Ellis Girls About Town

An Ellis student’s classroom extends well beyond the walls of the School and into the broader community. Whether learning about art, history, science, Ellis girls are out in the Pittsburgh region making real-world connections to bolster their on-campus studies. These experiences grow girls who are delighted by learning, academically uninhibited, and equipped with all the skills necessary to be successful, independent learners both today, and throughout their future pursuits.
LOWER SCHOOL 

BYHAM THEATER
Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students traveled to the Byham Theater to see a performance of Rosie Revere: Engineer and Other Stories. The show compiled stories about kids in STEM and presented them in a fun, engaging way.

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY ARCHITECTURE LAB
Grade 4 students visited the Carnegie Mellon University architecture lab to learn about sustainability from Professor Azizan Abdul-Aziz, also an Ellis parent. Students learned how the university implements green standards on campus, and made models with robotic elements to show fans turning on as the temperature rose, windows opening in bright light, etc. Mr. Aziz later visited campus to provide suggestions and recommendations as grade 4 students revised their models.

CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART
Lower School students visited Carnegie Museum of Art to view the 57th Carnegie International exhibition. Throughout the fall, students learned about artists featured in the exhibition and created original artwork inspired by them.

THE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM 
Pre-kindergarten students learned about the life cycle of bees during a field trip to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Students danced like honeybees, created a bee mobile for their classroom, and tasted local honey to supplement their ecology studies.

DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH CITY TOUR
Second grade students had an opportunity to look at the city of Pittsburgh from within at One Oxford Center, from across the river at Station Square, and from above on top of Mt. Washington. Students utilized public transportation via the T and Incline. They looked at the architecture of the city—both old and new—to inspire ideas for their own city model that they built in their unit on metropolitan cities.

EAST LIBERTY COMMUNITY WALKING TOUR
Second-grade students toured the East Liberty neighborhood adjacent to Ellis. They looked at various types of housing—single family, duplexes, apartment buildings, townhouses, etc—
as well as energy sources and infrastructure elements such as water drainage and sewage systems to inform their learning about city planning.

FORT PITT MUSEUM
Grade 3 students visited the Fort Pitt Museum to learn about the role of the Ohio River Valley in the French and Indian War. Students visited a fur-trading outpost, participated in a cannon drill, and engaged in a scavenger hunt in their visit to the museum.

FRICK ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
Through multiple visits to Frick Park, grade 1 students explored meadow, woodland, and stream habitats. While learning about the diversity in plant and animal life, girls gave back to the park by throwing seed bombs into the meadow and hanging bagel bird feeders for the birds.

MEADOWCROFT VILLAGE AND ROCKSHELTER
Students in grade 3 envisioned themselves as pioneers as they experienced life in a Native Village at Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village. During their trip, students threw an atlatl, dipped candles, spun yarn, and visited a Rockshelter.

PHIPPS BOTANICAL GARDEN
To culminate their cultural studies unit, grade 1 students visited Phipps Conservatory to take a “walk through the rainforest.” A waterfall, orchids, ferns, and bromeliads were captured on film to help students remember the setting. Back at Ellis, girls used what they learned at Phipps in their performance of “The Great Kapok Tree” which brought the rainforest to life with an emphasis on impact and preservation.

OHIOPYLE
Grade 4 students celebrated the end of the school year with a fun, adventure-filled trip to Ohiopyle. Through activities such as biking and rafting, students experienced working and
playing as a cohesive community.

TRAX FARM
Students in pre-kindergarten visited Trax Farm to encapsulate fall in a day. They toured the farm and learned about the fall harvest. Students also had a great time on the hayride, learning how apples are washed and processed into apple cider, and how bees make honey.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
As part of the grade 6 culminating English and history unit on the Middle Ages, students talked about the role of the Church in the daily life of a person in medieval times. They also viewed and discussed the architecture of the churches of this time period to compare and contrast with village homes. Sixth-grade students then walked to a local church to get a first-hand view, which allowed them to tangibly place themselves in the shoes of the characters that they portrayed during their live-action Medieval Feast.

THE FRICK PITTSBURGH
Middle School students visited the Isabelle de Borchgrave: Fashioning Art from Paper exhibition at The Frick Pittsburgh ahead of their annual House Games paper dress competition. Students learned paper folding techniques from artists and integrated the new methods into their own designs.

