1915-1942
Brother Stephen Edward took over the directorship of St . Joseph ' s Institution from March 1914 to April 1921 , the period of the First World War . Thus , the school Annual Sports was cancelled and the money was donated to the War Charities . At the end of the First World War in 1918 , due to the great influenza epidemic that ravaged the world , St . Joseph ' s had to close for two weeks .
On 6th February 1919 , on the ocassion of the Centenary Celebrations of the foundation of of Singapore , St . Joseph ' s Institution was proud to be represented by some 800 students in the celebrations .
In April 1921 , Brother Aimore Pierre replaced Brother Stephen until February 1922 when Brother Marcian James became the Director . With the number of parents seeking admission for their children into St . Joseph ' s on the increase , the problem of accomodation became acute . The enrolment in 1922 had risen to nearly 1600 . Thus , during his directorship , Reverend Fathers Mariette and Stephen Lee kindly lent rooms in the compound of the Church of St . Peter and Paul for the accomodation of classes .
Meanwhile , it was thought , by opeinng a branch school in Kampong Bahru , near the Railway Station , the congestion at St . Joseph ' s would be relieved . A piece of property was bought for $ 60,000 in 1926 . Further negotiations to buy over an adjacent piece of land with its owner , Mr . S . Q . Wong broke down in the face of numerous difficulties , the greatest of which was that of clearing away the squatters from the land . Classes started in the bungalow in 1927 and continued up to 1932 .
On 1st May , 1927 , Brother Stephen Edward resumed his duties as Director of St . Joseph ' s Institution after a well-deserved rest . The following year in May 1928 , St . Joseph ' s Institution was
H . E . Archbishop E . Mooney who visited the school in September 1928
honoured by the visit of Mr . Ormsby Gore , British Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies . A keen educationist , he was highly impressed by the work of the Brothers and the teachers of St . Joseph ' s
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the School ' s Annual Sports Day at Jalan Besar Stadium on 18th July 1928 was the Govenor , Sir Hugh Clifford and Lady Clifford .
19th September 1928 saw the visit of Archbishop E . Mooney , Apostolic Delegate to India and Malaya to St . Joseph ' s Institution . After inspecting the Guard of Honour of the Scouts and Cadets , he praised the splendid work done in the cause of of education by the De La Salle Brothers and appealed for more vocations among the pupils to join the order , especially as expansion was becoming quite essential .
By the late 1920s , as a result of the rapid increase in the enrolment of St . Joseph ' s ( 1,500 pupils ), means were being provided to relieve the congestion in St . Joseph ' s . For years , the state of things in St . Joseph ' s had gone from bad to worse . For example , in 1930 , the school parlour with its famous land and sea scapes was converted into a