Willow Brook Academy is situated on a 12-acre campus in the heart of Brookfield, Massachusetts and is easily accessible at the intersection of routes 9 and 148. The property allows the opportunity to offer not only a high quality Montessori education but also an in depth nature curriculum that provides hands-on Forest and Farm education as Maria Montessori envisioned. The building itself holds multiple classrooms and the property provides space for a working farm where the children can learn gardening, animal husbandry, forestry and conservation first hand through daily experiences. The campus is bordered on one side by over 400 acres of forest and wildlife management land that will allow for science and geography exploration. The other side of the property connects to Lewis Field, Brookfield’s recreation fields and playground. Last, but not least, within a short walking distance are Brookfield’s municipal buildings: Merrick Public Library, Post Office, Police Station, Fire Station and Town hall
History
The Brookfield Inn was built in 1768, and historically provided a resting place for presidents and aspiring presidents, as well as travelers from all over the world. Since its last heyday in the late 1940s and 1950s, the physical structure deteriorated significantly. The Inn finally closed in the 1960s after a fire destroyed a wing of the building.
Previous owners Paul and Melissa Puliafico purchased the Inn in 1981, and began the process of loving restoration and rehabilitation of the building and property. It was reopened as a Bed and Breakfast and provided visitors and even locals an ideal location to spend time enjoying what the surrounding area has to offer.
In 2021 the Inn was purchased by Jake and Shelby Hill, owners of Montessori Academies of New England, and transitioned into a Montessori Forest and Farm school providing educational opportunities for children from birth through nine years old.
Across from the Brookfield Inn on West Main Street (Route 9), lies a memorial that designates this part of the road as the George Washington Memorial Highway. In 1789, our first President traveled through five of the New England states. Rhode Island had not yet ratified the US Constitution. This tour was his last visit to New England, and has become the basis for all of the “George Washington slept here” claims.
Historians know that the President had breakfast at the tavern of William Scott in Palmer on October 22, 1789, had dinner at the Hitchcock Tavern in West Brookfield, now known as Ye Olde Tavern. He fed his horses in Brookfield, and spent the night at the tavern of Isaac Jenks in Spencer. It seems that Washington's party would have spent the night in Brookfield except for an unfortunate incident. As the story goes, Washington and his entourage stopped at Brookfield Inn, then owned by a Mrs. Bannister, and wanted to stay the night. Unfortunately, Mrs Bannister was suffering from a migraine headache and turned them away not knowing it was George Washington who wanted to stay the night. Washington moved on to Spencer, MA, where the innkeeper there was only too happy to oblige! Poor Mrs. Bannister was devastated when she learned of her faux pas, exclaiming that had she known it was Washington, her headache would have gone by the way.