the first 25 years of the school’s existence were tough. there was a large turnover of staff and the number of students remained small. the lack of religious education caused a lot of criticism from the roman catholic clergy. initially the school offered tuition to boys only; in 1894 the first girl was signed up – maria bes, daughter of the mathematics teacher. she passed her exams in 1899 and went to delft to study engineering. she became one of the first female engineers in the netherlands. in the 1920s electric light and central heating were installed in the building and the 50-year-old desks were replaced. in 1934 the school moved, for lack of space, to a new location at the ringbaan oost in tilburg.