The colony elementary schools: Uh oh. We’re very sorry.
Top 10 Best The Colony, TX Public Elementary Schools (2023)
For the 2023 school year, there are 12 public elementary schools serving 6,717 students in The Colony, TX.
The top ranked public elementary schools in The Colony, TX are Castle Hills Elementary School, Killian Middle School and Prestwick Elementary School. Overall testing rank is based on a school’s combined math and reading proficiency test score ranking.
The Colony, TX public elementary schools have an average math proficiency score of 43% (versus the Texas public elementary school average of 36%), and reading proficiency score of 47% (versus the 40% statewide average). Elementary schools in The Colony have an average ranking of 8/10, which is in the top 30% of Texas public elementary schools.
Minority enrollment is 68% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the Texas public elementary school average of 74% (majority Hispanic).
Best The Colony, TX Public Elementary Schools (2023)
School (Math and Reading Proficiency)
Location
Grades
Students
Rank: #11.
Castle Hills Elementary School
Math: 71% | Reading: 71%
Rank:
Top 5%
Add to Compare
1025 Holy Grail Dr
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5952
Grades: PK-5
| 681 students
Rank: #22.
Killian Middle School
Math: 58% | Reading: 59%
Rank:
Top 20%
Add to Compare
2561 Fm 544
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5977
Grades: 6-9
| 1,102 students
Rank: #33.
Prestwick Elementary School
Math: 50% | Reading: 57%
Rank:
Top 20%
Add to Compare
3101 Stonefield
The Colony, TX 75056
(972) 947-9450
Grades: PK-5
| 411 students
Rank: #44.
Independence Elementary School
Math: 46% | Reading: 51%
Rank:
Top 30%
Add to Compare
2511 Windhaven Pkwy
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5212
Grades: PK-5
| 840 students
Rank: #55.
Morningside Elementary School
Math: 45-49% | Reading: 45-49%
Rank:
Top 30%
Add to Compare
6350 Paige Rd
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5970
Grades: PK-5
| 343 students
Rank: #66.
Ethridge Elementary School
Math: 45-49% | Reading: 40-44%
Rank:
Top 50%
Add to Compare
6001 Ethridge Dr
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5954
Grades: PK-5
| 406 students
Rank: #77.
B B Owen Elementary School
Math: 35-39% | Reading: 45-49%
Rank:
Top 50%
Add to Compare
5640 Squires Dr
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5950
Grades: PK-5
| 280 students
Rank: #88.
Griffin Middle School
Math: 33% | Reading: 39%
Rank:
Top 50%
Add to Compare
5105 N Colony Blvd
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5973
Grades: 6-9
| 702 students
Rank: #99.
Peters Colony Elementary School
Math: 30% | Reading: 36%
Rank:
Bottom 50%
Add to Compare
5101 Nash Dr
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5179
Grades: PK-5
| 549 students
Rank: #1010.
Lakeview Middle School
Math: 24% | Reading: 32%
Rank:
Bottom 50%
Add to Compare
4300 Keys Dr
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5974
Grades: 6-9
| 566 students
Rank: #1111.
Camey Elementary School
Math: 26% | Reading: 31%
Rank:
Bottom 50%
Add to Compare
4949 Arbor Glen Rd
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5951
Grades: PK-5
| 576 students
Rank: #1212.
Stewarts Creek Elementary School
Math: 15-19% | Reading: 20-24%
Rank:
Bottom 50%
Add to Compare
4431 Augusta St
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5960
Grades: PK-5
| 261 students
[+] Show Closed Public Schools in The Colony, Texas
The Colony, Texas Public Schools (Closed)
School
Location
Grades
Students
Education Center At The Colony (Closed 2012)
Alternative School
Charter School
5600 North Colony Blvd
The Colony, TX 75056
(972) 292-2405
Grades: 1-12
| 80 students
Lewisville H S Ben Harmon Campus Elementary School (Closed 2016)
1250 W Round Grove Rd
The Colony, TX 75056
(469) 713-5201
Grades: 9-10
| 1,205 students
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the top ranked public elementary schools in The Colony, TX?
The top ranked public elementary schools in The Colony, TX include Castle Hills Elementary School, Killian Middle School and Prestwick Elementary School.
How many public elementary schools are located in The Colony, TX?
12 public elementary schools are located in The Colony, TX.
What is the racial composition of students in The Colony, TX?
The Colony, TX public elementary schools minority enrollment is 68% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the Texas public elementary schools average of 74% (majority Hispanic).
