Our History

The first written records of a school in the Bayless community go back to 1868. During that year Cornelia Forman sold the Board of Education a one-acre lot for $250. The “Old Rock School” was built on the lot shortly after, mainly by Civil War Veterans.

The school had three teachers, nearly 160 students and two schoolhouses for first-eighth grade education.

The district was renamed to “Bayless Consolidated School District” after businessman Samuel Bayles. Bayles was a businessman and teacher active in the second half of the 1800s in what is now south and west St. Louis County, although at the time it was mostly farmland.

Bayless’s first Superintendent, Violet Bascom, had 11 eighth grade graduates. Unfortunately, she could only choose one to send to high school in neighboring Webster Groves.

The Bronco was chosen as the Bayless Athletic Department’s mascot. The “h” in Broncho was added some time in the 1950s for reasons lost to time.

The first Bayless Invitational Basketball tournament was held, with the Broncos taking first place.

With the post-war boom in St. Louis County in full-swing, the construction of the current high school started to accommodate a swelling population and construction boom.

Bayless saw significant enrollment decline during these decades with most of the old high school building (what is now Bayless Junior High) lying unoccupied.

Bayless saw an enrollment spike as immigrants from what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina fleeing war in Europe landed in both South St. Louis County and City.

While enrollment was increasing, Bayless had failed three consecutive times to pass tax levies for improvements. There were some discussions of Bayless having to merge into one of its neighboring South County Districts.

Bayless celebrated its 150th Anniversary.

Bayless has completed the Junior High Addition, which adds many amenities to the original building built by the Works Progress Administration before the Second World War. The district is also one of the few districts in St. Louis County experiencing student population growth in the 2020s.