youngest scholars only knew how many Brookfield Academy traditions will actually shape their lives once they graduate prepared for college and life. As adults, we know the value of traditions, and we would like to cheer whenever we see one play out during the day. For now, we will wait anxiously for the day when our scholars grow up and return with stories of how the traditions in the Lower School influenced their futures.

There are certain to be stories about morning assemblies, where, with honor and regardless of the weather, a student raised the flag, and the pledge and prayer kicked off the day. A student or two will certainly remember the time spent at recess playing tirelessly with friends, practicing kindness and respect. Scholars will recall weekly visits to the library, gym, art, music, and language classes. Even the tradition of homework, where the lessons of the day were reviewed and mastered, and poems were memorized, will bring fond memories.

More than any tradition remembered, however, will be the commitment and dedication of their teachers. Brookfield Academy teachers know their students and take the time to help each one of them reach his or her fullest potential. They model lifetime learning by continuing to study their profession and apply that knowledge in the classroom, where mediocrity is cast aside and high expectations are the norm.

Here at BA, every season brings its lessons along with treasured traditions.

Heather Caponi, LS A-2 Division Head

The popular BAME (Brookfield Academy Mini-Economy) simulation gives Level 7 and 8 students lessons on how an economy, a competitive market, government, banking, and politics coexist with each other.

After a recent BAME market day, I overheard a student exclaiming that he had a lot of Peschos (BAME currency) and would soon be "loaded." Often, students in BAME focus on instant wealth and overlook the important lessons of this simulation. Our themes of

Personal Responsibility and Gratitude Inspires

present ideas that can be woven into the lessons of BAME, reminding students that they will make contributions to others in their future.

Billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have said the rich have benefited from their nation’s assets and systems to become wealthy. Gates and Buffet are committed to giving away the majority of their wealth through a program called "The Giving Pledge." What message can we give our students while still within the borders of Freedom Hall and so diligently earning the mighty "Pescho"?

• We can raise awareness that generosity is not just about giving money but also about giving of self. It is less about the size of the check and more about the personal satisfaction of giving and the outcomes seen.

• We can teach that giving back does not have to be made with a financial donation. Students can give of their time and talent to make a difference.

• We can remind students that what we have today at Brookfield Academy is the result of hard work, support, and donations from many people over the course of 50 years. Students are the ones who are reaping these benefits.

Being thankful for what we have allows us to give back and inspires us to do more as responsible, constructive, free people.

Doug Ricci, Middle School Head

Advocating For Our Independence

Wisconsin’s educational landscape is undergoing noticeable tremors reverberating throughout the nation. While tension and rhetoric are increasing, isn’t it refreshing and encouraging to be at an independent school free from the current political turmoil?

As an independent school, Brookfield Academy eschews government funding to avoid inclusion in this inevitable confrontation. Our independence encourages freedoms that form the foundation and ultimate strength of our school. That strength is manifested by our freedom to define our unique mission, determine our curriculum and programs, hire mission-appropriate faculty, and admit mission-appropriate families.

We are fond of saying, and rightly so, Brookfield Academy is held accountable to its "stakeholders" (parents, students, alumni), not bureaucrats or politicians. We embrace our freedom by providing the best educational experience for families seeking the perfect match between their beliefs and educational aspirations and our mission, philosophy, program, and people.

A Brookfield Academy Education is Like No Other

by Lauren Smyczek, Class of 2008

As a recent graduate of Brookfield Academy, I often reflect upon my time at BA. I think about the many ways in which a Brookfield Academy education is above and beyond other schools. The small class sizes and the world-class faculty are two that come quickly to mind.

With the class size limit, I received individual attention, crucial to the cultivation of my young mind. Being able to learn from the incredibly skilled and knowledgeable instructors in such a setting reinforced what I was learning all the more.

Another treasured quality of my education is BA’s devotion to the humanities—classics, languages, history, literature, philosophy, and performing arts.

Beginning in Lower School, I was exposed to the cornerstones of civilization in the studies of the ancient Greeks and Romans. I have started to realize that a true education is grounded in this study of the human condition starting with ancient history, rather than just a study of one's own era.

I am deeply grateful for my Brookfield Academy education. I sense that I will continue to reap its benefits for the rest of my life. I know it did much more than equipping me for the essays, research, and readings that university years hold. For me, Brookfield Academy was a preparation for life.

Overall, however, I am fully aware that though I can sense rather vaguely the ways that BA has prepared me, I am still far too young and inexperienced and too near it to be able to recognize fully and articulate exactly what BA has done for me. And I look forward to the explorations in the rest of my academic career, my professional career, and my relationships to continue to reveal to me the boundless value of the Brookfield Academy experience.