2025-26 School Year
- Aug 9
- 10 min read
Updated: Aug 21
Dear Friends,
To make our website easier to navigate, we provide only general information about current events and activities on these pages.
For more details, photos, and updates about specific events, please visit our Facebook page by clicking the button below:
We are now offering early registration for the 2026–2027 school year.
To enroll your child (or children) at our school, simply follow two easy steps:
Step 1: Complete the registration form by clicking here:
Step 2: Pay the $55 non-refundable registration fee by check, payable to Russian School Erudite. The check may be given to Larisa K. Ortunio at school or mailed to:
Russian School Erudite4104 Chippendale Ct.Rockville, MD 20853
Please note that registration for enrichment classes (5th and 6th periods) will open at the beginning of the school year and will be handled separately from the main school registration.
Graduation
Another school year has come to an end, and on June 6, the last school bell rang at Erudite.
Our graduating students, who seem to have been preschoolers only yesterday, took the stage alongside our future first graders and ceremoniously passed on the “keys to knowledge.” The soon-to-be first graders took a playful oath, promising to do their homework, arrive at school on time, and — most importantly — not fly away on unicorns during recess!
Then everyone enjoyed photos of memorable moments from school life on the big screen, along with congratulations, words of encouragement from our teachers, and plenty of applause.
There was a touch of sadness, too. Some of our graduates first came to Erudite more than ten years ago and have quite literally grown up before our eyes...
Good luck, dear graduates! And a warm welcome to school life to our wonderful future first graders!
More photos from the Last School Bell ceremony can be found here:
Our Traditional School Picnic Was a Great Success!
When students are asked about the most memorable event of the school year, many of them answer, “The May Picnic!”As exciting as our classes are — and they truly are — it’s hard for anything to compete with the picnic!
On May 31, our students, their families, friends, and teachers spent almost four wonderful hours together outdoors. Songs, dancing, a variety of activity stations, a petting zoo with adorable rabbits, and, of course, plenty of delicious food — including several kinds of plov — made the day fun, joyful, and truly festive.
Events like this give our school community a wonderful opportunity to get to know one another better, make new friends, and enjoy time together outside the classroom.
We hope the summer ahead will be just as bright, joyful, and memorable!
More photos can be found here:
“The Giant Cockroach” and “The Snow Queen”
On May 30, the Karusel Theater Studio, led by Zuleikha Najafzade, presented two productions: “The Giant Cockroach”, performed by the younger group, and “The Snow Queen”, performed by the older students.
Of course, no matter how hard he tried, the “terrifying” Cockroach didn’t manage to scare anyone! Fortunately, no kittens, baby elephants, or even capybaras were sacrificed to him. Our young actors delighted the audience with their sincerity, enthusiasm, and wonderful teamwork on stage.
Despite the almost-summer sunshine outside, “The Snow Queen” transported the audience, if only for a little while, into a magical kingdom of winter and ice. But the icy queen’s spell was soon broken, Gerda found Kai, and warmth returned to everyone’s hearts. The scenery, music, beautiful costumes, and performances by our young actors made a lasting impression on the audience.
“At the Karusel Theater Studio, we teach children the fundamentals of dramatic arts,” says Shamil Najafzade, co-director and playwright of The Snow Queen. “Our young actors need to understand the characters they portray, speak clearly, use the right intonation, and express ideas not only through words but also through emotions and body language. In other words, we teach our students to truly live their roles on stage. Costumes, scenery, and special effects are important, but the most important person on stage is the actor!”
Congratulations to our young performers, directors, teachers, and everyone who helped bring these productions to life on their wonderful premieres!
More photos can be found here:
Premiere of “A Rainbow Over Prostokvashino”
On April 25, the Melody Musical Theater, led by Elena Ayanyan, presented the bright, colorful, cheerful, heartwarming, and incredibly touching production “A Rainbow Over Prostokvashino.”
The audience met beloved characters from the well-known animated classic — Matroskin the Cat, Sharik, and Uncle Fyodor — as well as several new characters: Fairy Tale, Baba Gaya, the clever Fox Patrikeyevna, and a team of candy lovers who get their energy from sweets!
But no candy was needed to energize the audience. Everyone eagerly followed the characters’ adventures, sang along with the wonderful songs that created a truly special atmosphere, laughed, and enjoyed every moment.
