Elmwood Franklin School will proudly welcome alumna Lindsay Acker '12 as the graduation speaker at the Class of 2021 commencement ceremony on June 9.
 
Lindsay Acker '12 (she/her) is a talker and listener, and she comes from long lines of the same. She recognizes herself as a composition of the people, relationships, and communities that pour into her, and she tries to bring that melody with her every day and everywhere she goes. Her relationships, experiences, and studies have led to a passion for transformative and restorative justice, working to reimagine the systems that uphold domination and punishment into ones that thrive on equitable collaboration and accountability.

These passions, in turn, brought her to the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition. At ECRJC, Lindsay's role as the program and case coordinator encourages and supports accountability and healing in communities in Buffalo, NY, through community circles and restorative conferencing. Lindsay also volunteers at the Third Space Initiative at United States Heartland China Association. Here she uses her facilitation and circle keeping-skills rooted in Indigenous practices to create an equitable and empathetic space, undermining conventional power dynamics and advancing the practice of intercultural engagement. Her enthusiasm for the transformative power of stories includes a passion for theater, and in non-Covid times you can find her attending, teaching, acting, or working on and off stage.

Lindsay is a proud 2012 EFS grad and graduated valedictorian from Williamsville South High School in 2016. Following high school, she attended Eastern Mennonite University, earning her Bachelor's degree in Peacebuilding and Development in 2020. Lindsay completed her Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation in 2021 from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.

Elmwood Franklin School will proudly welcome alumna Carolyn Sufrin ’89 as the graduation speaker at the Class of 2019 commencement ceremony this June.
 
Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and an obstetrician-gynecologist specializing in family planning at Johns Hopkins University. She has worked extensively on reproductive health issues affecting incarcerated women, from providing clinical care in jail, to research, policy, and advocacy. Her work is situated at the intersection of reproductive justice, health care, and mass incarceration, which she examines in her book, Jailcare: Finding the Safety Net for Women Behind Bars.

Carolyn's current research activities include collecting data on pregnancy outcomes in prisons and jails across the country, treatment of opioid use disorder in pregnancy in jails, and how incarceration affects abortion access. Her work has been published by and featured in numerous scholarly and popular outlets, including NPR and the New York Times. Dr. Sufrin also serves on the board of directors of the National Commission on Correctional Health care as the liaison for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  

A graduate of Elmwood Franklin School, Carolyn earned an MD from Johns Hopkins, a PhD in medical anthropology from University of California at San Francisco, an MA in cultural anthropology from Harvard, and a BA from Amherst College.  

Our seventh grade math teams were awarded second place in their division and first place overall in the 48th annual Brother Edward Martin Math Contest, competing against 165 students from 18 different schools.

Our team of two seventh grade students participating in the SIFMA Foundation's Stock Market Game placed first in the regional competition of middle school students, competing against more than 200 teams and outperforming the S&P index.

The Mathematical Olympiads provide challenging, thought-provoking problems that stretch the abilities of students, strengthening their foundation for advanced studies. This 25-question contest is administered as five questions a month over five months and has nearly 160,000 participants worldwide! Five sixth grade students were awarded silver pins for scoring among the top 10%, and five fifth and sixth graders were recognized for scoring in the top 20% in the Mathematical Olympiads in the Elementary Division. Additionally, two eighth grade students were recognized for scoring in the top 25% of the Middle School Division. 

A sixth grader achieved an Honorable Mention in the National French Contest, ranked against 3,104 students competing in Elementary Division. Three eighth grade students participating at the Level 1 High School Division against 17,200 students nationwide received Honorable Mentions, and an eighth grade student won a silver medal for achieving a 5th place national ranking.

The National Spanish Examination is a contest to recognize student achievement and proficiency in the study of Spanish. Three seventh grade students received Honorable Mentions, one earned a bronze medal, and one student ranked in the top 10% earning a silver medal. Participating in the High School Division, six eighth graders received Honorable Mentions, one received a bronze medal, and two students ranked in the top 10% earning silver medals.

Five students participated in the Erie County Music Educators Association Solo Festival and all scored between 98 and a perfect 100. As a result of their hard work, three students were selected to participate in an All-County Ensemble this March. Additionally, four students were selected to participate in the Buffalo Niagara Youth Chorus.

Congratulations to all our students on these achievements!

February 1 is World Read Aloud Day!

