2020–2021 School Year in Review

Dear Parents,

We invite you to look back at some of the highlights and accomplishments of the 2020–2021 school year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Russian School Erudite operated entirely online throughout the year.

• This year marked Russian School Erudite’s sixth anniversary.

• Our school served 140 students, ages 3 to 15.

• Our online program was supported by 32 teachers and teaching assistants.

• Students attended 17 online classes, grouped according to age and Russian-language proficiency.

• 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.

• Our school is accredited by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to offer the two-year high school program Advanced Russian: Level I & Level II for academic credit. Four students completed the program and each earned one high school credit.

• In addition to academic classes, we offered a wide range of online enrichment programs throughout the year, including three mathematics groups, programming, journalism, Melody Music Studio, Karusel Theater Studio, Akvarelka Art Studio, Harmony Vocal Studio, chess, crafts, intellectual games, and an engaging Russian-language enrichment program.

• From June 28 through August 20, our “Summer with Erudite” online program will welcome children ages 4 to 13.

Our Achievements

Despite the challenges of a fully online school year, we continued to create engaging educational, cultural, and social experiences for our students. Highlights included:

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

• festive and interactive New Year programs, featuring musical video greetings from Ded Moroz and Snegurochka, exciting quests, and searches for gifts hidden by the mischievous Baba Yaga;

• the online “Snowman Parade” competition;

• two online Erudite Cup Chess Tournaments, followed by a year-end game of Bughouse Chess;

• special online lessons dedicated to Victory Day;

• Pushkin Day, with online quizzes for intermediate and older students devoted to the life and works of Alexander Pushkin.

Throughout the school year, we also placed a special emphasis on encouraging a love of reading:

• Evening Readings with Natalia Grishina, as well as an online meeting with children’s author Dina Sabitova;

• reading sessions for third-grade students with G. A. Nurmanova;

• regular meetings for our young journalists, organized by Ksenia Turkova, with journalists from Voice of America, as well as a special online meeting with popular children’s authors Andrey Zhvalevsky and Evgenia Pasternak.

Our students also achieved outstanding academic results:

• At the annual Russian Language Olympiad, our students earned 5 gold and 4 silver medals.

• Our high school students participated in the “Russian Without Borders” program organized by the Erudite Club in Milwaukee, gaining knowledge and experience that can support their future college studies.

• Our school maintained its MCPS accreditation for the high school Advanced Russian: Level II course, allowing eligible students to earn academic credit.

Participation in International Projects

Our students continued to represent Erudite in international programs and competitions:

• The Karusel Theater Studio took first place at the 10th International Festival of Russian-Language Children’s and Youth Theaters with its video productions Baggage and Crocodile.

• 18 students participated online in the Kangaroo Mathematics Competition in Russian.

• Our students participated in the international Living Classics young readers’ competition, with one of our seventh-grade students becoming a regional winner.

Our Creative Achievements

Creativity remained an important part of school life, even in an online environment:

• The Karusel Theater Studio, led by Zuleikha Najafzade, with support from the FRAME Film School, led by Shamil Najafzade, presented a new video production, “Naughty Nastya.”

• The Harmony Vocal Studio, led by Elena Ayanyan, created a music video featuring the song “Inseparable Friends.”

• The Akvarelka Art Studio, led by Irina Drozd, presented two themed online art exhibitions. One of the studio’s students also became a winner of the Jack and Jill magazine children’s art competition.

• A new course exploring the folklore of different countries and cultures, taught by Yaroslava Zonova, was introduced for the first time this year.

Thank You for Being with Us

We are deeply grateful to all the parents and teachers who stayed with us throughout this challenging year and believed that our school could continue its work under any circumstances.

Thank you for your support, dedication, trust, and understanding. Together, we kept our school community connected and made learning possible even when we could not be together in person.

Thank you for being part of Erudite. We are always here for you!