Our young actors not only performed their roles with confidence but also won the hearts of children and adults alike with their talent.
Congratulations to the entire cast and creative team on a wonderful premiere! We wish them continued inspiration and many more creative successes!
More photos can be found here:
Annual “Eureka” Science Conference
On April 18, our school held its annual “Eureka” Science Conference. Participants and guests conducted fascinating experiments and discovered answers to many intriguing questions.
For example, they learned how to recreate the Artemis II mission at home, how to generate electricity using a potato, why water can change the way objects appear, how to make a safe model volcano, and how to reveal a secret message written in invisible ink.
As always, our students rose to the occasion, demonstrating genuine scientific curiosity, enthusiasm, and a passion for discovery. Many of those who have participated in the conference year after year have already become true veterans of our school’s scientific community!
More photos can be found here:
An Online Meeting with Narine Abgaryan
On April 18, students from Grades 5B and 6B, together with students from the Erudite Club in Milwaukee, took part in a very special event — an online meeting with the well-known and beloved writer Narine Abgaryan.
The students asked questions about her creative journey, the art and challenges of writing, her personal life, and her plans for the future. Narine answered every question with patience, sincerity, warmth, and wonderful openness.
The conversation was warm, lively, and informal, leaving everyone with wonderful memories. Although the meeting lasted an entire hour, the time flew by, and none of us wanted it to end.
We sincerely thank our colleagues in Milwaukee for inviting us to this wonderful event.
Around the World
On March 28, our “Around the World” exhibition was a great success. Visitors discovered that it is possible to travel from chilly Finland to sunny Mexico and mysterious South Korea — all in just one day!
Our students presented a wide variety of projects filled with enough fascinating facts to create an entire encyclopedia. We learned about carp in the Mississippi River that can leap up to three meters out of the water, the unique population of European bison in Belarus, why Finland is known as the “Land of a Thousand Lakes,” and even which country serves pizza made with black dough.
Our virtual journey around the world turned out to be both fascinating and educational!
More photos can be found here:
“Gramotey” Russian Language Olympiad
Over two Saturdays in February, our school held one of its largest and most important Russian-language events — the “Gramotey” Olympiad, with students from Grades 1 through 8 taking part.
Successfully completing the challenging written assignments required more than simply knowing grammar rules. Students also had to demonstrate quick thinking, attention to detail, and a strong knowledge of literature.
For our older students, the competition was even more challenging because it included an oral component. Each student presented individually before a member of the jury and completed all parts of the program: a prepared presentation, poetry recitation, and — perhaps the most challenging task — reading an unfamiliar text and answering questions about its content.
Overall, our students did an excellent job and demonstrated strong Russian-language skills. The winners received diplomas and medals, while all other participants received commemorative pins.
Congratulations to all our young Russian-language scholars! We look forward to the next Olympiad!
More photos can be found here:
Valentine’s Day — A Celebration of Love
On Saturday, February 14, our classrooms were filled with a special warmth, and handmade hearts created by our students appeared on their desks.
At Erudite, love means friendship and appreciation for our teachers, a passion for learning and connecting with others, and a love of good books and exciting activities!
We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and we wish you a life always filled with love!
Our Chess Traditions
Chess has a long-standing tradition at our school. Every year, we organize tournaments within our chess club and take part in competitions at higher levels. This school year was no exception.
Over several weeks, tournament games were held in the intermediate and advanced groups, with all of our young chess players actively participating. Winners were determined not only by the points they earned, but also by their knowledge of chess theory and active participation in class.
On January 24, we celebrated the tournament winners and participants. In the intermediate group, the top three were Eli Frank (1st place), Robert Azimov (2nd place), and Alan Almaz (3rd place).
In the advanced group, Klim Lukashanets took 1st place; Matvey Sedinkin and Filipp Zrazhevsky shared 2nd place; and Roma Krasichkov took 3rd place. The winners received medals and prizes. The other participants, while not placing among the winners, demonstrated great competitive spirit and strong chess skills. Each received a commemorative award.
This exciting intellectual competition was organized by Alexander Reznikov, leader of the advanced group, and Mikhail Davydov, leader of the intermediate group, with the assistance of Grigory Lanzo, Karine Dabagyan, and Irina Skomorokhova.
More photos can be found here:
Learning to Knit
Knitting is surely one of the coziest and “warmest” hobbies in the world! And what better time than a cold winter to practice new skills and put them to good use?
