Illustrating the amount of control the principal was granted by Bishop Morris, Hill renamed the school the Bishop Scott Academy in 1887. A military department was added, and the Academy became the first school on the West Coast to adopt military discipline. Hill had an armory built that measured 5,000 square feet—"the largest indoor space in Portland" for some time. Although intended as a drill hall, the armory was also used for dances, which Hill believed would provide cadets with a graceful posture.
