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History of Wilson School

Location: 400 DeMun Avenue
Clayton, MO 63105
Source: Brooke L. Hutson
Director of Development & Public Relations
In 1913, a group of Central West End parents opened a kindergarten for four year olds. They asked Mabel Wilson, a well-known and highly respected kindergarten teacher, to be the director. The development of the Wilson-Froebelian Kindergarten was very successful. For the first four years the school was located in the 5100 block of Westminster. In 1917, it was moved to the 5400 block of Delmar Boulevard. The school was known for its excellent early childhood programs, as well as for its warm and nurturing atmosphere. When Miss Wilson died in 1924, the school was taken over by Elsie Beck who had been at the school from the beginning in 1913. Miss Beck added three primary grades and also organized the school's program to serve as an excellent training facility for early childhood teachers.

In 1958, Miss Beck retired because of ill health; she chose Mrs. Jane Breckner (a teacher of the four year olds) to succeed her as headmistress. In 1960 Mrs. Breckner moved the school to 400 DeMun in Clayton. The facility Wilson School took over was the former Community School. The noted architect, William B. Ittner, designed the building. It has been designated an historic landmark.

1968 was a big decision year for school. From its inception, Wilson was a proprietary institution. To insure the continuance of the school, the Wilson School Corporation, a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization governed by a Board of Trustees, was formed. During the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's, Wilson maintained its commitment to educational excellence in a warm and nurturing environment. It also developed into a full-fledged elementary school with a diverse student body coming from many different areas in the greater metropolitan St. Louis area.

When Mrs. Breckner became very ill and retired in 1974, the board appointed Verna Stassevitch, a teacher in the school for 12 years, as headmistress. Under her guidance, Wilson School became a fully accredited member of Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS).

In 1991, the Board of Trustees built an addition onto the historic old building to enhance Wilson's excellent educational program. Fifty percent more space was added on two levels, providing the school with a physical education area, two new classrooms, a large science room, a foreign language classroom, a teachers' lounge, and three new offices. A new kitchen area and preschool bathroom replaced the same rooms in the old building. As a result of these additions, vacated areas in the lower level were used to develop a good-sized technology/library center for the school.

Mrs. Stassevitch ran The Wilson School for 19 years. She retired in June 1994. The Board of Trustees appointed Dr. Eugene D. Ruth, Jr. headmaster. Under Dr. Ruth's leadership, beginning in the summer of 1994, the historic old section of the school building underwent improvements and began to take on a new inside look. In the summer of 1995, major renovation and remodeling of the junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten and music rooms, admission office, and the boys' and girls' bathrooms took place. By the opening of school in 1996, the remaining areas on the first floor of the old building were completed with renovations of the prekindergarten, first, second, and third grade rooms, as well as Stassevitch Hall. In the summer of 2004 very extensive renovations within the historic old building once again occurred. These resulted in a new art studio and a new science lab, new foreign language- and fourth-grade classrooms, a new conference room, a new cafeteria and catering kitchen, and a new headmaster's office. In addition, Stassevitch Hall and the old music room were redesigned entirely to house the Hal and Catherine Faught Library and the Joan Locatelli Foley Computer Lab. Most exciting was the construction of Wilson's new below-grade gymnasium in a 6500 square foot multipurpose center with many windows and skylights for natural sunlight illumination. The center provides increased opportunities for physical education, music programs, school-wide assemblies, and drama productions. A new stairwell and elevator connects the historic old building with the new center, giving children access to the gymnasium's entrance from the school's lower level to the spectator walkway off the first floor and to the 11,000 s.f. FieldTurf upper-level playground.

Dr. Ruth ran the school for 12 years. He retired in June 2006. To replace Dr. Ruth, the Board of Trustees appointed Mr. Thad Falkner (teacher, Faculty Coordinator and Assistant Headmaster at Wilson) head of school, beginning July 1, 2006. Today Wilson offers classes to children from three years of age to sixth grade. Pupil-teacher ratio is 8:1. A strong academic program in reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies is provided. Art, music, physical education, Latin, French, and technology are integrated into the day. Classrooms are self-contained but because of class size a great deal of flexibility and variety is possible. Wilson graduates do well wherever they go, and the school has an enviable record of successful graduating students.

The Wilson School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) and the North Central Association (NCA) and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Independent Schools of St. Louis (ISSL), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Council for American Private Education (CAPE), and the Educational Records Bureau (ERB).