After a series of superintendents who usually stayed for just a few years, renowned educator Lee Kirkpatrick took the post of superintendent in 1918 and stayed until his retirement in 1953. His 35 year tenure is considered the "Golden Age of Education" for the Paris city school system. Educated at Columbia and Harvard Universities, he was a superb administrator, master psychologist, incisive judge of character and strict disciplinarian. Kirkpatrick believed that an educated citizenry was essential to progress and a successful democracy.
Under his supervision and mirroring progressive educational initiatives taking place across the country, the Paris school curriculum stressed classical subjects, requiring that high school students study four years of Latin, four years of English, three years of math, three years of history, two years of science and two years of modern languages.
Kirkpatrick was no less rigorous when it came to the educational levels of his faculty. He stressed the completion of four-year degrees for all faculty and graduate degrees for his high school teachers. He preferred prestigious schools like Princeton, Harvard, Columbia University and the Sorbonne for the white teachers and encouraged the black teachers to attend the best colleges that they could. By 1928, all of the teachers at the Western School had four-year degrees. Some of them attended summer sessions at the University of Chicago, Simmons University and Wilberforce (Ohio) and earned graduate degrees.
The retirement of Lee Kirkpatrick brought an end to an era that witnessed the development of the Paris City School system into a first-class educational program. He left as his legacy a school system that had been accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1915. His teachers had a higher percentage of graduate degrees than many other school systems. Paris students often went on to illustrious careers and colleges.