a decade of service, Prof. Brooks resigned as principal of the school, which had now grown to include 232 students and 7 teachers, excluding Brooks. Rev. Dr. Francis G. Waters, who had been the president of the Washington College, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Chestertown, succeeded Brooks. The following year the city council renamed the school "The Central High School of Baltimore" and granted the commissioners of the public schools the right to confer certificates to the high school's graduates. Exercising that new authority, the new C.H.S. of B. held its first commencement ceremony in 1851 with noted local philosopher, author and civic leader Severn Teackle Wallis, (1816-1894), as the guest speaker, (Wallis has a bronze statue to his memory and many city accomplishments at the eastern end from the Washington Monument of Mount Vernon Place/East Monument Street facing the intersection with St. Paul Street. This bolstered enrollment in the school, as students were drawn by the prospect of receiving a certificate attesting to their level of education. That year 156 students applied to the school—an increase of 50 students. The growing enrollment necessitated a reorganization of the school. Under the direction of Waters, the school day was divided into eight periods lasting forty-five minutes: four sessions were held in the morning and four in the afternoon. In addition to reorganizing the schedule, he divided the courses into seven different departments: Belles-letters and history, mathematics, natural sciences, moral, mental, and political science, ancient languages, modern languages and music. Each of the seven instructors was assigned to a distinct department and received the title of "professor". Baltimore City College In 1865, in accordance with a recommendation from the board of commissioners of the Baltimore City public schools, City College began offering a five-year track, beginning a process aimed at elevating the school to a college and allowing it to grant its graduates degrees. To further these aims, the school was renamed "The Baltimore City College" (BCC) by an act of the city council on October 9, 1866. That same year, the board of commissioners recommended that the city council make a formal proposal to the Maryland General Assembly to grant City College the authority to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees to its graduates. According to the 38th Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of the Public Schools to the Mayor and City Council, the elevation of the school