CAMP GUYASUTA
Students in grade 8 traveled to Camp Guyasuta in Sharpsburg to celebrate the beginning of their eighth-grade year. As the leaders of the Middle School, students participated in activities to promote teamwork, problem- solving, and leadership while facilitating connections among the eighth-grade class and faculty.

GETTYSBURG AND HARPERS FERRY
Grade 7 students visited Gettysburg to see in person the sights they studied in their textbooks. While there, they took a tour of the battlefield, experienced a day in the life of a Civil War soldier, and visited the Shriver House Museum. New this year, they also took a tour of the Pennsylvania Capitol as a side trip to Harrisburg. On their way home from Gettysburg, grade 7 students stopped at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park to learn about geographical connections to John Brown’s Raid and the Civil War.

HEINZ HISTORY CENTER
In fifth grade, students studied fashion design in conjunction with two exhibitions happening in Pittsburgh. The class traveled to the Heinz History Center to view the Heroes & Sheroes: The Art and Influence of Ruth E. Carter In Black Cinema exhibit. Students were inspired to create outfits of their own design for their sheroe/future self.

HOMEWOOD BUSINESS CORRIDOR
For their urban redevelopment project, grade 7 students designed a to-scale dwelling that would positively impact the Homewood business corridor. To kick things off, the girls visited Thread International and the Afro-American Music Institute to learn about the community and meet key stakeholders.

LIGONIER CAMP 
To celebrate the end of the year, grade 6 students traveled to Ligonier and explored many of the local attractions including Fallingwater and Fort Ligonier. They also engaged in a team-building low-ropes challenge, a design-thinking cantilever experiment before seeing Fallingwater, and other activities planned by their advisors. This trip allowed the students more independence than they did on the grade 5 trip, and their friendship bonds were strengthened over the course of the three-day experience.

LUTHERLYN ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER
Grade 5 students visited the Lutherlyn Environmental Centerin Butler for three days in September. The trip corresponded with the E3 unit that took place at the end of the year. Students were outdoors for most of their time there, and the activities that the girls participated in included: team/group building challenges, an archaeological dig, tree identification, recognizing edible flowers/leaves, a night hike, journal writing, and water testing.

SCHELL GAMES
To kick off the Creative Computing II game design unit, Elaine Fath of Schell Games facilitated a workshop on game mechanics and game design. The classes dissected familiar board games to identify the objective, obstacles, rules, and interactions. Using these components, each student changed one aspect of the card game “War” to see how it changed the player experience. The class spent the rest of the trimester applying these ideas while designing and programming their own game in Scratch.

CARNEGIE SCIENCE CENTER
Grade 7 and grade 8 students attended the Future City Orientation at the Carnegie Science Center. Team members heard from guest speakers about this year’s challenge, and, as past winners, they also served on a panel for other students to ask them questions about the competition.

SEVEN SPRINGS SKI RESORT
Although there were a few bumps in scheduling, the Middle School Ski Trip was a success this year. There were great ski conditions for the students: temperatures in the low 30’s and plenty of snow. With a mix of novice and experienced skiers, students had a blast skiing, snowboarding, and tubing together.

UBER ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY GROUP
Grade 6 students took a field trip to Uber Advanced Technologies Group this winter to hear about their autonomous vehicles first-hand. In conjunction with their robotics unit in Creative Computing II, they heard from a group of female engineers about the data the cars collect, the rigorous safety testing the cars and algorithms undergo, and the unique career paths that got these engineers to Uber.

WASHINGTON D.C.
The eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C. provided opportunities for students to apply the knowledge they learned in history and English by researching landmarks and monuments and acting as tour guides. Students visited the National Holocaust Museum and the National Museum for African American History and Culture. They also visited the Smithsonian Institutions, the Newseum, and the Vietnam War, Korean War and Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorials.

UPPER SCHOOL 

ALLEGHENY GENERAL HOSPITAL 
Upper School students viewed an open-heart surgery at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) as part of their anatomy class. The class sat in a viewing area above the operating room and peered through a glass window to watch the AGH team in action as surgeons performed a thoracotomy, an operation that corrects an aortic coarctation.

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
Upper School Computer Science students visited Carnegie Mellon University to view the Computer Science Roadshow, an interactive presentation run by female students in the School of Computer Science. Students learned how computer science is applied in different industries and then toured the School of Computer Science and Robotics Institute.

CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
On the Friday before spring break, AP Studio Art and AP Survey of Art students traveled to the Cleveland Museum of Art. While there, they toured the collection with teachers Sara Sturdevant and Belle Moldovan before having time to tour the museum on their own.

FACEBOOK REALITY LABS
The Computer Science II and AP Computer Science Principles classes took a field trip to Facebook Reality Labs Pittsburgh which is focused on social virtual reality research. While there, students heard from Technical Program Managers Danielle Belko and Vicky Colombo and Research Scientist Stephen Lombardi about their work creating life-like VR avatars. Students experienced virtual reality demos, took a tour of their office including Mugsy and Sociopticon, their image capturing systems, and had the opportunity to ask the team questions.

GOOGLE PITTSBURGH
Computer Science II and AP Computer Science Principles visited Google in Bakery Square to tour the offices and speak with a panel of Google employees. Students spoke with the employees about their diverse careers and asked questions about how they collaborate cross-functionally within teams and other businesses.

GUILD COMMUNITY EVENTS
This year, Upper School Guild hosted multiple off-campus community events. Members of Guild and the Ellis community went to Global Links in Greentree to aid them in packing medical supplies that were sent to resource-poor communities. They also hosted an event on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday at the Kelly-Strayhorn theater. Additionally, a group of six students traveled up to The Children’s Institute once a month for the Best Friends program where they partnered with disabled students for games and activities.

KENNYWOOD
The Concepts of Physics and AP Physics classes journeyed to Kennywood in May where they traded in their theoretical work for roller coasters and bumper cars. Prior to the trip, students completed an amusement park themed review packet to get them ready to explore Kennywood through a physics lens, and help them review for their final exams.

LEAD DIVERSITY CONFERENCE
Ellis students attended a diversity conference hosted by Sewickley Academy to grow as student leaders. While there, they engaged in thoughtful conversations about equity, diversity, and inclusion. Attendees also had the opportunity to watch and participate in The Defamation Experience, an interactive performance that asked the audience to serve as members of a jury.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS STUDENT DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
In the fall, six students and five faculty members traveled to Nashville to attend the People of Color Conference and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). Focused on building students’ leadership skills, Ellis girls attended workshops, participated in group breakout sessions, and listened to an array of speakers to bolster their knowledge of how to create positive change within their own communities.

PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 
Latin students participated in the PA chapter of the Junior Classical League at Penn State University. Students competed for awards in categories such as academic testing, creative arts,
athletics, and spirit. Students chose which events they wanted to participate in and took time to prepare before the conference.

POWDERMILL NATURE RESERVE
Grade 9 Voice and Vision students visited Powdermill Nature Reserve to explore the woodlands and the impacts and interconnections of water-related issues.

TORONTO MINI-COURSE TRIP
This year’s mini-course trip brought Upper School students to Toronto. Led by Mr. Mercier and Ms. Sturdevant, 20 students took to Ontario’s capital and Canada’s largest city. During the first week of mini-courses, students had a crash course on Canada, including geography, history, politics, and culture. They planned some parts of the trip, such as getting from point A to point B and mapping out neighborhoods to visit. During the second week of mini’s they saw The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre, visited the Royal Ontario Museum,the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and climbed the CN Tower.

TOUCHSTONE ARTS CENTER
Senior clay students in the Wood Fire Club traveled to Touchstone Arts Center for their final firing as Ellis students. Seniors worked through the night as they stoked a noborigama kiln, which uses wood as the only fuel during an 18-hour firing. After their hard work, the seniors explored beautifully glazed surfaces including tenmoku and celedon, which are traditional Japanese glazes requiring very high temperatures.

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH HUMAN ENGINEERING RESEARCH LABORATORIES
Grade 11 visited the University of Pittsburgh Human Engineering Research Laboratories to meet with researchers and learn about the tools and products they are creating to assist people living with disabilities and in need of medical rehabilitation.

VALERIA LUISELLI LECTURE
Upper School students traveled to the Carnegie Lecture hall to hear writer Valeria Luiselli speak about her most recent non-fiction work, Tell Me How it Ends. In it, she discusses her experiences as a translator for children fleeing Central America and seeking refuge in the U.S.
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