For Alumnae

Reunion

Ellis Reunion Weekend: October 7–9, 2022

Join us as we celebrate a MEGA Reunion for classes ending in 0's, 1's, 2's, 5's, 6's, and 7's during Reunion Weekend from Friday, October 7 to Sunday, October 9, 2022. It is an exciting time to be at Ellis and we are thrilled to welcome all alumnae back in person to connect with friends and see what the School looks like today. We hope you will join us to celebrate all things Ellis!

ALL ALUMNAE ARE WELCOME

Giving

Milestone reunion years are a great time to celebrate the friendships and experiences you forged at The Ellis School. Gifts in honor of your class power The Ellis School and allow us to continue to educate and graduate future female changemakers. While you were a student, alumnae supported you by donating to the Ellis Fund and now we ask you to do the same! Together, your class can make a difference in the lives of today’s students while honoring the legacy of your time at Ellis.

At Reunion 2022, we will honor and celebrate the classes with the highest participation rate and largest combined gift. These classes will be thanked at Reunion, acknowledged in the Ellis Magazine, and receive limited edition Ellis swag. Your Gift + Your Choice = Your Impact!

Friday, October 7, 2022

Head back to campus and kick off Reunion Weekend by enjoying coffee and conversation with Head of School Macon Finley. Stroll through the Ellis grounds on a morning tour of your alma mater led by current students and be inspired by fellow alumnae as they speak about their career paths. An optional sit-down luncheon will be offered for all alumnae, as well as a cocktail party for the Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972. Friday evening will remain free for individual class events (contact your Class Representative for more information).

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  • Friday, October 7, 2022 | Schedule of Events

    Time | Location
    Invitees
    Event | Description
    9:00–9:45 a.m
    GALLERY
     
    Open to all classes
    Welcome Back to Ellis!
    Start your morning by enjoying coffee and pastries with Head of School Macon Finley.
    9:45–10:30 a.m.
    MEET IN GALLERY
    Open to all classes
    Campus Tour
    Find out what has changed, has stayed the same, and may be in the works since you graduated as you walk through the halls of your alma mater. Led by a Touring Tiger (student ambassador), you’ll hear firsthand what it’s like to be an Ellis student circa 2022!
    10:30–11:00 a.m.
    COURTYARD AND GALLERY
    Open to all classes
    Break with Refreshments
    11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
    AUDITORIUM
    Open to all classes
    Alumnae Career Panel
    Come watch as alumnae share their varied professional experiences, answer questions from current Upper School students, and reflect on how Ellis influenced their career paths.
    12:00–2:00 p.m.
    ALUMNAE HALL
    Open to all classes
    $15 per person
    Reunion Luncheon
    Please join us for a sit-down luncheon in Alumnae Hall. Croon along to the alma mater with the Glee Club and celebrate the Sara Frazer Ellis awardee.
    2:00–2:45 p.m.
    GRADE 2 CLASSROOM
    Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 only
    Grade 2 Interviews
    What’s it like to be an Ellis girl today vs. an Ellis girl five decades ago? Our 50th reunion classes will find out when they meet the rambunctious, spirited, and silly students from the Class of 2033!
    4:45–6:00 p.m.
    BABCOCK LIBRARY
    Classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 only
    50th Reunion Cocktail Party
    Celebrate 50 years of being an Ellis alumna by reconnecting with your classmates over cocktails and light bites.
    Evening
    All classes
    Individual Class Activity
    Contact your Class Reunion Representative for more details.


Saturday, October 8, 2022

Join us on campus for a fun-filled family day and time to reconnect with your classmates. Bring the family for exciting activities including a bouncy house, face painting, a snow cone truck, and more. Enjoy a tailgate lunch while watching your Ellis Varsity Field Hockey team go head to head against Pine Richland, and wrap up the night at the Alumnae Reunion Reception.

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  • Saturday, October 8, 2022 | Schedule of Events

    Time | Location
    Invitees
    Event | Description
    11:00–11:45 a.m
    MEET IN GALLERY
     
    Open to all classes and their families
    Campus Tour
    Find out what has changed, has stayed the same, and may be in the works since you graduated as you walk through the halls of your alma mater. Led by a Touring Tiger (student ambassador), you’ll hear firsthand what it’s like to be an Ellis student circa 2022!
    11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
    JANET'S GYM
    Open to all classes and their families
    Family Fun Day
    Bring your family for a fun-filled afternoon featuring an art workshop, face painting, a bouncy house, lawn games, a snow cone truck, and more!
    11:00 a.m.
    ATHLETIC FIELD
    Open to all classes and their families
    Ellis Athletic Game
    Cheer the Ellis Varsity Field Hockey Team to victory as they battle it out on the turf against Pine Richland. The 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction will take place at halftime.
    11:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
    ATHLETIC FIELD
    Open to all classes and their families
    Tailgate Lunch
    Enjoy a tailgate lunch with the whole family before the Tigers take to the field.
    7:00–9:30 p.m.
    ALUMNAE HALL
    Open to all classes
    $20 per person
    Reunion Reception
    Dance the night away with your classmates and toast to a wonderful Reunion weekend! Heavy appetizers and drinks will be served, and alumnae are welcome to bring a guest. This is an adult-only event.


