Faculty & Staff

I graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education. During my teaching career, I have taught children in preschool through third grade in Georgia and Florida. I have been part of the GEDS faculty since 2011, but have been part of the Grace family as a parent since 2007. I absolutely love teaching second grade and guiding my students to become lifelong readers and learners.

On a more personal note, my husband, Mike, and I have been married for 26 years. Our daughter, Mary, attended Grace from PK3 - 8th grade. This fall she will begin her third year at the University of Miami studying Marine Science and Biology. When I am not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family, boating, and exploring all of Florida's natural beauty.

I attended the University of Georgia and received a degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. I have teaching experience in grades first through fifth. Although I am originally from Georgia, I have taught in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. I joined the faculty of Grace Episcopal Day School in the spring of 2014.

I have a daughter named Mimi. We share a love of animals and have both cats and dogs. I enjoy cooking, reading, and walking the family dogs.

I graduated from Florida State University in 2004 with a major in Family and Consumer Science, and a minor in Elementary Education. After obtaining my K-6th Florida teaching certification, I taught 3rd grade in public school. I had the pleasure of being the Kindergarten teacher here at Grace for 10 years and have been here in some fashion ever since. I am very excited to return to the classroom full-time and be back with some of the same 5th and 6th graders that I had in Kindergarten! I have 3 children, Ava (17), Lee (15), and Nolan (5) and love being a Mom.

I am excited to be joining Grace as the 7th and 8th grade English and history teacher. I am married to Matt and have two daughters and three dogs! I have a B.A. in English Literature from Boston College and a M.Ed. in Secondary Education from John Carroll University. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, I have also lived in Seattle, Washington for the last 11 years.

About a year ago, I moved to Jacksonville to be closer to family and get some much needed sun! I come to Grace with over twenty years of teaching experience in both the middle and high school settings. In my free time, I am constantly reading books! In between books, I frequent the YMCA, volunteer at Jacksonville Humane Society, and enjoy time outdoors.

Hi! My name is Emma Corfield, and I am the PE teacher at Grace Episcopal. I graduated from University of North Florida with my Bachelors degree in Elementary Education. I absolutely love working with children, and I have a passion for creating a positive, active, and loving environment for them. Kindness, respect, and love will always be my number one priority. I know we are going to have a great year!

I graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in Specific Learning Disabilities. I enjoy coming alongside and working with students who need extra assistance to excel. My experience is mainly at the elementary level, in both general and special education capacities.

I am married to a pastor of a church in Jacksonville, the mother of three grown children, and grandmother of four who live in New York City. My free time circles around visiting them, serving as a Bible Study Fellowship group leader, reading, and watching (and trying to solve!) mystery shows on tv.

I am excited about working with the teachers and students at Grace. It will be a joy to combine my passion for teaching with my passion for Christ, in an atmosphere that embraces both.

I was raised in Richmond, VA. I attended college at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA. and transferred to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Education, Music Education, and Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Music. I’ve been involved in education for over thirty plus years teaching Kindergarten through High School in both public and private school settings. I love teaching and touching the lives of others.

I’m married to Joe Porfidio and have three adult children, Courtney, David, Troy (my son in law) and adorable grandsons, Sterling will turn nine years old and Miles (who just started at Grace), will be five years old in September. We have two new additions to our home, Sadie Grace, a beautiful chocolate lab, five years old who came to live with us this past July, and of course our Duchess Ann, a silver black Labrador, now one year old, that my husband absolutely fell in love with in December of last year. Both girls love to play and have snacks. We've had Labradors for over twenty six years and love our labs. Our family loves to have big Italian meals, play board games, go to the club pool, the beach, and play golf.

I'm Children's Ministry Director over PK 3 through sixth grade at Resurrection Anglican Church in Jacksonville, where my husband is the Rector. One of my great joys has been to serve the church in children’s ministry as a teacher and children’s pastor.

I have happily worked at Grace Episcopal Day School since 2005. I currently coordinate our Enhanced Learning Program, which supports PK3-8th grade, STEM classes to our intermediate and upper grades, and 7th grade life science.

I received my M.S. degree from FSU in Exceptional Student Education. Since then, I’ve received a Math Endorsement for grades 5-9, as well as a Reading Endorsement. I am certified in the LiPS method, a multi-modality program that helps children with reading, spelling, and speech. I am also trained in Seeing Stars which develops symbol imagery, Orton-Gillingham, which supports literacy, and Visualizing and Verbalizing which builds concept imagery. I have also received training in On Cloud Nine, which addresses math visualization.

I married my college sweetheart many years ago, and we've raised three beautiful daughters together. Now we enjoy visiting them and our grandchildren out west. We spend much of our free time kayaking, hiking, or combing the beach for shark’s teeth.

I am a professional musician, and I have been teaching at Grace Episcopal Day School since 2008. I graduated from University of North Florida with a B.A. in Music in 2002, served as Band Director at St. Johns Country Day School '00 -’07, and founded Ronan School of Music in 2010. I am proud of my percussion students who regularly receive “Superior” ratings at Solo & Ensemble competitions and my music school's student rock band is regularly asked to perform shows around Jacksonville.

My own performing credits include touring the southern and eastern United States playing in a variety of musical settings, including the summer of 2024 when I played a sold out show in Chicago. I have opened shows and shared stages with such notable performers as Booker T., Diane Schuur, Linda Purl, Elvin Bishop, Dwight Yoakum, Dick Dale, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Southern Culture on the Skids, Syl Johnson, Evan Dando, Mickey Thomas from Starship, Vic Chestnut, jazz legend Randy Weston, Junior Brown, and others. I have provided percussion for local productions of musicals “Pippin” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” and along with respected Broadway pianist Eugene Gwozdz as music director, backed Theater Jacksonville executive director Sarah Boone on her original show, “Mom Before Dad…A Young Woman of the Greatest Generation.”

I also perform as a solo acoustic act, regularly releasing my original music; and with my Americana band, The 77ds, released an EP of all-original music titled “I Wanna Sing with You.” My original song, “Here It Feels the Same” was featured in a Welcome Jax promotional video.