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Peters Colony Elementary School | Texas Public Schools
- Elementary school in Lewisville ISD
- The Colony, TX
- Pre-kindergarten – 5th grade
Accountability rating
(2021-2022)
C
Lewisville ISD: B
Total students
531
Avg.
teacher experience
14.6 years
Lewisville ISD: 12.4 years
Statewide: 11.1 years
Four-year graduation rate
N/A
Lewisville ISD: 96.6%
Statewide: 90%
Peters Colony Elementary School is an elementary school in The Colony, TX, in the Lewisville ISD school district.
As of the 2021-2022 school year, it had 531 students.
70.1% of students were considered at risk of dropping out of school.
59.3% of students were enrolled in bilingual and English language learning programs.
The school received an accountability rating of C for the 2021-2022 school year.
As of the 2021-2022 school year, an average teacher’s salary was $62,977, which is $4,090 more than the state average.
On average, teachers had 14.6 years of experience.
Demographics
Race and ethnicity
Total students
531
African American
61 (11.5%)
Lewisville ISD: 12%
Statewide: 12.8%
American Indian
1 (0.2%)
Lewisville ISD: 0.3%
Statewide: 0.3%
Asian
7 (1.3%)
Lewisville ISD: 15.7%
Statewide: 4.8%
Hispanic
351 (66.1%)
Lewisville ISD: 30.7%
Statewide: 52.8%
Pacific Islander
4 (0.8%)
Lewisville ISD: 0.1%
Statewide: 0.2%
White
86 (16.2%)
Lewisville ISD: 36.6%
Statewide: 26.3%
Two or more races
21 (4%)
Lewisville ISD: 4.6%
Statewide: 2.9%
African American
11.5%
American Indian
0.2%
Asian
1.3%
Hispanic
66.1%
Pacific Islander
0.8%
White
16.2%
Two or more races
4.0%
Risk factors
A student is identified as being at risk of dropping out of school based on state-defined criteria.
A student is defined as “economically disadvantaged” if he or she is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or other public assistance.
At-risk students
70.1 %
Lewisville ISD: 42.3%
Statewide: 53.5%
Economically disadvantaged
60.6 %
Lewisville ISD: 33.6%
Statewide: 60.7%
Limited English proficiency
47.5 %
Lewisville ISD: 19.6%
Statewide: 21.7%
At-risk students
70.1%
Econ. disadvantaged
60.6%
Limited Eng. proficiency
47.5%
Enrollment by program
A look at the percentage of students enrolled in certain programs offered at schools for the 2021-2022 school year.
A student can be enrolled in more than one program.
Bilingual/ESL
59.3 %
Lewisville ISD: 20.6%
Statewide: 21.9%
Gifted and Talented
2.6 %
Lewisville ISD: 11.3%
Statewide: 8%
Special Education
17.7 %
Lewisville ISD: 16.
4%
Statewide: 11.6%
Bilingual/ESL
59.3%
Gifted and talented
2.6%
Special education
17.7%
Academics
Accountability ratings
Texas assigns ratings to districts and campuses that designate their performance in relation to the state’s accountability system.
For the 2021-2022 school year, the state gave only A – C ratings. All Texas public school districts and campuses that would have received a D or F rating instead received the label “Not Rated: SB 1365.” In addition, not all schools and districts are rated because some are alternative education programs and treatment facilities.
Overall
(2021-2022)
C
Lewisville ISD: B
Student achievement
(2021-2022)
C
Lewisville ISD: B
School progress
(2021-2022)
C
Lewisville ISD: B
Closing the gaps
(2021-2022)
C
Lewisville ISD: B
The overall grades are based on three categories: student achievement (how well students perform academically), school progress (how well students perform over time and compared to students in similar schools) and closing the gaps (how well schools are boosting performance for subgroups such as students with special needs).
For a detailed explanation of this year’s accountability system, see the 2022 Accountability Manual.
Chronic absenteeism
The chronic absenteeism rate for students during the 2020-2021 school year.
It measures the number of students who were absent for at least ten percent of the school year.
All students
19 %
Lewisville ISD: 10.7%
Statewide: 15%
African American
27.4 %
Lewisville ISD: 18.8%
Statewide: 20.7%
American Indian
N/A
Lewisville ISD: 16.1%
Statewide: 16.4%
Asian
16.7 %
Lewisville ISD: 2.8%
Statewide: 3.3%
Hispanic
18.4 %
Lewisville ISD: 16.3%
Statewide: 16.9%
Pacific Islander
N/A
Lewisville ISD: 18%
Statewide: 17.9%
White
13.9 %
Lewisville ISD: 6.7%
Statewide: 10.7%
Two or more races
23.5 %
Lewisville ISD: 11.6%
Statewide: 13.
