Middle school programs that meet the developmental needs of students should be relevant, challenging, integrative, and exploratory. Young adolescents are in the midst of major shifts and changes in the ways they are able to think, reason, and process information. Their development is uneven, sometimes rapid, sometimes gradual and irregular, so most middle school students require “ongoing, concrete, experiential learning in order to develop intellectually” .
-- National Middle School Association

Relevant…
Learning is an active, social process. Students who are interested and engaged learn most effectively. A developmentally responsive program places students, not subject areas, at the center of the curriculum. Because they are curious about the world, and vitally concerned with their place in it, middle school students thrive when they are involved with activities and problem-solving experiences that make a difference in their school, their community, and the world. Their learning is even more effective when they have had a hand in designing these activities.

Breakwater’s curriculum offers both the “hands-on” concrete activities highly recommended for middle school as well as “hands-joined” experiences in which students and teachers collaborate in deciding which themes, topics, questions, and problems to study in depth. Themes and activities that arise from students’ questions about themselves and their world are highly relevant to them. When curriculum is developed using students’ questions, concerns, and ideas, almost any aspect of a traditional academic curriculum can become fascinating to young adolescents.

Challenging…
We believe middle school students are highly capable, and our teachers understand that merely “covering content” does not necessarily mean students are learning. Careful attention is paid to helping students understand what skills, habits of mind, and concepts are being developed during each year of their middle school experience and each in-depth study or expedition. Decisions about which skills to focus upon are based on a thorough examination of local, state, and national standards and expectations in each curriculum area. Students learn to monitor, reflect upon, and assess their own progress; they also talk regularly with teachers and parents about their individual learning goals, needs, and triumphs.

Integrative…
Young adolescents learn best when their experiences are inter-connected, not separated into “subjects” or taught in isolation. Our curriculum helps students make sense of their lives and the world around them. As a response to their questions and concerns about global warming, for example, Breakwater students planned and organized a multi-school Student Summit on Climate Change. This project gave our students ample opportunities to develop critical thinking, reading, writing, math, art, problem-solving, communication, and research skills. Work on this activity blurred traditional academic subject lines as students eagerly pursued knowledge and developed skills in order to achieve their project goals. Their work led to more effective learning of critical skills because the project was highly relevant to their lives and interests.

Exploratory…
Middle school is a place for wide-ranging exploration. Our students are discovering new interests and passions by trying on the hats of historians, inventors, mathematicians, artists, scientists, designers, writers, musicians, humanitarians, and scholars. Our curriculum helps students broaden their view of themselves, of others, and the world. It also provides a number of opportunities to collaborate with a variety of community organizations. As young adolescents discover more about their own aptitudes and abilities, they develop interests that can become life-long. Exploratory activities help young people become well rounded, self-sufficient problem solvers and critical thinkers, highly invested in their own learning.

Mastering skills and gaining competencies - Preparing students for high school
In designing experiences for students, our teachers rely on a matrix of skills and content requirements drawn from the Maine Learning Results and national standards in various curriculum areas (i.e. the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics “Standards”). This knowledge allows us to both guide students in understanding and evaluating their progress relative to local and national standards, and plan their successful transition to public and independent high schools.

Learning and practicing wise and responsible use of technology is integrated throughout our program. Technology opens up many new and innovative instructional and learning opportunities. It can help students develop higher-order thinking skills, and can provide the most current information available while allowing teachers and students to interact in creative and interesting ways with real-world resources. Students are presented with many opportunities to develop personal responsibility and independence as they discover varied uses of technology. Discussions about what it means to live in a technological society help young adolescents become educated, savvy users of media and technology.

Our students acquire “traditional” skills and competencies in ways that are interesting and relevant to them, and that promote a better understanding of the connections among the topics and skills they are learning. Our students also learn to think and communicate critically, creatively, and analytically, to pose questions and pursue answers, to work collaboratively, to consider and respect multiple perspectives, and to be strong self-advocates and engaged, responsible citizens.