Figure 1.--Another special day is "Prazdnik Bukvarya" (a celebracion of ABC-book). This day is celebrates the pupils in 1st grade/form (6 or 7 years old) successfully completing their ABCs. This is done in the first year of the 4-year primary (elementary) school program. In this photograph you can see children, playing roles of some letters from the Russian (cyrillic) alphabet. I'm not sure about the date, but believe ot was taken in 2007. A Russian reader has provided some insigts into the photograph here.

There are several special days at Russian schools. The first day of school was a major event in the old Soviet Union and comtinues to be so today. One traveler reported in on September 1, 2000, "Children!" they were children. Literally hundreds, and carrying bundles of flowers. Little girls dressed in black dresses and white tights, white frilly decorations rising 30cm from their heads, plaits shiny and neat. Boys no higher than my hips in ties and bow ties, hair wet, slicked back so that their fresh young scalps were visible. Hair even cut." In Soviet days the boys would have been wearing brand new miklitary-styled uniforms. Another special day is "Prazdnik Bukvarya" (a celebracion of ABC-book). This day is celebrates the pupils in 1st grade/form (6 or 7 years old) successfully completing their ABCs. This is done in the first year of the 4year primary (elementary) school program. The celebration usually occurs at the end of winter. In 3-year primary schools at the end of autumn. For the celebration each child is assigned a letter.

First Day

The first day of school was September 1 or the first week day after September 1. We are not sure about theTsaeist era, but it was a major event in the old Soviet Union and continues to be so today. One traveler reported in on September 1, 2000, "Children!" they were children. Literally hundreds, and carrying bundles of flowers. Little girls dressed in black dresses and white tights, white frilly decorations rising 30cm from their heads, plaits shiny and neat. Boys no higher than my hips in ties and bow ties, hair wet, slicked back so that their fresh young scalps were visible. Hair even cut." In Soviet days the boys would have been wearing brand new military-styled uniforms. The girls wore white hair bows, blue dresses, and white pinafores. There are no longer uniforms in Russian schools, but many of the the beginning students still dress up.

ABC Day

Another special day is "Prazdnik Bukvarya" (a celebracion of ABC-book). This day is celebrates the pupils in 1st grade/form (6 or 7 years old) successfully completing their ABCs. This is done in the first year of the 4year primary (elementary) school program. The celebration usually occurs at the end of winter. In 3-year primary schools at the end of autumn. For the celebration each child is assigned a letter. In this photograph you can see children, playing roles of some letters from the Russian (cyrillic) alphabet (figure 1). The children presumably dressed up for the event. The boy in the photograph wears short pants with black tights and a white shirt.

The First Bell

At the First Bell ceremony, the Final Graders are given the key to the year. (During the Soviet era, 10th grade was the final year of secondary school in Russia. Now it is the 11th.)

The Last Ringing

Another special day was "Poslednij zvonok"--The Last Ringing which is usually selebrated May 25. This refers to the the Last Ringing of the school bell. The 10th Grade graduate and the school year ends by a first grader ringing a bell. (Note, that in 70s or 80s the last grade was 10th, but nowdays final grade in Russian schools is the 11th.) The Last Ringing is the at its end the academic year. In the ceremony there is singing, dancing, peotry readings to celebrate the school year. As a part of this celebration, secondary students in the 10th grade met with 1st graders and presented them gifts. We note this was a selbration during the Soviet era. We do not know when it began or if it is still practiced in Russian schools today. A reader tells us that it is. Graduation takes place. And then the holidays begin for the 1st graders. The final-graders (10th/11th graders have a month-long series of graduate examinations.

Graduation Ball

After their exams, the final graders have their "Vypusknoy bal" (Graduation Ball) on June 26.

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Created: 3:02 AM 7/15/2007
Last updated: 7:40 PM 11/21/2008