Anti-German sentiment
Classes were taught mostly in the German language until World War I. Anti-German sentiment was so strong that the schools were told to introduce teaching classes in English. German and English reading and writing (German script) continued to be taught well into the 1930s and German language religion, and confirmation remained in effect until the early 1940s. A peculiar custom was that the day after confirmation (usually in April) the newly-confirmed students would continue their schooling in the public school, rather than going to the next grade at the beginning of the school year.