9%
Staff
Teacher ethnicities
These figures are expressed as a percentage of the total teacher full-time equivalent (FTE) as of the 2021-2022 school year.
Total teacher FTEs
49
African American
4.8 (9.7%)
Lewisville ISD: 6.1%
Statewide: 11.2%
American Indian
0 (0%)
Lewisville ISD: 0.6%
Statewide: 0.3%
Asian
0 (0%)
Lewisville ISD: 2.7%
Statewide: 1.9%
Hispanic
17.3 (35.4%)
Lewisville ISD: 12.5%
Statewide: 28.9%
Pacific Islander
0 (0%)
Lewisville ISD: 0.1%
Statewide: 0.1%
White
26 (53%)
Lewisville ISD: 76.4%
Statewide: 56.4%
Two or more races
0.9 (1.9%)
Lewisville ISD: 1.7%
Statewide: 1.2%
Highest degree held by teachers
These figures are expressed as a percentage of the total teacher full-time equivalent.
No degree
1.7 (3.4%)
Lewisville ISD: 2%
Statewide: 1.4%
Bachelor’s
31 (63.2%)
Lewisville ISD: 69.8%
Statewide: 72.6%
Master’s
14 (28.5%)
Lewisville ISD: 27.4%
Statewide: 25.2%
Doctorate
2.3 (4.8%)
Lewisville ISD: 0.8%
Statewide: 0.8%
Students per teacher
The total number of students divided by the total full-time equivalent count of teachers for 2021-2022.
Students per teacher
10.8
Lewisville ISD: 13.1
Statewide: 14.6
Teacher experience
This figure for the 2021-2022 school year refers to tenure — the number of years a teacher has been employed in any district, whether or not there was an interruption in service.
Avg. teacher experience
14.6 years
Lewisville ISD: 12.4 years
Statewide: 11.1 years
Teacher salaries
The average salaries listed here are for regular duties only and do not include supplemental pay.
For teachers who also have nonteaching roles, only the portion of time and pay dedicated to classroom responsibilities is factored into the calculation.
Base average
$62,977
Lewisville ISD: $61,176
Statewide: $58,887
Beginner
$27,753
Lewisville ISD: $41,506
Statewide: $51,054
1 to 5 years
$58,124
Lewisville ISD: $57,595
Statewide: $54,577
6 to 10 years
$60,450
Lewisville ISD: $60,374
Statewide: $57,746
11 to 20 years
$63,758
Lewisville ISD: $63,788
Statewide: $61,377
21 to 30 years
$70,081
Lewisville ISD: $67,238
Statewide: $65,949
30+ years
$74,703
Lewisville ISD: $74,296
Statewide: $71,111
The history of the school-colony “Krasnye Zori”: it appeared in the early USSR and still exists
In the first years of its existence, the Soviet Union was a space of progress, sometimes absolutely unrestricted.
It was then that innovative teachers appeared: Anton Makarenko, Stanislav Shatsky and Ignatiy Ionin. The latter created an amazing educational institution for children and adults. We tell the story of the utopian school “Red Dawns”, in which the all-Union movement of Communards was born.
A piano in the greenhouse
The first concert after the revolution at the Mikhailovsky estate near St. Petersburg was held a little later than the first harvest from local gardens ended. Music was demanded by children – orphans and those whom their parents simply could not feed during the difficult years of the Civil War. And the piano played.
Children settled in royal interiors: the estate used to belong to Prince Mikhail, son of Nicholas I. Surrounded by a large park with access to the Gulf of Finland, it was huge: with several large buildings – stables, greenhouses, gardens, houses for servants. Children gradually put the abandoned buildings in order – there was no one else to do this.
They repaired the large glass greenhouse themselves: they repaired the stove, insulated the dilapidated building, and made a stage. And they dragged a piano from the street, which was left there by the sailors who lodged in the main building of the estate. Finally, everything was ready for the concert – Liza Semenova played.
The mother could not feed her daughter alone, and she asked to enroll her in an orphanage
Lisa became one of the first pupils of the commune school in which the children lived, studied and worked. 27 boys and girls arranged their own way of life, re-settling the huge princely estate. In order not to starve, they plowed up part of the park for vegetable gardens. Apples were picked in the old princely orchards. On the way to them, the children invariably noticed the inscription that hung over the entrance to the former house of the princely gardeners: “Whoever says that he cannot, it means he does not want to!”
All employees agreed with this motto.
