The Parish School of Holy Dormition Church
from the parish's Golden Jubilee anniversary publication (1957)
The Parochial School
The early founders of the parish soon realized that the foundation upon which to build the present and future congregation would be the organizing of a parish school. If the church was to build a choir and to teach the children the faith of their fathers it would be necessary to teach the children to read Russian, and to teach them the customs and rituals of the church. In 1909 a parochial school was organized and the pastor of the congregation was the teacher. The school met in the evenings and during the summer months when the public school was not in session.
As time went on and the parish grew, the enrollment of the school became so large it was necessary to schedule classes. The school was divided into the elementary classes and the more advanced classes. The elementary classes met on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from five o'clock until seven o'clock during the nine months that the public school was in session. During the summer vacation the elementary classes met in the afternoons from one until four o'clock. The advanced classes met on Tuesday and Thursday night winters, and in the mornings during the summer months. At one time the enrollment was so heavy that the elementary group was divided into grades one, two, three, and the advanced group into grades four, five, and six.
The curriculum of the school consisted of reading and writing the Russian language, history of the Slavic peoples, Russian history, church history and customs, catechism, Russian literature, and vocal music.
When the present church building was built in 1916 the basement hall was so constructed that it could be used for a large classroom. It was provided with blackboard space, plenty of lights, and a large area of window space.
When the East Side Grade School building burned during the first World War, the Board of Education obtained permission from the parish to use the church classroom for two class rooms for the public school. A canvas petition was drawn across the middle of the room, dividing it into two rooms, and two classes were taught. The Board of Education equipped the schoolroom with double desks, which they gave to the church when they moved the classrooms into the new school building. The desks served the parish school for many years and were finally destroyed when the parochial school finally closed during World War II.
Those who attended the parish school during their childhood have many memories which they will treasure always.
The above text was excerpted from the 1957 Golden Jubilee Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Church publication by parish members for the celebration of July 26, 27, 28, 1957. Only minimal adjustments have been made to the original text (such as correcting typographical errors and adding clarification in brackets of alternate transliterated spellings).