The Beginning - 1917-1920’s

Rossman School first opened its doors in the fall of 1917. It was the joint venture of two teachers, Mary B. Rossman and Helen Schwaner, whose stated aim was to provide basic elementary education for boys and girls in the city of Saint Louis, Missouri. Both women were products of the Saint Louis city school system and graduates of the city’s high school. (In those days of the late 19th century, there was only one high school in Saint Louis.) They received their teacher training at the normal school, which eventually became Harris Stowe College. Helen Schwaner began teaching at Franklin School after graduation. She continued teaching at various Saint Louis elementary schools for the next 28 years. Mary Rossman started as a substitute teacher in the city schools, but later taught at Smith Academy and Mary Institute. Both were veteran teachers by the time they began to think of opening a school of their own.

The closing of Smith Academy by Washington University in the spring of 1917 created an educational vacuum in Saint Louis at the elementary level. We are told that Miss Rossman and Miss Schwaner were urged by their friends and by parents of prospective students to open an elementary school. At 45 and 48 years old they decided to seize the opportunity and set their feet upon the road to making the dream a reality.

They located the building at 5438 Delmar Boulevard, which they felt would serve their purposes. Designed by Saint Louis architect Evert P. Maule, it was built in 1905 as the residence of real estate developer Paul Jones. The building satisfied the three requirements of a good real estate buy: location, location, location! It was in an excellent neighborhood for the students they wished to attract, and, indeed, many of the early students fondly remember walking to school. The school was a three-story red brick building with three white columns flanking each side of the front entry. On the west side and in back of the building was the playground, that eventually contained an assortment of equipment, including a slide, circle swing, and the push-pull, remembered vividly by dozens of students. Inside, blackboards lined the walls of the classrooms. These boards were almost as necessary as books and paper, since Rossman students spent a good deal of time at the blackboards where, in the lower grades, each child had his or her own exclusive section of the board.

Staffing the school may have been one of the easier tasks. From their combined experience teaching at Smith Academy, Mary Institute, and the city schools, Miss Rossman and Miss Schwaner had a broad base of acquaintances, many of them teachers. A large staff would not be needed since the school would open with only four grades: three through six. Miss Rossman and Miss Schwaner would assume some of the teaching duties. We know that Miss Rossman taught arithmetic in the upper grades.

When it came to the educational aspects of the school, the founders were on sure ground. They knew just what they intended to teach and how they would teach it. Their bedrock tenet appears to have been, “Do not attempt more than you can achieve and do what you attempt thoroughly and well.” The school day began with the recitation of the pledge of allegiance to the flag, prayers, and the singing of a hymn. After these opening exercises the children worked in their classrooms, except for a brief recess, until they were dismissed for the day at 11 o’clock. Miss Rossman and Miss Schwaner believed that learning took place more effectively during the morning.

One of the relics of Rossman School that dates from the very first year the school was open is a brown ledger, usually referred to as “the Brown Book.” In it are listed the names of all the students and their grade placement for every year the school has been in operation. It was not until the 1920-1921 school year, however, that names of the teachers were listed, and the class or subject they taught was not added until 1957. The school’s reputation spread by word of mouth, and enrollment increased to 67 children in 1918. In 1919 it jumped to 91 with the addition of first and second grades. Rossman School was well underway during the decade of the 1920s when enrollment climbed to a high of 224 in 1928, and the faculty grew from nine to 14, including Miss Rossman and Miss Schwaner.