Breakwater School
| Breakwater School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 856 Brighton Avenue Portland, Maine, 04102  United States | |
| Coordinates | 43°40′22″N 70°18′51″W / 43.67265°N 70.31415°WCoordinates: 43°40′22″N 70°18′51″W / 43.67265°N 70.31415°W |
| Information | |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Head of school | David Sullivan |
| Website | www.breakwaterschool.org |
Breakwater School is an independent, non-denominational, co-educational preschool, elementary school, and middle school in Portland, Maine.
The school currently enrolls up to 180 students from preschool through eighth grade. Its 3-year old and 4-year old preschool curriculum is based on the Reggio Emilia Approach. The K–5 curriculum is progressive in nature and focuses on being developmentally appropriate for each student. The sixth through eighth grade program is experiential and integrative in nature, consisting of a series of 6 to 7 week projects completed over the course of the school year. The Head of School is David Sullivan, previously a Teaching Principal at the Brooklin School in Brooklin, Maine.
Breakwater was founded as a day care center, named Playtime Haven, by Frank and El Costa in 1956 after their son recovered from a serious illness. As it grew, it moved to a series of different locations in South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, until 1982 when it purchased its current location in Portland. Since then, the school has also been given a 21-acre (8.5 ha) nature preserve in nearby Cumberland which it uses regularly for field trips as part of the school's Science curriculum.