SCHOOL CLOSURE THREAT THWARTED
A MIRACLE
"It is a miracle that our school manages to keep open given what we have gone
through ", stated Elena Shichalina ,the Headmistress of an Orthodox Gymnasium
which offers students a deep thorough Classical education in Latin and Greek.
For since the very foundation of the school, the school has had to cope with endless
threats to close it down. Those threats had persisted for twenty five years from
developers, officials and business who had an eagle eye on attempting to take over
the property. Yet this Christmas, as if by some miracle, businessmen backed
down and now all the space within the building again belongs to the school !
It is not hard to see why many bent officials and businessmen would want to take
over the building for their own purposes. The Gymnasium is located near the
city center in one of the most bustling and thriving commercial areas on Moscow.
Real estate property around the city center highly prized, profitable and lucrative.
Prospect Mir is bursting with a boundless inexorable energy which can't
fail to impress any visitor. The school is located within the vicinity of the former
Olympic stadium which, fittingly, resembles the Roman Colosseum. The school
has won a reputation for excellence by preparing many students to become
future historians, doctors and scientists. When you enter the school staff room
you can encounter all kinds of busts,and models of Classical figures or temples
not to mention works in Latin and Greek. For some teachers this is not just a
place of work but a home! In a recent interview, a current History teacher at
the school ,Pauline Malashina, stated her colleague had compared it to working
in paradise after doing a daunting stint at a state school. You actually encounter
some school students that are actively interested in their subjects. Compared to
state schools, the student teacher ratio is very low allowing teachers to grant
more attention to pupils. You can often come across classes full of between 5 to
ten pupils. The school also strives to maintain high standards of excellence.
However, the merits of the school did not impress certain businessmen. They
would tell the headmistress again and again : "We don't agree with your school
because it is Orthodox ,and also private ". They persistently threatened to close
the school down. To achieve their aims, the courts were used, doors were blocked,
railing surfaced and even the entrances of the school were blocked. The heating
and electricity may have been turned off. The school was even deprived of using
its canteen and sports Gym! They could not even use the second floor of the
building as all this space was taken over by companies.
Oksana Chebotareva,an English teacher at the school told Second City
Teacher that : "When the canteen was closed down, the school used the corridor
to serve food to pupils. For some reason, the pupils enjoyed this better than
eating in the canteen. Maybe it was because the atmosphere had become more
democratic... When the school lost its use of the gym, the Physical Education
teacher, who is very resourceful, taught special exercises which students could
do on the stairway and used the room which is usually reserved for the choir. So
somehow the school managed to cope with those problems.
The headmistress appealed to all teachers,students and parents to pray hard
for the school to be kept open. Many of those parents happened to be influential
people and the school also obtained support from bishops. We would say a
Psalm or catechism everyday ". However, it looked like the closure of the school
was imminent ! Many people thought it was unavoidable and inevitable. This is
because many powerful people in authority and business wanted to close it
down. But whenever a company managed to take over part of the school , their
business did not seem to thrive or do well.
Then shortly before this Christmas, the Starets or Holy man informed the
headmistress : "After Christmas day, you will fully recover all the space of the
school and you will be left alone ". And the Starets turned out to be right. The
school was not closed down and acquired the right to use all the space of the
building. After twenty five years of struggle against remorseless harassment
the school has finally won its right to carry on. It is in deed a Miracle on this
very Christmas.