Calvert School began in 1896 as a private kindergarten. In 1899, Calvert hired its first headmaster, Harvard graduate Virgil M. Hillyer. Hillyer served as head-master until his death in 1931. In that time he gained international fame as an  innovator in elementary education and as a writer of children's books. Hillyer founded Calvert's Home Instruction Department in 1906. Within 5 years nearly 300 students were enrolled in Calvert courses. To date, over 400,000 students have studied the Home School Program. In 1983, Merrill S. Hall III , former head of the Lower School of St. John's in Houston, Texas, became the fifth headmaster of Calvert School. Under his direction the Day School has grown to 400 students and has expanded its facilities to accommodate the increased number of students and their changing needs. In 1986, Calvert Day School added a new 42-station computer lab, a 12,000 volume library with CD ROM multimedia resources, a new gymnasium, and its very own planetarium.