They knew that when they entered the commune, they accepted its main rule – “Who does not work, he does not eat.” In return, children were given the freedom to choose the future of their school on their own. The director of the commune school, Ignatius Vyacheslavovich Ionin, in turn, promised the students: “Everyone gets everything!”
The Day of the Birds
How the Red Dawns were invented
The person who brought the children to Mikhailovka was Ignatiy Vyacheslavovich Ionin. He was born on December 31, 1892 in the family of a rural doctor and a midwife. The boy received his primary education at home, and then entered the Peterhof Men’s Gymnasium, where, despite all expectations, he did not become an excellent student, but constantly received triples. Nevertheless, after the gymnasium, the young man entered the natural department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University.
At the beginning of the Civil War, a rather short, painfully thin Ionin served as a pilot, but, having received a severe concussion and a wound in the lung, he went home to his relatives.
His father was ill, and therefore, having barely recovered from his injuries, Ionin began to look for work.
Soon he was offered to become an agronomist-instructor at the local summer school-colony, located in the Mikhailovsky estate. Other candidates, professional teachers, refused to go to a remote, remote estate. And for Ionin, the place was almost native – he himself lived nearby. Therefore, he agreed to conduct lessons and classes for children in the former country palace.
“I go to the colony… not as a service, but as a vacation,” Ionin wrote to his sister. So we decided to set up a small garden on the territory of the estate, and soon – to occupy its empty halls and organize an agricultural labor children’s commune.
At the beginning of the existence of the commune, it was not easy for Ionina and other enthusiastic teachers who dared to take care of difficult, and even frightened children. There was always a possibility that the guys would go on strike, refuse to work, make their way to Strelna and leave by tram for Petrograd to disappear into the stream of its streets.
What to do? The adults decided: the school should switch to self-government in the best traditions of democratic pedagogy.
From the first day of the existence of the school-commune, the main issue that occupied the pupils was food: the children remembered the time of hunger and took a responsible approach to organizing the garden. Therefore, the commission for organizing catering was the first to be established, from which other self-government bodies grew, cells: agronomic, educational, library, nutrition, linen and sanitary.
The disciples – they were called “colonists” – dealt with all issues together. With the participation of adults, the children figured out exactly how to combine work and study. At the general meeting, they also chose the name for the commune – “Red Dawns”.
From I. V. Ionin’s essay “Colony School Krasnye Zori”:
“The autumn of 1921 was the time when in the history of the colony the functions of a self-governing organization were represented by written theses on self-government.
These theses were made for the guys and reported at the meeting dedicated to the meeting of the new civil year on December 31st.
They were based on the following provisions:
1) Self-government does not replace the governing bodies of the colony school.
2) The goal of the municipality is to assist the children in certain areas of the work of the colony school.
3) For this assistance, assistance cells are organized for one or another type of work of the colony school.
4) Self-government bodies are called cells and are elected by the general meeting.
5) The following cells are organized: drinking cell, bibi cell, agro cell, etc.
6) Cells are selected for six months.
7) The cells basically solve the problems of the organization, and the organization of the duty officers comes to their aid.
Labor in the “school-farm”
“In school and in the orphanage, labor, even in itself, should take pride of place.
And labor needs a laboratory, and school agriculture will be, first of all, a laboratory,” wrote Ionin, who dreamed of creating not just a “school with a farm” or a “farm with a school,” but only a “school-farm”. He did not forget about this idea even when he hired teachers. When hiring, Ionin asked each subject teacher: “What else can you do, what can you teach guys, besides your subject?”
The teachers were not only responsible for the children’s grades in their subjects, but also supervised various labor areas of the commune – they were called “foremen”. All children were divided into different sectors of the economy, which they consistently studied from year to year: the fourth graders were engaged in poultry farming, the 5th grade — gardening, the 6th grade — animal husbandry and fish farming, the 8th grade — fodder and accounting. Graduates studied the general organization of the economy. All the material was considered on specific examples: “A piglet purchased, or rather, exchanged, in the middle of summer also served as the subject of a study of its growth.
”
Odnoklassniki spent all their time together, not only at work, but also during their free time. At the same time, work and study were organized in such a way that the children had time to study in circles and conduct agronomic research. Sometimes the classes traveled to Petrograd, which later became Leningrad, to theaters, museums, and excursions. More than others, they were waiting for the main, final trip, in which all the graduates of the Krasnye Dawns participated: after 9th grade children went to the Crimea.
