Monroe School is a three-story brick building by William B. Ittner, an early example of his school work produced before English public school architecture influenced his later designs. The primary facade's central bay projects slightly and rises to a pedimented gable, with grouped, mullioned window openings trimmed in contrasting stone. The main entrance is set within a Syrian arch beneath a classical pediment ornamented with foliation. The building sits on a raised, terraced site with a stone retaining wall, on a lot that appears to predate the surrounding street grading.
William B. Ittner designed Monroe School for the St. Louis Board of Education; sources give a completion date of 1898 or 1899. It is an early example of Ittner's school work, produced before the influence of English public school architecture reshaped his later designs, and Saint Louis Patina notes its resemblance to Eliot School in Hyde Park. The school was named for President James Monroe. The building later closed and stood vacant, sitting open to the elements, as documented by Built St. Louis. It was renovated and reopened in 2001 as an EMINTS Academy, a Missouri education-technology designation. Monroe Elementary School currently serves students in prekindergarten through fifth grade as part of St. Louis Public Schools, with a curriculum emphasis on reading, math, and classroom technology.
