2021–2022 School Year in Review

Dear Parents,

We invite you to look back at some of the highlights and accomplishments of the 2021–2022 school year.

• Our school has now been serving the community for seven years.

• We have 225 students, ages 3 to 15.

• Our faculty includes 46 teachers and teaching assistants.

• Students attend 21 in-person classes and 2 online classes, grouped according to age and Russian-language proficiency.

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

• In addition to our academic program, we offer 12 enrichment, educational, and creative clubs, 3 specialized studios, and 3 programming clubs.

Our Achievements

School Events and Special Programs

Our school was once again filled with exciting educational, cultural, and creative activities throughout the year:

• Our annual video book review competition featured 10 students of different ages sharing their thoughts on favorite books they had read over the summer.

• We launched the “Erudite Times” podcast, where our young reporters regularly share their work. The Press Club is led by Ksenia Turkova.

• Film Day featured a showcase of films created by students of the FRAME Film School, led by Shamil Najafzade.

• Our traditional New Year celebrations included lively performances and circle dances for preschoolers, led by Marina and Yaroslava Zonova, as well as the spectacular interactive musical production “New Year, Disney Style,” led by Elena Ayanyan and Alla Foxman, with the participation of Amazing Fox Entertainment and the Harmony Vocal Studio.

• During the holiday season, the Akvarelka Art Studio, led by Irina Drozd, presented a wonderful exhibition of student artwork.

• In celebration of Cosmonautics Day, our students took part in a special live online meeting with Alexey Akulovfrom the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

Our Creative Productions

Our performing arts groups presented three exciting premieres:

• “Beauty and the Beast” — a musical presented by the Melody Musical Theater, led by Elena Ayanyan;

• “Shakespeare on Love” — a production for older students presented by the Karusel Theater Studio, led by Zuleikha and Shamil Najafzade;

• “The Land of Magic Words” — a production for younger and intermediate students presented by the Karusel Theater Studio, led by Zuleikha Najafzade.

Competitions and Academic Success

Our students proudly represented Erudite in a variety of regional and international competitions and programs:

• Living Classics International Young Readers Competition — 14 students participated, with 7 advancing to the national round and 2 reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. finals. The students were prepared by Karine Dabagyanand Zuleikha Najafzade.

• Kniguru in America International Literary Competition — one of our sixth-grade students earned third placein the senior-group Book Review category. The student was guided by Olga Ermilina and Karine Dabagyan.

• Russian Language Olympiad, organized by American Councils for International Education — 14 high school students represented Erudite this year. Results will be announced at the beginning of the next school year. Students were prepared by Karine Dabagyan and Olga Bulanova.

• Advanced Russian: Level I & Level II — our high school Russian-language program accredited by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for academic credit. Seven students participated this year: four earned 0.5 creditafter completing the first year, while three successfully completed the two-year program and earned 1 full high school credit.

• “Word Factory 2022” International Children’s Online Literary Competition — our fourth-grade students participated under the guidance of Gulbarshyn Nurmanova.

• At the international online “Constellation” Festival, the Karusel Theater Studio and FRAME Film Schoolreached the finals with their filmed theatrical production “Naughty Nastya,” led by Zuleikha and Shamil Najafzade.

• The international Kangaroo Mathematics Competition in Russian was hosted at our school, with 29 students participating under the direction of Natalia Grishina, head of our mathematics program.

• Our young chess players participated in two chess tournaments at the Tysons Chamber of Commerce, sponsored by our school. Of the 15 students representing Erudite, six earned top placements. The chess program was led by Nikolai Mounts.

Thank You!

We sincerely thank our entire faculty and staff for another successful year, and we are especially grateful to you, our parents, for your continued support, involvement, and dedication to our school community!