Who We Are
Our Mission
Breakthrough Miami uses a unique “students-teaching-students” model to create a rigorous, vibrant learning community, where highly motivated, traditionally underrepresented 5th-12th grade students are supported to achieve post-secondary success and emerging leaders are inspired to become the next generation of educators and advocates.
Breakthrough’s eight-year continuous program provides an unparalleled rigorous academic curriculum, complemented by leadership development that progresses and scaffolds to engage and meet students’ developmental needs based at each grade level.
Recruited in the 4th grade, Breakthrough Scholars begin the program in the summer before 5th grade and are served through graduation from high school and then welcomed to our Alumni Network. Scholars benefit from:
- Year-round academic programming utilizing a near-peer model and experiential learning approach in a 6-week Summer Institute and school-year Saturday programs.
- Enrichment, character and leadership development to broaden their experiences, build self-efficacy, problem solving, interpersonal skills, and promote engaged citizenship.
- School options guidance and academic advising uniquely supports families in navigating school choice to ensure Scholars are enrolled in rigorous programs and schools that align with their interests, talents and aspirations.
- College access and readiness for 9th-12th graders focusing on competencies for post-secondary life including advanced academic support, test prep, financial aid assistance.
- Signature student-teaching-students model employs older students as teachers, mentors and role models in a Fellowship that has been named a Top Ten service learning experience by The Princeton Review.
- College Transition Support and Professional Networking offered through the Breakthrough Miami Alumni Network.
Breakthrough Miami programming annually impacts:
1,600 Breakthrough Scholars: high-potential rising 5th – 12th graders who commit to an 8-year cost-free journey including six-week Summer Institutes and school year programs.
160 Teaching Fellows: outstanding high school seniors and college students who serve in a competitive 8-week summer fellowship leading instruction and mentorship.
600 Volunteers: high school students (including current Breakthrough Scholars), Breakthrough alumni, and local residents/professionals who serve as teachers, coaches, mentors and program assistants.
Breakthrough is a unique bridge builder across communities. Our Scholars are recruited from 150 zip codes – half the zip codes in South Florida. Our embedded service-learning model with our host site school partners leverages the passion, expertise, resources and network of the students, parents, faculty and alumni at leading independent schools and local universities, creating transformational experiences for all involved.
Breakthrough year-round host site school partners include Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Gulliver Preparatory School, Miami Country Day School, Palmer Trinity School, Ransom Everglades School, Saint Andrews School and the University of Miami, as well as a summer-only site at Florida International University.
Breakthrough Miami was recognized as the nation’s best summer learning programming with the 2018 NY LIfe Excellence in Summer Learning Award by the National Summer Learning Association.
Evidence-based Impact
Breakthrough Miami’s Theory of Change asserts that if students have access to out-of-school learning and near-peer mentorship then they will: improve academic and social skills, increase educational attainment, and establish meaningful career pathways.
The efficacy of Breakthrough Miami’s program was recently validated through an external evaluation. Results from the quasi-experimental design study found a statistically significant improvement in GPA and enrollment in advanced courses, and a reduction in overall absences, among Breakthrough Miami Scholars compared to their matched comparison group.
<p”>Consistently our 10-year data indicates over 80% of students earn a 3.0 or higher GPA. We also track a series of metrics for 8th through 11th graders, with strong evidence-based correlation to college success. The following statistics evidence the positive impact of the Breakthrough Miami model:</p”>
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65% of 8th graders take an advanced math class (Algebra or Geometry)
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Over 75% of 11th grade students take two or more advanced classes
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Nearly 50% of 9th graders take Geometry of Algebra II
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100% graduate on time from high school, and 98%+ enroll immediately in college.
Data collected and analyzed by the National Student Clearinghouse also reveals the significant long-term impact of the Breakthrough model on college persistence:
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The average immediate enrollment in four-year institutions by our Scholars exceeds 90%.
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More than 85% of Breakthrough alumni persist to the second year of collegeBreakthrough Scholars are out-performing their peers, regardless of socio-economic background, in six-year graduation rates (69%+).
Education research focused on out-of-school learning and educational attainment further supports the Breakthrough Miami model:
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Summer learning programs have potential to reduce the academic achievement gap between students from low-income and higher-income households (Lauer, et al.,2006; Augustine, et al.,2016);
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Near-peer mentors with whom mentees can identify with positively impact mentee self-efficacy and academic achievement (DuBois & Karcher, 2014; Wilson & Grigorian,2018);
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The longer students are involved in academic out-of-school-time programs, the greater their academic improvement (McCombs, et al., 2011);
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Interventions designed to increase degree achievement are most effective when started before high school, as student academic achievement by 8th grade is a greater predictor of college success than high school success alone (ACT,2008);
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Participation in any type of pre-college program doubles the odds of enrollment in a 4-year college (Pell Institute,2015);
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Postsecondary education is associated with benefits such as increased income, higher job satisfaction, improved health, and more engagement in civic activities including voting and volunteerism (Le, Mariano&Faxon-Mills, 2015).
National and Local Recognition:
- Following a two-year review, Breakthrough Miami earned prestigious accreditation in 2024 from Points of Light (now ALIVE) recognizing excellence in Volunteer Service Management, positioning Breakthrough among the top 11% of non-profits nationally.
- In 2023 Breakthrough Miami was selected and recognized as The Children’s Trust Program of the Year, a prestigious honor from Miami’s premier agency for children and youth services, and awarded 2023 Program of the Year by Volunteer Florida, in recognition of our excellence as an AmeriCorps program.
- In 2021 and 2022 Breakthrough Miami was awarded South Florida’s only Inspire Change Social Justice grant by the National Football League.
- In 2020 Breakthrough Miami was among eight organizations nationally to be awarded the highly competitive New York Life Aim High Grant in support of a new Scholar Success Plan Initiative.
- Recognizing outstanding virtual programming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Florida Education Foundation granted Breakthrough Miami an Innovation in Distance Learning Award in 2020
- Of 300 Gates Scholars selected nationally in 2020, three were Breakthrough Miami Scholars.
- In 2018 BTM received the New York Life Excellence in Summer Learning Award from the National Summer Learning Association. This award recognizes the best summer learning programs in the country that demonstrate excellence in accelerating academic achievement, and the promotion of healthy development for students in underserved communities.
- In 2017 the Miami Foundation selected BTM to receive a 50th Anniversary Signature Grant, one of just five organizations recognized in South Florida for providing extraordinary opportunities to our community’s most vulnerable populations.