Elise grew up in Maine and received a Bachelors Degree in Creative Writing, English and French Literature, and Violin Performance from Sarah Lawrence College in 2019. She spent her junior year in Paris, studying French Literature at Reid Hall (Columbia Centre), and violin at the conservatory L’École Normale de Musique in their professional division.
After graduation, Elise joined the English Classroom at EFDM where she worked as an assistant before pursuing a Master’s in Creative Writing from University of Edinburgh in 2020. Elise returned to EFDM’s staff in 2021 as our PYP Coordinator, where worked to guide the school staff and community through the two-year complex accreditation process from Candidate to Authorized IB World School. Since EFDM received its authorisation on its first attempt in May 2023, Elise continues to work with teachers, inform the school community on the PYP practices and philosophy, as well as liaise with the IB Organisation on behalf of the school. Elise is also the author of our comprehensive Curriculum Guide which breaks down different aspects of the French Curriculum as well as the PYP Curriculum Framework.
During her masters in Edinburgh, Elise also pursued a ESL/ELL certificate from Cambridge English: Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and has taught English to students of all ages in Paris, and around the world online. As a fully bilingual member of EFDM’s staff, holding the highest French DELF certification Level: C2, Elise also provides private tutoring in French from secondary school to adults, preparing students for exams like AP French or DELF or to brush up their language skills before going on holiday to La Côte D’Azur, or Paris.
Elise is a remote member of staff and returns to our South Freeport Campus often, from Paris, where she lives with her tuxedo cat, Barnaby, (also from Maine). Outside of her work at school, Elise is Fiction Editor at Orion’s Belt, a literary science fiction/fantasy magazine and enjoys traveling, reading, writing, baking and learning new languages.
Fun Fact: Elise is the oldest EFDM’s alum, having started in the schools first Grande Section in Winthrop – Maine in 2002!