Sunday, October 9, 2022

End Reunion Weekend on a creative and colorful note before you head home! Take a tour of the Carnegie International Exhibition with Ellis art students as docents alongside Ellis Visual Arts faculty member Sara Sturdevant.

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  • Sunday, October 9, 2022 | Schedule of Events

    Time | Location
    Invitees
    Event | Description
    11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
    CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART
    Open to all classes
    $5 per person discounted ticket
    Carnegie International Exhibition Tour
    Join Ellis’ very own Sara Sturdevant along with Ellis art students as docents on a guided tour through the halls of the Carnegie International Exhibition.

Reunion Information

Frequently Asked Questions

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Award Recipients

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  • Sara Frazer Ellis Awardee

    Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Catherine LEWIS Long '87  founded The Salon in 2020 with a desire to create a new space for the city’s brilliant women to gather, collaborate, and grow. 

    Prior to starting The Salon, Cathy served as co-founder and Executive Director of The Sprout Fund for over two decades. Under her leadership, Sprout worked with regional and national philanthropic partners to make more than $7 million of community-decided investments in 1,100+ early-stage projects, organizations, innovators, and activities. Some of Western PA’s most notable nonprofits —Bike Pittsburgh, Bricolage, Tree Pittsburgh, and Assemble—got their start with support from the fund. At Sprout, Cathy was involved in the creation and implementation of all of the fund’s major programs. She oversaw the grant proposals and reports for nearly 50 major organizational gifts from 18 regional private, community, and corporate foundations, developing a keen interest in community building in the process.

    After sunsetting the organization, Cathy joined her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, as an adjunct faculty member at Dietrich College to share her knowledge of cities and grassroots culture building. She has also presented on the topic at several national and international conferences.

    Cathy is an active member of many of Pittsburgh’s civic and cultural organizations. She has served on the Board of Trustees of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and has formerly served on the boards of The Ellis School, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, the Phipps Conservatory and  Botanical Gardens, and other organizations.

    Cathy lives in Squirrel Hill with her husband and their three children.
  • Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

    Alexandra (Alexa) CHU '07 joined the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)'s Global Investment Bank in 2018 and currently serves as Vice President, specializing on renewable energy tax credit (RETC), new markets tax credit (NMTC), and low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) investments. Her primary focus is management of RBC’s direct investments and syndicated RETC transactions. She serves as lead manager on all NMTC transactions and reviews LIHTC fund management transactions. Prior to joining RBC, she worked for Capital One Bank, N.A. with a focus on Alternative Energy and Project Finance, NMTC, and Tax Exempt Bond Fund. Before Capital One, Alexa worked at PNC Bank on a public finance portfolio with NMTCs. She holds FINRA SIE, Series 7, 63, and 79 licenses. 
     
    Alexa is a 2011 graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in Political Science. She sailed on Yale's division 1 sailing team and played on its club field hockey team. Alexa attended Ellis for 13 years and graduated in 2007. She played on WPIAL field hockey and lacrosse teams as well as on Team Golden Triangle, a club field hockey team. Alexa resides in New Jersey with her husband James and her son Jamie. 


    Heather HANCHAK Moss '97 achieved her greatest independent school athletic accomplishments in major scholastic invitational meets and post-season national competitions. Twice a Track & Field News All-American over 400 meters, she ran in California’s Golden West Invitational, winning the 400 at the meet as a junior and running 53.57 to take second at the National Scholastic outdoor meet, placing her fifth on the all-time state list. Heather’s career best was 53.51 as a junior competing in White Plains, NY at the Loucks Invitational. She represented the United States in the Jr. Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile (1995) and Sydney, Australia (1996), where she ran lead off leg for the 4x400m relay. Her relay team placed second and fourth respectively at these international events. 

    Indoors, Heather won PTFCA state titles in the 200 and 400 as a sophomore and added runner-up finishes in both events as a junior. She won the Indoor High School Nationals as a junior in the 400m. That same year, while competing in Idaho at the Simplot Games, she set the Junior Class Indoor Record, winning the Simplot Games in 54.14 in 1996. 

    Heather went on to compete collegiately at Texas Christian University (TCU) where she earned All-American Status in the 4x100m relay during her senior year. She was inducted into the Pennsylvania High School Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2021.

Alumnae Career Panelists

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  • Sarah MIDDLETON Gaffney '92

    Sarah MIDDLETON Gaffney '92, Pharm.D., M.B.A., BCPS, is the Director of Pharmacy at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. She oversees an inpatient pharmacy staff of more than 70 employees and is the Pharmacy Residency Program Administrator of the PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency program. She is responsible for an annual medication budget of $25 million and numerous clinical pharmacy programs. Sarah’s clinical experience includes general cardiology, cardiac ICU, and cardiothoracic surgery ICU patient populations. She has given multiple pharmacotherapeutic lectures at local, state, and national conferences and has published several articles. In 2012, she proudly won the Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacy Clinical Pharmacy Practice Achievement Award. 
     
