In 1902, a bronze bust of Carol I, sculpted by an alumnus who had settled in Italy, was placed on a pedestal of Ravenna granite and set up at the school. During World War I, when the area was occupied by the Central Powers, part of the teachers continued to work, while others withdrew to the Western Moldavia region, along with the government. Several students and teachers enlisted in the Romanian Army, while a few teachers, including George Oprescu, were detained in German camps located in Bulgaria. A school stadium was completed in 1923, and a dormitory, now a museum, in 1926. A new, easterly wing was built between 1937 and 1948. In March 1949, early during the communist regime, Gheorghe Eftimiu and Ion Bocârnea, two 12th-grade students who belonged to the anti-communist resistance movement, were executed in Isverna forest. Over the ensuing decade and a half, three teachers as well as alumni died in prison. A bust of Mihai Eminescu was inaugurated in 1958, and a statue of Costescu and a student in 1972. The western wing opened in 2003. Around 1000 students in grades 9 through 12 attend the school.