The National Training School grew rapidly and drew students nationwide within a year.

Evidence

By the end of its first year the school had enrolled thirty-one students, who ranged in age from twelve to forty-three. In the following year enrollment had risen to eighty-three, sixty of whom were boarders. Twenty-four states and four foreign countries were represented in the student body. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1636