John Marshall High School - Marshallite Yearbook (Richmond, VA)

Page 17 text:

First High School Building 805 E. Marshall St. STE , | - g Sq HE first high school building, located at 805 East Mar- shall Street, was opened on October 1, 1873. It was a three-story building with eight class rooms, the third floor being occupied by an assembly hall. The building cost $49,000 and had a capacity of 274 pupils. At this time the faculty consisted of the prin- cipal and three teachers, and the enrollment was seventy-six. The first class was regularly graduated from the school in June, 1875. It consisted of six boys and eight girls. In that year Senior pupils were emploved as substitute teachers in the city schools. In 1881, the enrollment of the high school having outgrown the capacity of the building, it was found necessary to enlarge the structure by the addition of eight rooms and a basement. The popularity of the school increased steadily, and several times after this rooms were added to take care of the growing enrollment. an we a

Page 16 text:

William F. Fox First Principal SALLEN we look at the handsome and well equipped John Marshall High School with its enrollment of more than three thousand pupils, its large faculty, and its full cur- riculum, we are filled with pride in our school; but do we realize that this great work was accomplished by a procession of school officials and teachers who began their labors in 1869? In that year the public school system of Richmond was founded. A year later an Advanced Grammar Grade was established, which was really the high school in embrvo. In 1871, confronted by an urgent need for teachers, the Board re- quested funds for a normal and high school. Accordingly, the Rich- mond High School was established in rented rooms on Broad Street, between Ninth and Tenth Streets. The principal, William F. Fox, and two teachers composed the facultv, and there were forty-nine pupils. The course of study, which covered three vears, was the same for all pupils. oe a mek) ts ee ee SS aes SLRS. ceeemramees a em ee

Page 18 text:

William A. Bowles Second Principal S EAN 1882, ten vears after the establishment of the school, we find a faculty of twelve and an enrollment of three hundred and ninety-three. But the growth in numbers was by no means the only growth of the high school. We find that the scholastic rating of the school became of prime importance to those in authority, and efforts to improve it were constantly being made. A desire for a higher standard was manifested in 1884 by the substitution of fifty per cent instead of forty-five per cent as the minimum for promotion, and in 1888 this was raised to sixty per cent. In 1887 a Post Graduate year was added to the course of study. This marks the inception of the City Normal School. In 1889 Mr. Fox, the man who had guided the school through the critical period of its infancy, became superintendent, and William A. Bowles succeeded to the principalship.