A Celebration of the 2021-2022 School Year

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As another Breakwater school year comes to a close, it’s a perfect time to look back on a year of growth, challenge, adventure, and learning. With COVID-19 still very much part of our everyday lives, our faculty, staff, and families rose to the challenge once again and adapted to all the changes along the way. This school year also saw great adventures from our middle school field trip to New York City and Agawam, a trip on a lobster boat for our 1st and 2nd graders, countless trips to Jessieland, and new friendships formed both during and after school. Join us as our teachers and students from Breakwater School and Enrichment Center share their favorite moments of the school year.

Wishing our whole community a safe, healthy, and fun summer vacation

What was your favorite memory from this school year?

“The [middle school] NYC trip! It was absolutely incredible to reinstate the overnight program with that one combined 7/8 trip. We had a blast, learned a lot, and pushed ourselves on this adventure! I think we walked a total of 25 miles in the city and biked 14 miles. I didn't realize just how badly I missed overnights until this experience. It really is an integral part of the program, and I can't wait until next year!” - 7th/8th grade teacher 

“I loved our project-specific trips during our fall environmental unit. Meeting with experts in each groups' area of focus was an exceptional learning experience, for teachers and students! We were fortunate enough to meet people conducting a study on how lobsters are affected by warming waters, activists fighting for water rights who showed us first-hand evidence of changing water levels, environmental conservationists working to address the challenges on the lake on which they live, electric car owners and city officials responsible for planning charging stations, just to name a few. And, we had a chance to shuck our own oysters on the Portland waterfront: teaching students to use a shucking knife might have been a personal highlight!” - 7th/8th grade teacher

"The 100th day of school! We had the best party!" - Elementary School student

"I liked working on my self portrait book." - Preschool student

“My Circus Theater enrichment class. It was so much fun! I learned so much from the teachers” - Enrichment Center student

“My Letterboxing and Geocaching enrichment class. The day that stood out the most was the day my group set out to find a geocache that I as an instructor had failed to find multiple times. The students were determined to find it as a group. We stayed at the site for 20 minutes using all that we learned during our class, teamwork, and discussion of a series of clues left by other geocachers to finally find it! It was a great moment.” Enrichment Center teacher

“I will always remember the day we took the toddlers on a "mud puddle walk." The children jumped into puddle after puddle and got truly soaked! Young children are able to embrace all kinds of weather and the messy play that comes with it--I think we adults could learn a lot from their attitude!” Toddler Teacher

“Definitely the skiing enrichment. It was so fun to stay out late with my friends and ski in the dark, while at school!” - Middle School student

“Going to Agawam - I made a bunch of new friends.” -Middle School student

“Forest Friday each week.” -Kindergarten student

“My rock climbing enrichment class.” - Middle School student

“The GSA Bake Sale.” - Middle School student

“The valentines day party where we watched movies, ate snacks and drank hot cocoa in the classroom.” - Middle School student

“Our trip to Fort Williams during our conference early release day.” - Enrichment Center students

“I have many favorite memories...There were countless ways we held each other up and encouraged one another this year - student to student, teachers to students, colleagues to colleagues, parent to parent, administrators to faculty and to families, Board members to the community. In every part of Breakwater Learning - day school, aftercare and enrichment, Board of Trustees, our larger community of friends and alumni, administrators, classroom teachers, essentialists, aftercare/enrichment staff, families - all supported one another. In this second on-campus-during-a-pandemic year we remained committed to one another and to the children we serve, and we celebrated each other and our community.” - Middle School teacher

What surprised you most about this school year?

"I'm surprised with how many new friends I've made. I didn't think I would get along with so many people because I was nervous." - Elementary School student

“Getting the opportunity to help 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th grade in tinkering class.” - Middle School student

"I didn't think we would love so many special classes like Art, Music, Tinkering, Science, and Spanish." - Elementary School Student

“It went so fast!” - Middle School teacher

“Getting to see my old teacher Miss Molly on the playground on Wednesdays.” - Enrichment Center student

“Meeting and having one of my childhood friends in my class!” - Middle School student

“A cool surprise was the Karaoke we were able to do at recess.” - Elementary School student

“How many field trips we got to go on.” - Middle School student

“My students' resilience, persistence, and commitment to learning was extremely impressive. I see curiosity and an adventurous spirit help to drive Breakwater students every year but our 7/8 students showed a remarkable level of perseverance this year.” - Middle School teacher

“How much math I learned this year that seemed so complex and unreachable from where I was in 5th grade.” - Middle School student

What's one thing that you learned or that you will take away from this school year?

"Learning to write words! That was really hard at first." - Elementary School student

"I learned that having tough feelings is normal and I learned that from the best teachers." - Elementary School student

“You can be anything, you can be who you want to be, and how to make friends.” - Middle School student

"How to do adding and subtraction." - Elementary School student

“Definitely the use of the planner. It really helped me with homework.” - Middle School student

"I liked going on top of the monkey bars and then learning how to get down." - Preschool student

“That this school year has been very fun and I wish it could last forever.” - Middle School student

“Something that I learned from the past school year was that there are so many LGBTQIA+ supporters that are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Genderqueer and/or queer, etc.” - Middle School student

"We learned the days of the week song." - Preschool student

"I learned how plants are made." - Preschool student

“My math skills and the things I learned in math.” - Middle School student

“Students are incredibly grateful for their experiences and ready for the challenge of anything! They really proved that with NYC.” - Middle School teacher

“People can change if you give them a chance and if you don’t you’ll never know the rest of their story.” - Middle School student

“How great it was to have our multi-school after school community back together. It was great seeing friendships form across schools again.” - Enrichment Center teacher

“I learned the ‘floss’ rule to help with writing.” - Elementary School student

“I learned to read a wide range of book genres.” - Middle School student

“I think that together my students and I began to learn how to effectively manage and adjust in this ever-changing Covid-y world that has become a new reality. We found ways to positively interact and connect with the world and our community, and I will continue to use these strategies in my own life and with my own family.” - Middle School teacher