2019–2020 School Year in Review

Dear Parents,

We invite you to take a look back at some of the highlights and accomplishments of the 2019–2020 school year.

• This year, Russian School Erudite celebrated its fifth anniversary.

• Our school serves 270 students, ages 3 to 15.

• Our faculty includes 60 teachers and teaching assistants.

• Students are taught in 23 classes, grouped according to age and Russian-language proficiency. During the second half of the school year, all 23 classes successfully transitioned to online learning.

• The school sponsored seven high school students who successfully passed the NEWL Russian Language Exam, an advanced Russian proficiency exam that replaced the former AP Russian exam.

• At the beginning of the school year, our school received accreditation from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), allowing high school students to earn credit for completing our two-year Advanced Russian: Level I & Level II program. Four students completed the first year of the program.

• In addition to our academic classes, Erudite offers 20 enrichment and educational clubs, 6 creative studios, and 3 programming clubs.

• On June 15, we launched our “Summer with Erudite” online camp for children ages 5 to 15.

Our Achievements

Despite the unexpected transition to online learning, our school continued to offer a wide variety of engaging educational and cultural activities throughout the year, including:

• the school-wide “Where Are My Roots From?” project;

• two New Year celebrations: the interactive “New Year’s Round Dance” for preschoolers and the “Interplanetary New Year” concert for intermediate and older students;

• two Erudite Cup Chess Tournaments, with a total of 54 participants;

• the “Two Times Two” Mathematics Olympiad for elementary school students;

• the “Malyshok” concert for preschoolers, with each class preparing a special performance;

• Russian-language intellectual games for intermediate and older students;

• the school-wide online project “Reading Poems About the War,” commemorating the 75th anniversary of Victory in World War II and the Great Patriotic War;

• special online lessons dedicated to Victory Day;

• Pushkin Day, featuring online quizzes for intermediate and older students about the life and works of Alexander Pushkin;

• a video book-review competition featuring students’ favorite books from their summer reading;

• accreditation by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for our two-year high school course Advanced Russian: Level I & Level II, allowing eligible students to earn academic credit.

Participation in International Projects

Our students also took part in a number of international educational and cultural initiatives:

• More than 40 students from our school and the Erudite Club in Milwaukee participated online in the Kangaroo Mathematics Competition in Russian.

• Eight students represented our school in the international Living Classics recitation competition.

• Our students participated in an international event celebrating World Read Aloud Day.

• One of our students became a winner of the international “Let There Always Be Sunshine” competition for the best essay about the Great Patriotic War.

Creative Achievements

Our students and creative studios continued to achieve success throughout the year:

• The FRAME Film School, led by Shamil Najafzade, received a diploma at the Russian National Children’s Film Festival “Kinoostrov: A World Without Borders.”

• The Young Journalists Studio and FRAME Film School became award winners in the “New Page” Young Journalists Competition, led by Ksenia Turkova and Shamil Najafzade.

• Students of the Akvarelka Art Studio, led by Irina Drozd, created the “Snowflake” collaborative art exhibition.

• Students of the Harmony Vocal Studio, led by Elena Ayanyan, prepared an online performance of the song Katyusha in honor of Victory Day.

• The Karusel Theater Studio, led by Zuleikha Najafzade, presented a mini-production based on Samuil Marshak’s poem Baggage, as well as “The King’s Breakfast.”

• Older students participated in the online creative course “How Poetry Works,” taught by Ksenia Turkova.

Supporting Our Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the pandemic, our school also launched free online programs to bring children and families together through books and storytelling:

• the daily evening program “Good Night, Erudite”, including Marina and Yaroslava Zonova’s “Alone with a Fairy Tale” project and evening readings with Zuleikha Najafzade;

• the daytime online reading program “Quiet Time” with Natalia Grishina.

We sincerely thank all our parents for your involvement in school life, your continued support, and your dedication to our school community!