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 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".
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. 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.