    After graduation from Ellis, Sarah earned her B.S. in Biology from Lehigh University. She then matriculated to the University of Pittsburgh where she graduated with her Doctorate of Pharmacy degree. Sarah completed both a PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and a PGY-2 Adult Internal Medicine Residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. Sarah received an M.B.A. from Averett University.
  • Madeline GALLAGHER '12

    Madeline GALLAGHER '12 graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in Economics and Political Science and from Johns Hopkins University with a M.S. in Applied Economics with a focus in analytics. She spent five years at PNC Bank, completing a development program while getting her master's degree and acting as a product manager in the savings and liquidity space. She then went on to serve as the business representative on the Low Cash Mode project, managing its rollout and revolutionizing the overdraft industry. She’s currently a product manager at Greenlight Financial Technology and the domain owner for the Spend Save and Give customer experience. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Evan, and their two cats, Bubbles and Ziggy.
  • Rebekah HUGHEY '94

    Rebekah HUGHEY '94 is a board certified, integrative family medicine doctor. She received her B.S. in Biology with a math minor from Spelman College and her M.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her family medicine residency and certificate in clinical leadership at Duke University, as well as a faculty development fellowship. She has done neuroscience research at Morehouse School of Medicine, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as with the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neuroscience. Rebekah is a formally trained educator with experience teaching all age levels, including medical students and physicians. She was a FAME teaching fellow at Ellis from 2008–2009. She lectures for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis on topics such as mastering a calm mind and using metaphor. She enjoys training large and small groups as well as working one-on-one with corporate and private clients to enhance performance and achieve mind-mastery through her company Mastermind Empowerment. She has been practicing hypnosis and Neurolinguistic Programming for 15 years. Rebekah serves as chair of the board of advisors of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative in North Carolina, helping to develop curriculum for prominent leaders statewide, and is a trustee on the board of the non-profit Brother’s Brother. She is also on the board of directors for the USA Memory Championship. Rebekah is currently a Medical Director at Highmark Wholecare in Pittsburgh and is a 2021 alumna of The Advanced Leadership Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Her newest venture is embarking on an M.B.A. program in August 2022! Rebekah is a proud mom of an Ellis fifth grader.
  • Sarah ZIMMERMAN Tuthill '87

    Sarah ZIMMERMAN Tuthill '87 is the owner of EZPZ Gatherings, a made-to-order cheese and charcuterie board business located in Aspinwall. A freelance writer and mother of two, she has always loved to entertain, enjoys food and wine, and has dabbled in both interior and floral design. After a long and successful career in corporate communications, she started the catering business as a way to bring all these interests together in one place…on a board. Sarah graduated from Ellis in 1987, then attended Penn State University where she earned a degree in advertising. After a successful career in corporate communications which began at United Parcel Service, she took a step back after having children. While they were still young, she re-entered the workforce, working in Ellis’ Development Office as the managing editor of the Ellis Magazine. Though her children are now teens, Sarah did not wish to return to the corporate grind, so began freelance writing…but had always dreamt of owning a business of her own. Not intent on opening a full-fledged catering business, Sarah zeroed in on a specific niche and, according to Pinterest and Instagram, quite the popular one! Friends who didn’t want a formal, catered event kept asking for help creating simple but impressive appetizer spreads for dinner parties, graduation parties, and other celebrations. And thus, EZPZ Gatherings was born and is now entering its third year in business, having survived the pandemic. Sarah looks forward to sharing with the Ellis community some lessons in life and business, and about taking risks to find joy. 
  • Nell COX Yates '02

    A secondary art educator since 2009, Nell COX Yates '02 has worked with students of all ages and in various settings over the past 17 years. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Nell holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Studio Art and a master's degree in Art Education from Lewis and Clark College. Her education and work experience with clay have aligned so that she has been exposed to many different art and studio settings from New England to Southern California. Currently, Nell serves as Visual Arts Department Chair at Viewpoint School in Calabasas, CA, where she runs the ceramics and 3D design program. She also owns and manages Birdhouse Ceramics, a small batch pottery studio, out of her home in Ventura, CA, where she lives with her husband Adam and their two kids Ada and Baz.

Class Representatives

If you don’t have a Reunion Representative for your year and would like to be one, please contact alumnae@theellisschool.org to become one!

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Connect & Communicate With Us

Update your contact information to connect and communicate with Ellis all year long. From our alumnae newsletter and private Alumnae Facebook group, to the Ellis Magazine and Ellis Alumnae Connect, we want you to stay in the know on all things Ellis. We’re also posting, tweeting, and Instagramming campus life seven days a week, so give us a follow, like, or retweet next time you’re browsing your feeds!

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