About Brookside
Fifty years of thoughtful teaching
A school founded by teachers, still led by teachers, and shaped by the mountains around it.
Our mission
We teach children to think, care and act
Brookside Academy was founded in 1975 by four Asheville teachers who believed young children learn best when they are known well, challenged often and given room to explore. That belief still guides every hire, every schedule and every lesson plan.
We are academically ambitious. Our students read widely, write constantly and leave fluent in mathematics and scientific reasoning. But we measure success just as much by how they treat each other, how they handle a hard problem and how comfortable they are in a forest in the rain.
We are a non-sectarian, non-profit school governed by a board of parents, alumni and community members. About a third of our families receive need-based aid, because a great school should not only be for people who can easily afford it.
Our goal is not to fill children up. It is to make them want more.
Our history
From a farmhouse to 38 acres
1975
Founded in a farmhouse
Twenty-two students and four teachers start school in a rented farmhouse on Laurel Creek Road.
1988
Middle School opens
Brookside adds grades 5 to 8 and builds the stone Commons that still hosts morning meeting.
2004
The land trust
Families raise funds to protect 24 acres of forest and creek frontage from development.
2019
The Hollis Science Wing
A maker space, two labs and a greenhouse classroom open for grades 3 to 8.
2025
Fifty years
Over 2,600 alumni, and the third generation of some founding families now in kindergarten.
Leadership
The people who lead our school
Dr. Eleanor Marsh
Head of School
Twenty-five years in independent schools, former English teacher, and still teaches one eighth-grade seminar.
Marcus Bell
Director of Lower School
Former second-grade teacher and reading specialist, and the reason K–4 has Forest Days.
Ana Lucía Ortega
Director of Middle School
A biologist by training who built our advisory program and eighth-grade capstone.
Grace Whitfield
Director of Admissions and Aid
Brookside alumna and parent. She reads every application, every year.
Accreditations and memberships
- SAIS Accredited
- NAIS Member
- NCAIS Member
- Blue Ridge Outdoor Schools Network
- Appalachian Teacher Collaborative
See it for yourself
The best way to understand Brookside is to watch a class in session. Join us for a morning tour.