Faculty & Staff

True engagement comes only through authentic experimentation and risk taking. While the classroom experience is the core of any student's experience, administrators are responsible for ensuring that the conditions to learn come not only in classrooms, but also on playing fields and courts, theaters, art spaces, and in the community.
-Seth Hanford

Students must feel comfortable before they can learn. I expect my classroom to be an environment where students are allowed to take risks. I look for situations when I can look at a problem for the first time with students and model for them how to try and potentially fail in finding the right solution, only to rebound and try new ideas.
-Doug Sept

Truly amazing things occur at Elgin Academy because we work to ensure that our students feel known and have a sense of belonging and purpose. At EA, students learn and discover in an active environment built on partnership, respect, compassion, challenge, and integrity. When students feel safe to express their ideas, make mistakes, ask questions, and be creative, meaningful learning takes place and it's magical.
-Amy Criswell

Since I came to Elgin Academy as a parent, I saw that Elgin Academy is a place for students to learn who they really are. They are encouraged to be risk takers, to take chances and to go outside of their comfort zone. As a result, graduates of EA are prepared to take on the world and do amazing things.
-Bonita Goist

I am passionate about fostering cultural diversity through student exchange and international education. It is my mission to enhance cultural perspectives, mutual respect, and global responsibility through building programs and services for the development of international students, local students and the greater community of Elgin.
-Katie Kruse

My philosophy as a school counselor is the belief that every student can succeed. Learning is a lifelong process and I want to help students foster a positive self-image all in collaboration with the school, home, and community. My goal as the school counselor at EA is to provide a safe place for all students and to address every student's intellectual, emotional, and social needs.
-Helen Elayan

When I first meet with students at the beginning of the school year, I make it a priority to understand them as individuals. The more I know about their strengths & weaknesses and more importantly their interests, the better I am able to relate historical material to them and help them hone the skills involved in social studies.
-Dan Raffety

Being part of the Elgin Academy community is an amazing experience. I could not be more proud to represent this campus and these students in the classroom and on the field.
-Craig Pinson

If a student fails to enjoy any piece of literature and minimally improves their writing, but manages to grow as a human being, I feel I have been successful. If a student masters every text and writes beautifully, but has not changed at all since the first day of school, I have failed.
-Jorge Sanchez

I strive to make the school and classroom a place where, when you walk into the building, you can tell that students want to be here. The students are free to take risks, express themselves freely, and have fun doing so. For me, this is done by cultivating strong personal relationships across a diverse student body. This is the atmosphere that I wish to help set.
-Drew Roling

Elgin Academy is a place where every student is valued and celebrated for who they are as individuals. As a member of this amazing community, my priory is to support our students' educational experience through summer programing, the website, events, and fundraising. I am truly grateful to be a part of the EA community.
-Tanya Moore