The ground floor level is about three feet below the grade-line, the windowsills being above. The hat and cloakrooms, bathrooms, janitor's room, work room and boiler room are all on this floor. Model school rooms have also been arranged on this floor, which are designed as training rooms for the undergraduates. They have separate entrances, hat and cloakrooms and bathrooms connected with them, as it is intended to keep them completely isolated from the Normal School. There is an entrance to the Normal School, situated at the northeast corner.
Easy access is obtained to the floors above by large staircases.
The height of this story is ten feet six inches in the clear. The first story contains, in addition to the entrance and staircase halls and trustees' room, the scientific department of the school, one suite of rooms for chemistry, another suite for natural philosophy and still another for drawing and fine arts. The latter rooms are that arranged in the northern portion of the building, thus securing the steady light so desirable for rooms used for this purpose. The rest of this floor is divided into recitation rooms and there is a teachers' lounge. Staircases situated at either end of the building make the ascent to the floor above.