An exciting addition at Breakwater this year has been the creation of our middle school band and chorus program. Music has always played a strong role in the Breakwater curriculum - students are introduced to music and songs in our toddler and preschool classes and they learn more about different instruments, rhythms, and basic musical notation in K-4th grade. Our music concerts pre-COVID-19 always filled the gym and featured large and small group musical ensembles and cross grade performances. The addition of band and chorus really builds on the work of the incredible music teachers at Breakwater both past and present. Middle school chorus director, Stephanie Davis, shares, “By the end of fourth grade you can see the students who really want to perfect melodies and rhythms on instruments or those who keep asking ‘when are we picking solos for the performance?!’” Our band and chorus programs now allow students to make this choice and expand on their musical knowledge on a wind/ percussion instrument or through singing. 

What a school year it has been! Breakwater faculty, staff, and caregivers met the many challenges of this unique school year by navigating how to best support and teach students during a global pandemic together. Building on what we have learned collectively since March of 2020, we were able to meet the moment and give students the best possible learning environment. Although the year may have looked different and come with many challenges, struggles, and fewer moments to be all together, what allowed us to push through was our commitment to our students and the mission of Breakwater. This allowed us to have a school year with strong academic growth, community, learning, and memories. Join us as we look back on the 2020-2021 school year with reflections from our faculty and students.

In Breakwater’s early childhood programs, there is a strong focus on immersing students in a multitude of sensory experiences and giving them a rich exposure to different materials. One of many such ways our toddler teachers incorporate sensory experience and skill building into their curriculum is through cooking and baking. Cooking and baking is used in both of our toddler classrooms and toddlers have just as much fun (if not more fun!) creating a dish, snack, or dessert as they do eating it.

The bulletin boards in the main building are beginning to fill with student work created in the art studio with K-8 Art Essentialist, Jennifer Emrich. Although our greater community can’t see these displays in person right now, we hope to share with you what our young artists have been working on so far this school year. Despite the fact that we are able to gather less as a whole school community in traditional ways, creating art work as a whole school helps to create shared experience and a form of connection during a challenging time. Jennifer notes that "these kinds of all-school projects create a chance for cohesion and conversation… It will be very exciting when all of [the work] is displayed, and the visual conversation displays and reinforces the joy, power and promise of our Breakwater community.”