Everything you see in the photos (just click the button below) was handmade by our students — with enthusiasm, creativity, and lots of enjoyment.
If you don’t know how to knit yet but would like to learn, we invite both children and adults to join our classes. Enrollment is currently open for our sixth-period knitting class.
For more information, please contact the school administration.
New Year’s Wishes Do Come True!
On December 13, our school held festive New Year celebrations for all our students. This year, Ded Moroz’s magical residence wasn’t somewhere far away — it was right here in our school! And, as if by magic, Ded Moroz and his faithful helper Snegurochka seemed to be in several places at once!
All the children had a chance to visit Ded Moroz, receive gifts, enjoy cheerful performances, and even take part in the festivities themselves. One of the highlights was the holiday show “Circus, Circus, Circus!”, featuring performances by students from almost every class.
Our New Year tree was special too — it was decorated with handmade ornaments created by our students.
The celebration was truly magical, joyful, and full of holiday spirit. Happy New Year!
To view the photos, please click the button below:
Как мы отмечали Международный день домашних животных
On November 29, our school held its annual “Our Pets” exhibition. One of this year’s highlights was an unusual project called “InstaWoof” — a collection of “posts” written from the perspective of the students’ pets.
This year’s exhibition was one of the most original and creative we’ve ever had. Along with traditional photos and stories about beloved cats, dogs, parrots, hamsters, and other pets, the students created a giant portrait of a cat and shared what they love (or perhaps don’t love quite as much!) about these independent and fluffy companions.
Our students also imagined the perfect pet — one that can fly, talk, play basketball, and even… do homework! A pet like that would certainly come in handy in many households.
As always, the “Our Pets” exhibition was one of the most colorful and beloved events of our school year.
For more information, please click the button below.
A Not-So-Scary Halloween
As is tradition at our school, this year on October 25, we celebrated our “Not-So-Scary Halloween” — a day when everyone surprised us, made us laugh, and impressed us with their creativity, but certainly didn’t scare us!
As always, we were fully prepared for Halloween. During classes, students drew pumpkins, colored black cats, learned and reviewed holiday-related words, and remembered fairy-tale characters associated with all things mysterious and magical — from Baba Yaga to Leshy.
Movie characters and heroes of ancient myths, pirates and mermaids, mysterious creatures, police officers, and even inflatable aliens from unknown worlds — we had them all!
You can see this wonderful variety of costumes for yourself in our photo gallery, beautifully captured by our talented photographer, Yulia Misyureva.
Click the button below to view the photos.
Приглашаем родителейи их деток в «Малышок»!
We are delighted to invite parents and their little ones (ages 1.5 to 2.5) to our welcoming “Malyshok” Early Development Class.
Classes are held with parents present, helping children feel safe and confident while giving moms and dads an opportunity to learn how to support their little ones as they take their first steps in discovering the world around them.
The class is taught by Olga Vorontsova, an experienced early childhood educator and a mother of two young children herself, who understands early childhood development firsthand.
Our classes focus on natural, well-rounded development, helping children build concentration and learn through play and exploration. Little ones paint with finger paints, play with water and sand, dance, listen to music, discover “mystery boxes,” and, of course, have lots of fun!
The “Malyshok” program is now in its second year, and we look forward to welcoming new little friends!
Class time: 9:30–11:00 AMRoom: 239
To register, please follow the link: https://bit.ly/erudit-anketa2025.
A Promising Start
The new 2025–2026 school year began with a beautiful sunny morning and… a little bit of real magic!
Characters from the beloved story The Wizard of the Emerald City made a special appearance at our traditional opening-day celebration: Ellie and Totoshka, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and even the wicked Bastinda.
The Tin Woodman led a morning warm-up so the children wouldn’t “get rusty” sitting at their desks, while the Cowardly Lion taught everyone how to give a mighty roar (though not during class, of course!). And what better way to start the school year than with some of our favorite songs — The Path of Kindness and At Our School.
A heartfelt thank-you to the Melody Musical Theater, led by Elena Ayanyan, for a magical morning filled with music and inspiration. It truly set the tone for the year ahead!
The first school bell has rung, and we wish everyone a wonderful start to the new school year, filled with enthusiasm, exciting discoveries, and excellent grades. Onward and upward!
More photos can be found here:
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