A premier independent preschool to eighth grade school in Buffalo, NY.
Elmwood Franklin School
  • About
    • Welcome from the Head
    • Mission and Core Values
    • Leadership
    • Board of Trustees
    • Faculty
    • News
    • Head Lines: Head of School Blog
    • Professional Development
    • History
    • Facilities
    • Careers at Elmwood Franklin
  • Admissions
    • Welcome
    • EFS At a Glance
    • School Community
    • Admissions Events
    • Admissions Process
    • Tuition & Value
    • International Students
  • Academics
    • Academic Philosophy
    • Prep >
      • Reggio Emilia
    • Lower School
    • Upper School >
      • Mastery Learning
  • Student Life
    • Afterschool Care
    • Afterschool Enrichment
    • Arts
    • Athletics >
      • Sports Calendar
      • Game Sites
    • Lunch
    • Options Program
    • Outdoor Education
    • Service Learning
    • Student Dress Code
    • Summer Camp
    • Summer Work
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • My EFS
    • Parents >
      • School Calendar
      • Sports Calendar
    • Alumni >
      • Alumni in the News
      • Share Your News
    • Faculty
    • Students
  • Giving
    • Annual Fund >
      • Giving Report
    • Auction
    • Gifts of Stock
    • Planned Giving
    • Volunteer
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Location

Upper School

Grades 5-8
Grades 5 through 8 comprise our Upper School division. At Elmwood Franklin, our older students enjoy new freedoms, privileges, and responsibilities as their studies are expanded and accelerated. Our program is specially designed to support the intellectual, physical, and socio-emotional growth of young adolescents in an environment that is both rigorous and nurturing.

Individual subject teachers work together in advisory teams to ensure each student’s overall success. The Upper School academic program uses a “mastery learning” approach to build students’ skills and prepare them for future challenges. Mastery learning assures that all our students reach a high level of understanding that gives them the foundation upon which to build subsequent learning.

A comprehensive offering of learning experiences provides students with the chance to discover and develop their own interests, while service learning and character education encourage students to see service not as a requirement but as a way of life. Eighth grade culminates with the IDEA project, an interdisciplinary capstone project that showcases students’ differing interests and viewpoints, as well as their creativity and range of skills. Upon graduation, students are confident and well-prepared academically, possess valuable organization and study skills, and demonstrate the qualities of strong and compassionate leaders.
The IDEA Project
The IDEA Project is our eighth grade capstone project. IDEA (short for Individually Determined Exploration Area) gives students the opportunity to use the reading, writing, research, and presentation skills they’ve gained in their years at EFS and apply them to a creative, interdisciplinary, long-term inquiry project.

Students each pursue their own topic of interest, inspired by a guiding question. Working across disciplines over the course of many months, the students engage in advanced research using not just the regular references, but also primary sources, personal interviews, specialized databases, and academic journals.

To complete the project, each student writes a research paper, creates a visual “artifact,” and produces a video presentation. The eighth graders also share their discoveries with younger students through lessons they plan and teach themselves.

Program Highlights
  • Overnight outdoor education in all Upper School grades
  • Frequent field trips
  • Robotics and coding instruction
  • Three foreign language options
  • Integrated public speaking
  • Options enrichment classes
  • Learning Lab
  • One-to-one iPad program
  • Science and Technology Fair
  • IDEA project
  • Medieval Night
  • Overnight Toronto trip
  • Johns Hopkins Talent Search
  • National Junior Honor Society
  • Guest speakers
  • Character education
  • Service learning/community service
  • Life skills education

Athletics
  • Physical education 5x per week
  • Interscholastic sports teams
  • Ski club

Arts
  • Burchfield Penney docent program
  • 5/6 grade musical
  • 7/8 grade play
  • Instrumental music
  • Choral music
  • Fall and spring concerts

School Spirit
  • Blue-Gray competition
  • In-school social events
  • Student government

Facilities
  • Art studio equipped with 3D printers and 3D scanner
  • Theatre
  • Greenhouse
  • Dining room and full kitchen
  • Gymnasium
  • Library
  • Mac lab
  • Smart classrooms

Services
  • High school placement assistance
  • Early morning care (7:30 a.m.)
  • Afterschool program (until 5:45 p.m.)

This is the background of the Bottom Area shown below. It'll display correctly on published site.
If you don't want background for the bottom area, simply hover over the bottom of this image to delete it. The background of the bottom area will be a solid dark color.

Drama director Christine Cooke-MacVittie, in collaboration with the 7/8 grade students, wrote Reboot, an original play about a group of tech-addicted teens who are sent off to a rehab camp where the counselors are not what they seem.
Fifth grade students are making their own jump ropes in art class!
The Mystery Reader Program brings a special guest—parents, grandparents, and other teachers—into the classroom each week to introduce the students to a new book.

Find us on:


​Elmwood Franklin School is accredited by:
Picture

© Elmwood Franklin School | 104 New Amsterdam Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14216
admissions@elmwoodfranklin.org | 716-877-5035 | fax 716-877-9680
✕