The Alsatian School first opened in 1871 in the Latin Quarter in Paris with one single elementary class as an educational institution for those Alsatians who had fled Alsace after the German victory there in the Franco-Prussian War. With a newly appointed board, the school was properly organized in 1874 and started offering an ambitious and more modern curriculum than the one offered by the regular public high schools (suppression of exercises in Latin verse, creation of science and experimental science majors). In 1879, 200 students attended the Alsatian School and took the final high school exam, the Baccalaureate, with high-rating success. The School earned general recognition under Jean-Theodore Beck’s leadership from 1890 to 1921. This Alsatian pastor, who had retreated to Paris, first came to the School to teach German. When he was appointed headmaster, he set himself the goal”to turn the School into a place where students would reach intellectual and moral maturity.” He asked for the parents’ involvement, whatever be their political or religious backgrounds (which was new in secondary education). Above all their sons must abhor that which demeans man and love that which elevates the mind, for the sake of the family and for the honour of France. To this day the Ecole Alsacienne stands as one of the premiere educational institutions of France. Its graduates can be found represented in the leading ranks of Government, the Judiciary, the Arts, Sciences and Athletics.