Dear Elmwood Franklin Parents,
As the news of the earthquake in Haiti reached our children, many of them asked, “How are we going to help?” Given how much we’ve done just this year—collected food around the holidays for Ronald McDonald House and the Food Bank of Western New York, donated winter clothing for recently relocated refugees through Journey’s End, and held a penny drive to support Children’s Hospital—the students seemed to know that it was a matter of how and when we would do something for Haiti, not if. Of course, this instinct to help has been developed at home and here at school, and they’ve seen how little things can make a big difference in the lives of those in need. Our 8th grade French students spearheaded the effort to raise funds for Haiti relief, making signs and educating us all about what’s happened there. In total, the EFS community raised $3012.15! While some of this total was donated by parents, who made their contributions here in addition to or instead of participating in other efforts, there were many, many students who brought in their own money, whether a dollar, a handful of coins, a month’s allowance, or the entire contents of a cherished piggy bank. They demonstrated a level of compassion, empathy, caring, and commitment that would make any parent—and teacher—proud.
Thus far, winter has left us with relatively modest piles of snow to deal with. Nevertheless, the snow has at times narrowed the road. Please help our traffic by pulling and parking as close to the curb as possible to allow cars to pass, and remember to use the name placards for pick-up to help expedite things. Also, a few parents have cringed at children being let out on the driver’s side of the car. Please, if possible, only allow your child(ren) to exit on the sidewalk side. And finally, at least one parent has become concerned about students grabbing things from the trunk as other cars pull up behind, particularly when the roads are slick. Please continue to use caution, common sense, and common courtesy when driving on New Amsterdam, crossing the street, picking up, and dropping off.
I think everyone probably noticed our “media blitz” in January. In an effort to continue to attract the best possible students to EFS, we used billboards and fifteen-second TV spots to promote our admissions open house. And for the second year Elaine Acker and the Prep and Lower School teachers organized four Saturday Story Hours last month to introduce EFS to new families. Even with all this action, word of mouth referrals remain far and away our most effective way of spreading the news of what EFS offers students from pre-K through 8th grade, so we ask for your help as well.
As a parent, at some point you had a choice to make about where to send your son or daughter for school – in fact, you make that choice each year. And in making that choice, you undoubtedly compared EFS against another school or schools, weighing factors such as the quality of the teachers and staff; curriculum and extracurriculars; physical plant; safety and security; school culture and spirit; and, of course, the cost. So you went through a deliberative process, and then made a choice to enroll your child at EFS. Congratulations and a thank you are in order: you are a "thinking parent" and made Elmwood Franklin your "choice"— and thus are representative of our new advertising themeline, "Elmwood Franklin School: The Thinking Parent’s Choice."
We launched our ad campaign just after New Year's to promote our January Open House (attendance was about double our previous one), and we've gotten a lot of positive feedback. A number of our parents were kind enough to lend their voice or visual presence to the television spots and billboard, and I think their comments reinforce what our parents typically say about the EFS experience—that they made a "choice" that they "think" is the best for their son or daughter, and were happy to share it with the outside world, as I hope you will be by referring us to other parents in your circle of friends and associates.
Finally, two reminders. First, please note that EFS will be closed on Monday, March 1 for faculty professional development. Our teachers will be joining the faculties of Buffalo Seminary, Nichols, Park, and Gow to learn about the latest theory and practice in the field of differentiated instruction in the classroom. And second, for those of you who like to plan ahead, a draft of our 2010-2011 academic year calendar is posted under the calendar tab on our website.
Sincerely,
Tony Featherston
Head of School
