Breakthrough Manchester

Breakthrough Manchester (formerly Summerbridge Manchester) is a diverse community of learners that strives for excellence by empowering young people to achieve their educational goals.

A tuition-free, year-round, multi-year, academic program, Breakthrough Manchester is based upon a dual mission. First, Breakthrough helps promising Manchester middle school students, particularly those with limited opportunities, build the skills and confidence to enter and succeed in college preparatory high school programs. Second, through its "students teaching students" model, the program inspires talented high school and college students to pursue careers in education. Since its inception, the program has helped over 500 Manchester youth get on the college track and mentored 800 young teachers.

Founded in 1991 at The Derryfield School, Breakthrough Manchester was the third program to be established in the national Breakthrough Collaborative. In 2008, the program changed its name to Breakthrough to better represent the long-term nature of the program and Breakthrough is an important way in which The Derryfield School fulfills its commitment to purposeful involvement in the local community. Each year, approximately 30-35 Derryfield students and alumni serve as teachers in the Breakthrough School-Year Program (School After School and Saturdays) and/or the summer session. Teaching at Breakthrough programs is consistently named a Top Ten Internship in America by the Princeton Review.

In order to provide this program tuition-free to Manchester students, Breakthrough relies on the generous support of individuals, foundations, corporations and service organizations. For more information about the program or to support Breakthrough Manchester, please visit the Breakthrough website.