


Founded in 2014 by Grace Roebuck, Breaking Barriers is program at South Kingstown High School that allows for students of all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to connect. The program is overseen by Speech Pathologist Rita Toolin and was created to bridge the divide between students in the special needs program and other students in the school. The program meets weekly during advisory periods and allows students a chance to connect over games, art, homework, conversation, and shared passions. The program likes to end their year by creating a collective artwork for the annual Night of the Arts at South Kingstown High School. In 2016, with the passing of one of the programs highly valued members, we organized a school wide memorial service "Soaring for Steven" where many students left kind notes and painted bird houses for a permanent exhibition.