Our Philosophy

We reinforce the rightful authority of parents, and we regard the family as the primary educational institution. The school is seen as an extension of the family, with responsibility delegated to the school by the family.

To implement our philosophical stance, we have always taken academic education as central to our mission. We attempt to sharpen the intellect by training young people in basic tools of learning and by guiding them into solid, substantive subject matter. It is taken as self-evident at the Academy that there is such a thing as Truth, and that it can be comprehended by contact with knowledge and the processes of learning: reading, writing, reasoning, speaking, and making fine distinctions.

We believe that people have different innate abilities, so the function of education is to differentiate people rather than to homogenize them. We therefore recognize intellectual and personal achievement and honor examples of good character publicly.

In hiring teachers, we seek people who have something to teach and who have a passion to teach young people. We give more attention to teachers' knowledge, experience, and temperament than to the degrees and certificates they hold.

We do not purport to be doing something new and innovative, yet Brookfield Academy has inspired new schools in other parts of the country, and other established schools often borrow its principles. At Brookfield Academy, our aim is to work with a wide range of students in the strongest traditions of American educational history.

While we are intellectually and philosophically free, we have bills to pay. Brookfield Academy operates on tuition income and seeks contributions for capital purposes. Our belief in free and competitive institutions has compelled us to eschew all forms of government assistance to the school. We regularly turn down offers to apply for government aid for teacher training, library materials, and other services.