Ellis Island: The Dream of America
Ellis Island: The Dream of America is a work for actors and orchestra with projected images by American composer Peter Boyer, composed in 2001-02, commissioned by the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. The work combines first-person narrations of seven immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island between 1910 and 1940, selected by Boyer from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, with Boyer’s original orchestral music. The work has received over 170 performances by more than 75 orchestras. A recording of the work released on the Naxos record label was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in the 48th annual Grammy Awards. In April 2017, performances by Pacific Symphony of "Ellis Island: The Dream of America" were filmed for broadcast on PBS’ "Great Performances" series in the 2017-18 broadcast season.
The Ellis School
Dr. Marion Hope Hamilton became headmistress in 1955 and began at once to search for new property. The school ultimately purchased the 5.1-acre site at 6425 Fifth Avenue, part of the estate of Charles and Thomas Arbuthnot, where it remains today. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in May, 1958. There were two houses on the property and one was razed to make room for a new facility. The other house became the Lower School for the next 30 years, and 116 Lower School students moved into their quarters in late 1958, having walked hand-in-hand from the Edwards campus. 
The dedication of the buildings for the Middle and Upper Schools took place in November, 1959. Enrollment was 383, with a faculty of thirty-nine. Ellis' high quality was becoming more widely recognized. In 1961, the school was authorized to establish a chapter of the Cum Laude Society.