bring the school into the state's possession and give it the name the State Grammar School for Boys in Novi Sad. As it was generally thought, there was no need for the school to continue its work as a private confessional school. This decision came at just the right time, since due to the war-ruined economy, inflation and agrarian reform (by which 353 kJ of land property i.e. the entire land property was taken from the school) the Patronage could no longer cope with economic hardships and finance the school's work on its own. This didn’t mean that the work of the Patronage was over, because it continued to manage the funds and property of the school. The Patronage carried on helping the school's development all until the communist authorities took away the property of the Orthodox Municipality of Novi Sad and funds of the Patronage by the Nationalization Act from December 5, 1946 and its Annex from April 28, 1948. By this act the rights of the Patronage over the school were abolished. The first and foremost task was renewal of the classrooms, library and school's inventory, since the school's premises were turned into a hospital during the war. The library was particularly damaged because 2/3 of the students’ books and about 2500 of the books from the teachers’ library were lost. For the second time in its history the library would arise from the ashes but not until 1927. The national freedom and newly created circumstances were most evident in the school curricula. In History classes the emphasis was put on studying the history of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, while the Serbian language and mathematics held the leading position by the number of their classes in week. As an expression of the general Francophilia, there came to the increase in the number of classes where French was taught and studied. Regarding the tradition and efforts made by certain teachers, German was taught pretty extensively. There was a strong rivalry between the German and French teachers. On the 3 October the school changed its name into The State Male Practical High School of King Aleksandar I. In the period between 1935 and 1937 a three-hectare sports ground for the classes of physical education was built (on the grounds of present-day FC “Index”). Volleyball courts, basketball courts, football fields, tennis courts and gyms were built there. In 1914 the