In 1893, a military department was established in lieu of a physical education department at the school. Service in this department was compulsory for able-bodied boys, where they often participated in drills, exercises, encampments, dress parades and mock skirmishes. In 1905, the military department suggested, but didn't make mandatory, that the school's boys should wear uniforms. For girls, however, it was decided that they had to wear "blue skirts, white waists and Oxford (mortar-board with tassels) caps." The military department was replaced by the Department of Physical Culture in 1922.