Breakwater School

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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 nature preserve in nearby Cumberland which it uses regularly for field trips as part of the school's Science curriculum.