We are challenging all families to read aloud together at home this week and share a reading selfie to social media with #EFSreads2019. We will collect all of your photos and put them into a movie to share with our students and community (make sure to set your photos to public, so we can see them). If you are not on social media, we still want you to participate! Email your photo to msaldanha@elmwoodfranklin.org. Whether you are posting or emailing, please do so by Thursday, January 31 at 10 a.m. On Friday morning, we will come together as a school, read a book aloud, and watch the video of our families’ photos.

Why are we so excited about World Read Aloud Week?

1. We love books!
2. Research shows that reading aloud to children at least three times a week develops stronger reading skills, leading to greater academic achievement in school.
3. Sharing cozy time with a book as part of a bedtime routine is a great way unwind at the end of a busy day.
4. Reading aloud to children models strong fluency skills, such as language development, comprehension, and understanding of language.
5. Focused time with literature helps to enrich the skills that we are building throughout their day at EFS.

​So, curl up with your family and a good book, snap a reading selfie, and send it our way! We can't wait to see what you have been reading!

When you think of the great scientific advancements of the modern age, you are probably not picturing a group of fifth graders trying to determine the pulpiest orange juice or most absorbent paper towel. Or seventh graders learning fire building techniques.

But when you think of science from an educational perspective, you see how these are great advancements—advancements in the scientific thinking of these students—and how, in this sense, Elmwood Franklin is a hotbed of scientific discovery. From the earliest of grades, kids are taught that science is more than a collection of facts to learn and memorize—science involves asking questions, observing, organizing, testing, analyzing, solving problems, even changing the world.

By the time they reach Upper School, students are ready for the more advanced scientific topics that await them. Steve Rao, who teaches science to grades five and seven, tackles complex subjects such as cell structure and theory, virus particles, and environmental sustainability. The issues get more sophisticated, and the kids’ interest rises to the challenge. After all, Steve hopes that "the lessons learned in science class here at EFS will inspire these students to find a cure for a disease or a solution to live more sustainably on our planet. I love when kids get excited about the scientific process and when they ask questions about our world!"

Years at EFS: 17

Place of birth: Saginaw, Michigan

Education: BS in biology from Kalamazoo College, Master’s in environmental education from the Audubon Expedition Institute of Lesley University

Favorite book: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Favorite movie: the Star Wars trilogy

Scientific discovery he’d like to make: “I’d like to discover a renewable, clean-burning fuel that’s cheap and abundant.”

Heroes: “My personal hero was my uncle B.K., the coolest guy, who taught me to always think with an open mind.” Steve also cites “all writers, artists, musicians, politicians, scientists, teachers, and students around the world who speak out against injustice and inequality and work toward a more peaceful and sustainable future.”

A few things you may not know about Steve: He holds honors in two very different enterprises: In fourth grade, Steve co-won his school’s breakdancing competition, and then in college, his tennis team won the national championship. In pursuit of his Master’s degree, he participated in an experiential, traveling learning program that focused on one bio-region of the country each semester. He lived on a converted school bus and camped outside every night, even in December in Colorado.

Eighth grade students were given a series of challenges to encourage them to think creatively and examine problems from fresh perspectives to find solutions. These activities were led by Dr. Cyndi Burnett, Associate Professor at the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State, as part of the students’ preparation for their capstone projects.

​The Beginners in our three-year-old program put their knowledge of one-to-one correspondence and counting to good use when they discovered five little pumpkins in their classroom!

Get to know our new teachers at EFS!

Along with more than 60 new students, Elmwood Franklin School welcomed two new faculty members this year: Kym Harris (left), Prep I teacher, and Qian Pieri (right), Mandarin teacher. Check out the video below to learn more about our new educators.

Elmwood Franklin School will proudly welcome alumna Lauren Gioia ’90 as the graduation speaker at the Class of 2018 commencement ceremony this June.
 
Lauren joined Sotheby's in 1998 and has been in the art market ever since. She was appointed Director of Sotheby’s Press Office, Americas in 2010, and in 2015, Lauren was promoted to Sotheby's Worldwide Director of Communications. During her tenure, Lauren has been responsible for the promotion of numerous historic auctions, including the sales of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, The Magna Carta, and The Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection.

As Worldwide Director of Communications, Lauren oversees a network of more than 20 international press officers operating in more than ten countries and travels extensively to support Sotheby’s auctions, events, and initiatives. Lauren's responsibilities include all corporate communications connected to Sotheby’s obligations as a public company, as well as the execution of Sotheby’s social media strategy.
 
A graduate of Elmwood Franklin School and Nichols School, Lauren earned her Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.