by Erin Feith, Coordinator of Research & Visitor Engagement
September 22, 2026
The first class of the Bayley School, present-day Assumption School, was called into session over 175 years ago. Initially comprised of 25 students, classes steadily grew with the surrounding community, necessitating several expansions. Though evolving –and changing names– over time, the institution has remained consistent in its instruction of some of Morris County’s youngest residents for more than a century.
In 1850, Father Bernard McQuaid opened Saint Mary’s School in the basement of the first Assumption Church building in Morristown. Quickly outgrowing the space, the school was enlarged for $800 in 1865 before moving up into the original church’s building when the current church was completed in 1872. Early teachers of the school included lay persons, such as the school’s first teacher, a Mr. Tracey, who hailed from New York, while later instructors included a Mr. Coyle for boys and Miss Maggie O’Brien and Miss Susan Coxe for girls. By 1875, the school arranged to have the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth provide instruction, a task greatly facilitated by the conversion of a nearby house into a convent for the sisters.
With growing concerns over space, Father Joseph Michael Flynn announced the construction of an entirely new school building in 1886. The brick building with granite trim opened its doors for students on September 19, 1887, boasting six first-floor classrooms, a recreation room, and stage hall. While still known as Saint Mary’s Parish School at the time, it would shortly thereafter be renamed the Bayley School in honor of Bishop Bayley, the first Bishop of Newark. By 1897, the Bayley School also started a two-year high school with an emphasis on commercial subjects. Through the efforts of Father Edward J. Ellard, the Bayley High School became a four-year program, and upon purchase of the former Walker estate in Madison, it was relocated and operated as Bayley-Ellard Regional High School from 1949 to 2005.
With the high school relocated, plans for the construction of a new grade school building took shape. On March 17, 1957, the new Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School was dedicated by Bishop James McNulty, with the former buildings of the Bayley School and Bayley High School demolished one year later. Today, Assumption School still operates as a Morristown grade school, continuing its legacy as an educational institution in the area.
