Brooks School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in North Andover, Massachusetts on the shores of Lake Cochichewick. History Brooks School was founded in 1926 by Endicott Peabody, the headmaster of Groton School at the time, and was named after Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), a well-known clergyman and author who spent summers in North Andover, Massachusetts, and briefly served as Bishop of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church during the 1890s. The school opened on September 29, 1927, with fourteen boys in the first and second forms (seventh and eighth grades), two masters, a headmaster and headmistress, and one dormitory. The school added one form (grade) each year thereafter until it comprised grades 7–12, denoted by the British educational notations, Forms I, II, III, IV, V, and VI, respectively. Forms I and II (seventh and eighth grades) were later dropped. Brooks School has had just four heads of school in over 80 years. The School's first headmaster, Frank D. Ashburn (a graduate of Groton School, Yale University and Columbia Law School), was appointed at the age of 25 and served for 46 years until his retirement in 1973. Ashburn was succeeded by H. Peter Aitken who served until 1986 when Lawrence W. Becker succeeded him. Becker, who stepped down in 2008, was succeeded by John R. Packard, previously the Dean of Faculty. The school started admitting day students in the early 1950s and became co-educational in 1979. Today, the school enrolls 185 boys and 160 girls who come from many states and foreign countries. There has been a steady increase of students of color and of international students, and the school aspires to achieve gender equality. In addition, approximately 20 percent of students receive financial aid. Notable alumni Bill Chisholm ‘87, Private Equity investor - founding partner -Symphony Technology Group (STG) Barry Bingham, Jr. (1933–2006), United States newspaper publisher and television and radio executive, the last descendant of the Bingham family that controlled Louisville, Kentucky's daily newspapers, a television station, and two radio stations for much of the 20th century Frank Blake '67, American businessman and lawyer, CEO and Chairman of Home Depot Jake Burton Carpenter, founder and chairman of Burton Snowboards Gene Clapp, silver medalist 1972 Summer Olympics men's eight Charlie Davies '04, United States professional soccer striker who played for the New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union, 2008 Olympian. William R. Ferris '60, United States author and scholar, former