Bayley-Ellard High School
History
The School of Our Lady of the Assumption in Morristown, New Jersey, founded by Rev. Bernard McQuid in 1850, was the forerunner of the Bayley-Ellard school. A parish grammar school, it was expanded and renamed the Bayley School in 1880 to honor Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley. A two-year business course was added to the grammar school curriculum around 1900.
Msgr. Edward Ellard introduced a four-year curriculum in 1920, making Bayley the first Catholic high school in the area. In 1948, Margaret and Susan Hawes bequeathed $100,000 toward the purchase of a new school building to be named in honor of Msgr. Ellard. The 40-acre (160,000 m) Walker Estate in Madison was purchased. The doors of Bayley-Ellard High School were opened in September 1949, making Bayley the first diocesan Catholic high school in the Paterson Diocese. The school was staffed by the Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Christian Charity, and Dominican Sisters.
It was announced the school would be closing at the end of the 2004-05 school year in May 2005.
Campus
The school was sited on the former Walker Estate. Original buildings included a Colonial Revival mansion, conservatory and carriage house. Bishop's Hall, a classroom-gymnasium complex, was added in 1967, and a new sports complex consisting of football, soccer-lacrosse, baseball, and softball fields was completed later. The carriage house was demolished in 2003 and an assisted care living facility was built in roughly the same location shortly thereafter. The borough of Madison purchased the sports fields four years after the school's closing. The conservatory was demolished in approximately 2009, as a part of the conversion of the site into the Paterson Diocese's Center for Evangelization "St Paul Inside the Walls".
Curriculum
Bayley-Ellard offered a college preparatory curriculum. High honors students were eligible to take courses at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Extracurricular activities
Student groups and activities at Bayley-Ellard included archeology club, art club, Big Brother/Sister, Christian Service, computer club, consumer business club, crafts club, drama club, forensics, Future Business Leaders of America, hospitality club, literary magazine, Marian Key club, mock trial, music ensemble, National Honor Society, newspaper, peer ministry, ski club, student council, Students Against Destructive Decisions, vocal ensemble, and yearbook.
Athletics
The Bayley-Ellard athletic teams, known as the Bishops, competed in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis, wrestling, golf, cross-country and track & field. At various times, the school belonged to the Colonial Hills Conference and the Paterson Diocesan Regional League. The Bishops Football team won their conference title during the 1986 & 1989 seasons.
The baseball team won the Non-Public B state championship in 1959 (defeating runner-up Gloucester Catholic High School), 1969 (vs. St. Mary's High School of South Amboy) and 1970 (vs. Mater Dei High School).
The 1984 softball team won the Non-Public B state title, defeating St. Joseph High School of Hammonton by a score of 9-0 in the tournament final.
The wrestling team win the Parochial B North state sectional title in 1995.
Notable alumni
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- Jerry Della Salla (class of 1987), decorated combat soldier of OIF who fought in the Battle of Abu Ghraib, and later co-starred in the film Green Zone.
- Kareem Huggins (born 1986, class of 2004), running back who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
- Sheila Pepe (born 1959), artist.
- Charley Molnar (born 1961, class of 1979), head football coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
- Rocky Rees (born 1949, class of 1967), head football coach at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2010.
References
- ^ "Mgr. E. J. Ellard, Morristown, Dead". New York Times. August 16, 1937. p. 19.
He was vice president and active head of All Souls Hospital, Morristown, and the founder of Bayley High School here.
- ^ Lockwood, Jim. "Bayley-Ellard High School Foundation to appeal dismissal of lawsuit aimed at stopping sale of school's land", The Star-Ledger, December 9, 2009. Accessed October 20, 2017. "The Bayley-Ellard High School Foundation has filed legal notice that it will appeal the dismissal of its lawsuit that aimed to halt the Diocese of Paterson’s sale of 10 acres of athletic fields at the defunct Catholic school in Madison. The lawsuit filed in June claimed that siblings Margaret and Susan Hawes willed money in 1948 to create a Catholic high school and their request was akin to a charitable trust.... The executors of the estates of the Hawes sisters that administered their wills in 1948 asked Assumption Church in Morristown to carry out the founding of the high school, which opened in 1949 and was shuttered in 2005 due to declining enrollment."
- ^ "Morris County Catholic school set to close". Press of Atlantic City. Associated Press. May 22, 2005. NewsBank ID 10A45AB5708B0748.
- ^ Schillaci, Sarah (April 30, 2009). "Madison is buying Bayley-Ellard fields". The Star-Ledger.
- ^ Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated June 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
- ^ Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.
- ^ Kinney, Steven. "Bayley-Ellard Romps to Title", Daily Record, June 10, 1984. Accessed February 28, 2021. "The last time the Bayley-Ellard softball team played in Mercer County Park was in 1982, when it lost a state championship game. Yesterday, however, the Bishops won the Parochial B state championship with a convincing 9-0 thrashing of South Jersey champion St. Joseph, of Hammonton."
- ^ NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History Archived October 20, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The soccer team win all the games when Basque Spaniard MVP exchange student 1992-1993 played with the team. Also she was the coolest Valedictorian ever she make 100/100 in all subjects 1992-1993.
- ^ Diekemper, Lee. "Bayley-Ellard HS grad Kareem Huggins makes his debut as a Tampa Bay Buc", Daily Record, September 13, 2010. Accessed August 19, 2012.
- ^ Nash, Margo (August 7, 2007). "A Family Portrait, in Crochet and Shoelaces". New York Times.
- ^ Hague, Jim. "Morris' Molnar living his dream with Notre Dame", Daily Record, February 24, 2010. Accessed August 19, 2012. "At age 48, after coaching stops all over the country, the former kid from Morris Township is fulfilling a dream.... After graduating from the now-defunct Bayley-Ellard in 1979, Molnar went to Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania, where he played football and went right from the gridiron to the school's coaching staff."
- ^ 2009 Football Coaching Staff: Rocky Rees, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Raiders football team. Accessed August 19, 2012. "Rees played football at Bayley Ellard Regional High School in Madison, New Jersey where he twice named All-County and was selected as a team captain his senior season. Following graduation in 1967, the Morristown, New Jersey native attended West Chester University where he earned All-PSAC Eastern Division honors as a running back in 1968 and 1970."