The founders were head teacher Viktor Heikel (son of educator Henrik Heikel), assessor Uno Kurtén, private teacher Helena Alfthan and philosophy master Albin Lönnbeck.

[2] During the First World War, as many as 24 of the school's students and staff joined the Jäger movement.

The following year it moved to a building owned by founder Viktor Heikel on Bulvarden 7-9.

By the end of the 1940s, the building was in need of renovation and not big enough to accommodate the growing number of students.

The City of Helsinki donated a plot of land by Töölöntori and architect Hilding Ekelund was tasked with planning a school building for 450 students.