Justine Ward, creator of the Ward Method of music instruction, in an undated photo. Image: Special Collections, School of Music Records, The Catholic University of America.

Cover, Ward Method, Think and Sing, 1962. Image: Special Collections, Department of Music Records, The Catholic University of America. 

The Thomas Shields School remained at St. Anthony’s parish until 1927. It reopened in 1935 as an eight-grade elementary school when it was moved to the Varnum Campus of Catholic University and was called "The Model School at The Catholic University of America." After the Sisters of Notre Dame of Cleveland resigned as the teaching staff of the school in 1969, Catholic University withdrew its sponsorship of the school and it closed in 1974.

However, in the 1920s, Justine Bayard Ward (1879-1975), an admirer of the teaching methods of Rev. Shields, paid for the school’s staff. Ward herself was a music educator, and developed the influential Ward Method of teaching music on an elementary school level. Herself the daughter of the founder of the New York Metropolitan Opera (William Bayard Cutting) Ward was the first woman in the world to develop and American elementary music education method. he Catholic Education Press used her methods in its texts, and Catholic educators specifically incorporated her methods of teaching music. Ward founded the original School of Liturgical Music at Catholic University, and the Ward Building housing the Rome School of Music bears her name. 

Sources:

John J. Convey, Professor of Education at The Catholic University of America, “The Catholic University Department of Education, 1908-2021 (Unpublished manuscript, 2021), Special Collections, Archives, The Catholic University of America.

“Justine Ward,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justine_Ward). Retrieved 10/1/23. On the Ward Method, see “The Ward Method,” on the Departments of Music page for more on the Ward Method:  https://music.catholic.edu/faculty-and-research/areas-of-research/ward-method-studies/ward-method/index.html. Retrieved 10/1/23.