A Note from the Editor To update your address, email development@theparkschool.org or call 716.839.1242. FOLLOW US Pioneer Head of School: Lisa Conrad Pioneer Designer: Leanne Camuto Pioneer Editor: Seamus Gallivan Printing: Zenger Group Contributors: Amber Anderson, Martin Berardi, Chris Ciechoski, Lisa Conrad, Amy DiChristina, Kevin Coppola ‘03, Stephanie Dommer, Nyla Evans ‘28, Amellyn Freeman ‘28, Macarena FritzCefaratti, Rocio Fritz-Kelley, Keith Frome, Sanford Geffner, Charles Hartney, Colin Heffernan, Renee Herman, Jarret Izzo ‘03, Beth Jeswald, Mark Karrer ‘73, Caitlin Littlefield, Paige Melin, Christina Leed Nelson ‘93, Kyle Polaske, Wende Mollenberg Stevenson ‘97, Natalie Zorn. © Copyright 2026 The Park School of Buffalo: All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of The Park School. On the Cover: On our annual Bonding Day, teachers Alyssa Bielecki and Ann Roberts gather a group of students for fun and games on our newly refurbished tennis courts. Gratefully, Seamus Gallivan, Alumni Engagement Coordinator sgallivan@theparkschool.org Dear Park Community, Greetings from Hamlin Hall, and thank you for opening this year’s Pioneer! Here we are in the 114th year of The Park School of Buffalo, a beacon of stability - enrollment is up, attrition is down, examples of our “truth and joy” abound. “Truth and Joy” is Park’s motto, embedded in our logo on the opposite page in old-school Latin, Veritas et Gaudium. There’s a throughline from our motto and founding Head of School Mary Hammett Lewis’s vision of “a place in which a child’s soul and mind might be at peace” to the enshrinement a century later of the school's core values of honesty, kindness, respect, and responsibility and the present emphasis on culture and rigor. This magazine offers an array of ways in which they’re all connected. Personally, having arrived here as a fifth grader in 1988 and stayed engaged ever since, from visitor and alumni ambassador to faculty and staff member, I’ve now been part of Park for a third of its history. Presently, while there’s an entirely different daily population and a few new buildings since my youngest days here (with another in the works!), a familiar Park spirit endures in our students. That spirit is framed by our serene campus and what Keith Frome calls the “spectral influence” of educational pioneer John Dewey, and it is formed by passionate faculty, administrators, staff and families as well as an everpresence of alumni, all shown throughout these pages. With thanks to all who’ve supported our school to date, and a welcome to all just beginning their journey here, I hope you enjoy this window into life at Park. /theparkschoolofbuffalo @parkschoolofbuffalo /the-park-school-of-buffalo
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