The school was recognized as a private gymnasium in 1907. The first director and founder of the school Hugo Treffner died on 29 February 1912. Before his death, the director position fell to a board composed of Mihkel Aavik, Nikolai Beldjugin, Konstantin Treffner and Vladimir Uspenski; in addition Cornelius Treffner, brother of Hugo Treffner, held a right to vote on matters proposed. The school was named Vladimir Uspenski Private Gymnasium after Hugo Treffner died. Uspenski, however, signed the school over to the alumni group "Upkeep of the Gymnasium Founded by Hugo Treffner Group". The group named Uspenski director, but when he left the faculty, Nikolai Sahharov became the director of the school, officially named "Gymnasium Founded by Hugo Treffner".