Breakwater School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, non-denominational,

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

school in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. The school currently enrolls up to 180 students from toddler through eighth grade. The sixth through eighth grade program is experiential and integrative, consisting of a series of 6 to 7 week projects completed over the course of the school year. 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 nature preserve in nearby

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

which it uses regularly for field trips as part of the school's Science curriculum. The Executive Director is David Sullivan, previously a Teaching Principal at the Brooklin School in

Brooklin, Maine Brooklin is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 827 at the 2020 census. History Brooklin was originally part the larger town of Sedgwick. Brooklin broke off and formed its own town in 1849. A few weeks later, ...

, and the Academic Director is Maggie Lyon.

References

Private elementary schools in Maine Private middle schools in Maine Private schools in Portland, Maine Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in Maine {{Maine-school-stub