1913-1919

List of 6 frequently asked questions.

• Mildred Leibman '15 becomes the first graduate 

  Just two years after the founding of the school, Hockaday had its first graduate, Mildred Leibman. This first graduation set the precedent for a "day of all days" in the life of a Hockadaisy. As Helen Knox Tull wrote in the 25th Anniversary book, "It so happened there was a very pretty pergola on the grounds of the school on Haskell Avenue, and as the Texas weather is usually benign in late spring, Miss Hockaday decided to have an outdoor graduation with the graduate dressed in white, seated under the pergola which is covered in May with Dorothy Perkins roses; and thus from that time until now the thoughts of pergola and diploma always go hand in hand."
  
  

   

• Securing the endorsement of Smith College for Hockaday Graduates

  Miss Hockaday was ahead of her time in how she prepared her students scholastically. She had the forethought to not only prepare the girls for college, but to secure schools that would accept a Hockaday graduate based on the merit of an education from The Miss Hockaday School for Girls. Smith College, a women's college located in Northampton, Massachusetts, was the first to endorse the school.

• First Yearbook

  In 1917 the first yearbook was published. This book offers a glimpse into the daily life and student humor of the teens. The next yearbook was not published until 1923. The first Cornerstones was not published until 1953, when students pressed for a yearbook, against some faculty wishes. The printer promised to work with them if the students could raise $2,000. The response was tremendous. Miss Grow, who was backing the girls' effort, even got into trouble by giving the girls who had forgotten their money I.O.U.'s. Finally, the opposition had to give in, and the first Cornerstones was published.

• The end of the "Great War" 

  This was a year that celebrated the end of World War I, or as it was commonly referred to "The war that would end all wars". During the war years, Hockaday students contributed to the war effort by making "Cootie Belts" (an anti-louse program), along with contributions of other gear for soldiers including gun wipes, shot bags, wristlets, and much more. This aid in the war effort is an example of the many community service projects that students would participate in over the years.

• Formation of the Board of Directors 

  As the school continued to grow and change, so did the organization of the school into a corporation. On August 30, 1919, the newly formed Board of Directors met to establish the school as a private corporation that supported the School until 1942 when the school changed its status to a nonprofit. 

• Move to the Greenville Avenue Campus 

  This was also the same year that Miss Hockaday decided to move the School to its second location on Greenville Avenue, as the student body had quickly outgrown the first school building. The new campus was a part of the former Caruth family farm of which Miss Hockaday purchased eight acres. The old farmhouse was renamed Trent House and served as one of the boarding houses for the new campus.