The Ellis School was thrilled to recognize three outstanding alumnae during Reunion Weekend 2019. Sally RIAL Phelps ’58 was honored with the Sara Frazer Ellis Award and Jordan ZAPPALA ’99 and Rebekah HUGHEY ’94 were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

It begins to form the moment girls walk into the Lower School for their first day as an Ellis student. It is practiced every time they share a story about their experiences in the classroom and at home. It grows through constant use, encouragement, and collaboration. What else could it be but student voice?

The above is just one of seven essay questions that Ellis seniors can respond to in the Common App college application this year. While sharing a personal anecdote or belief in written form may seem simple, as a student, sharing your own story, in your own words, is something that takes skill and practice.

In a typical classroom, you might expect to see students working silently and independently at their desks as a teacher lectures from the front of the room. 

Not at Ellis.

In the Middle School, the first milestone of the performing arts program starts with an idea. That one idea, agreed upon after multiple brainstorming sessions by the grade 5 class, then morphs into something tangible (and so very Ellis): a completely original play written, performed, and staged by the Middle School’s youngest students. 

There was an overwhelming theme to the Class of 2019’s senior projects; a theme that unbeknownst to the seniors, connected all of their disparate ideas and initiatives, and underlied their core commonality. The theme? Using the power of their own voice to affect positive change in their communities and beyond. From the Mayor’s Office to an all-girls school in Guatemala, the Class of 2019 looked outside of themselves and into the local and global community to raise awareness for causes they believe in, spark conversations that influence change, and give notice to issues of importance to them in their final assignment as Ellis girls.

For Middle School students, the school year doesn’t close with final exams, but instead concludes with grade-level interdisciplinary Integrated Studies projects that thrust students’ learning off the page and into real life. This intentional ending builds on the foundational knowledge students have acquired throughout the year and challenges them to put it into practice. From time management to data collection strategies, students utilize the arsenal of skills they’ve honed and apply them with dexterity to grapple with complex, real-world challenges.

Nine faculty members will depart Ellis and move on to new opportunities at the end of the 2018–2019 school year. The School is grateful for the many contributions they made during their time at Ellis and wishes them the best in their future endeavors.

Whether they were cheering each other on in a swimming relay or playing doubles on the tennis court, Ellis student-athletes practiced lessons they learned in the classroom—like collaboration, confidence, and resilience—every time they pulled on the Ellis uniform this year. Teamwork was at the heart of it all as Upper School girls celebrated each other’s successes, lifted one another up after losses, and recognized their collective strength as one unit through the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons.

Eight Middle and Upper School students took top awards in the statewide Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) Competition at Penn State University on May 20. Under the guidance of Upper School Chemistry Teacher and Faculty Advisor Erica Holtgraver, students tussled with complicated problems, troubleshot possible solutions, and analyzed data to support their conclusions before presenting their final projects at Penn State. In addition to first and second place finishes, several students received perfect scores and earned additional special awards of merit as well.

Ellis Latin students in grades 8 to 12 competed at the 68th annual Pennsylvania Junior Classical League (PAJCL) convention at Penn State University from May 24 to 26. The Pennsylvania Junior Classical League, an organization for junior and senior high school students enrolled in Classical courses, was "formed to promote the study of Latin and Greek and to impart an understanding of the debt which our own culture owes to that of Classical antiquity."

Upper School Chemistry Teacher Erica Holtgraver has been recognized with the Society for Analytical Chemists Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) Region 7 Teacher Award. At Ellis, Ms. Holtgraver leads PJAS initiatives by mentoring and guiding students through their scientific experiments from their initial hypotheses to their final presentations.

Five Ellis musicians will travel to New York City this summer to play at Carnegie Hall as students of Junyi Liu, Ellis Music Academy instructor. Tessa Gumberg, Class of 2025, Anneliese Musahl, Class of 2026, Camilla Musahl, Class of 2028, Sophia Musahl, Class of 2023, and Annika Sandholm, Class of 2026, will play the piano at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall on Sunday, June 16.

The Ellis community came together on Teacher Appreciation Day to celebrate and honor the School’s extraordinary teachers by making a gift to the Ellis Fund. A grand total of $170,000 was raised, with 316 donors participating, including parents, alumnae, grandparents, past parents, faculty and staff, students, and friends of the School.

Lucia Snyderman, Class of 2019, co-authored a fossil research manuscript titled: “A Campanian age assignment for the Cretaceous fossil-bearing strata of Cape Marsh, Robertson Island, Antarctica.” Lucia has worked with Dr. Matt Lamanna, a world-renowned paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, on the exploration for the last two years.

Two Ellis lacrosse players earned postseason honors in recognition of their excellence on the field this season. Leah Ewers, Class of 2019, was named to the WPIAL All-Section Team and Kat Ference, Class of 2019, earned a spot on the All WPIAL team in addition to being named to the All-Section team. A dynamic duo, Kat and Leah ran the Tiger’s offensive unit with Kat scoring a total of 80 goals and Leah scoring 54 goals.

Eleanor Barth-Wu, Class of 2022, was honored with the Senior Division Student Carnegie Science Award for her Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair project, “Formaldehyde Production During E-Liquid Degradation.” Curious as to how ‘vaping’ and e-cigarettes impact users, Eleanor explored the chemical effects of the vaporization process and ultimately found that heating e-liquid produces formaldehyde, and that longer heating times produce a higher concentration of the chemical.

The biennial Fine Arts Festival was a success! From dance performances to paintings and pottery to strings (and more!), Ellis students showed the community all the hard work they have been putting into their art.

Thirteen Upper School students were inducted into the National Honor Societies for world languages this month. Latin, Spanish, and French all have their own honor society that inducts new students each year. Three students were inducted into Société Honoraire de Français, five students were inducted into Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, and five students were inducted into the National Latin Honor Society.

Ellis senior Katharine Ference and sophomore Natalie Jasper were acknowledged for their athletic achievements as two of the five players nominated to the WPIAL Section II Girls Basketball Team this year. After displaying hard work and dedication on the court, the girls were chosen to be recognized out of hundreds of athletes in the area.

Six Upper School students competed in the Duquesne University Academic Challenge (DUAC) on March 31. Two teams of three students competed in a round robin style trivia showdown against other local high schools. They spent the day going through eight rounds of trivia questions that ranged from math to history to literature. Dory Johnson, Class of 2019, Stephanie Somlo, Class of 2022, and Kay Fleischner, Class of 2020, finished in fourteenth place.

In November 2018, six students and five faculty members traveled to Nashville to attend the People of Color Conference and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. In this video, attendees talk about why they went, what they learned, and in what ways they think Ellis can improve.

Grade 6 students are fusing together computer science and visual arts in an interdisciplinary robotics project. Tasked with making robotic representations of plants and animals that they have learned about in science class, the Class of 2025 is working with papier-mâché, balloons, paints, and a variety of media in the art studio to bring their robots to physical form.

The Ellis School received two overall awards at the 19th annual Future City regional competition at the Carnegie Science Center on January 19. The Middle School team was awarded “Best Computer City Design” and “Most Holistic Approach” for their city, Pierre Jaune. Ellis also received special recognition for their participation in the competition for the last 11 years.

Calling all campers—registration is now open for Summer Camp at The Ellis School! Whether your child is a budding artist, passionate performer, determined athlete, or curious learner, Ellis offers a wide range of immersive camps for boys and girls age 2 to grade 12.

Why do Lower School students gather once a week to learn in community with each other? Ann Martino, Head of Lower School, shares why Ellis believes in the importance of weekly assemblies and this dedicated time to share, work, and collaborate together as a group.