The only difficulty in the early 1920s was that the “Krasnye Zori” still occupied “Mikhailovka” (a tasty place on the coast of the Gulf of Finland) and they invariably wanted to push the children out of there. It was planned to give the building to the geographical museum, and to close Krasnye Zori under the pretext of a small number of students. Then Ionin proposed to expand the colony. At first, only 21 children were sent, but the practice eventually became permanent – by 1925, when Mikhailovka was already firmly entrenched in the institution, 200 children studied there.
Of course, the children were immediately divided into “new” and “old”. Ionin immediately occupied all the colonists in big affairs, to which it was necessary to involve everyone indiscriminately – both only those who arrived and those who were experienced. For example, he instructed one to breed trout in ponds that needed to be cleaned before that. At the same time, Ionin himself did not shy away from work: once, having entrusted the collection of manure to fertilize the field, the director himself scooped it up with his hand. Even the most notorious hooligans, resisting the new life, could not oppose the actions of the director.
In 1925, 300 children from five closed orphanages were brought to Krasnye Zori. They were entrusted with the construction of a greenhouse under the supervision of the teachers of the colony school. The children, who could not be dealt with in five different orphanages, completed all the work in less than six months. The construction of the greenhouse united them, gave them a new goal.
Graduates of 1939
“They were not lined up for inspections”
By 1932, Krasnye Zori had turned into a huge training and labor combine. It included an orphanage for 410 pupils, day and evening schools, an agro-pedagogical college – the first institution of its kind, where teachers of agronomists were trained – organizers of school plots and educational facilities capable of teaching at school – and a rest home. All buildings, as before, were located on the territory of Mikhailovka – the farm was built on 140 hectares of land and park. Now there were not only vegetable gardens, but also stables, cowsheds, apiaries, craft workshops and even a power plant. Krasnye Zori provided for themselves, and sold the surplus in the city.
The wife of Ignaty Vyacheslavovich, a teacher of Russian language and literature, Nina Petrovna Kitaeva, was in charge of a library of 9,000 volumes. Those who did not like to read attended various sections and went in for sports.
Sometimes graduates came to Krasnye Zori who missed the utopian school surrounded by parks.
Almost all children who left the commune, once considered disadvantaged, went to universities and became engineers, economists, agronomists.
The colony was also known outside the USSR. When the country was recognized by the politicians of other states, Krasnozor residents were assigned a new important task – to conduct tours of their huge farm and communicate with guests, at the same time practicing foreign languages. At 19In 31, about 4,000 people came on an excursion to Krasnye Zori, and 240 of them were foreigners from the USA, Germany, Japan, Turkey, France and England.
One of the first guests of the school-commune was the philosopher and teacher, the creator of the project system John Dewey, who in his essay “Impressions of Soviet Russia” described the phenomenon of “Krasnye Zor” as follows:
“There is nothing surprising or unique. I do not regard them as evidence of any special concern of the Bolshevik government for children. Rather, as a testament to the innate quality of Russians – it makes a much more impressive impression than I can put into words.
Nowhere in the world have I seen so many smart, happy, smart kids
They were never lined up for inspections. We walked around the territory of the colony and found them everywhere doing various summer activities – gardening, beekeeping, repairing buildings, a greenhouse for flowers (it was built and now the most difficult guys work in it, who destroyed everything that came to their hand), making simple tools and agricultural implements and so on.
I was impressed not so much by what they did as by their behavior, attitude to everything that happens – I can’t convey it, I just don’t have enough literary skill, but the impression will remain forever.
Gradually, urban schoolchildren were also sent to the colony school on vouchers. The institution grew but showed no signs of decay. It seemed that life in Krasnye Zori settled down forever, perfectly illustrating the dreams of Soviet people about socialism.
Teachers of the Krasnye Dawns colony school (I.
V. Ionin is sitting on the left)
“It’s better to die than to lie down”
In 1937, Ignatiy Vyacheslavovich Ionin and six other teachers of the Krasnye Zori were arrested on charges of “Trotskyism” . The director was tried under the “execution” of the 58th article, but at the trial he did not say a word in his defense. He just quoted a Chinese proverb “Sitting is better than standing, lying down is better than sitting, dying is better than lying down…” He spent two months on death row, and then he suddenly found out about the mitigation of the sentence – Ignatiy Vyacheslavovich was sent to camps for 10 years.
The former inspector Leskov, whom Ionin knew well, was soon appointed to the director’s place. From the conclusion, he wrote that he was very happy with the new appointment, loves everyone and rejoices that the “Red Dawns” still exist. He died on February 19, 1939 in a camp hospital, without having served even half of his sentence.
Soon the Great Patriotic War began.
Most of the Krasnozor residents – already too old to be considered children in wartime – went to the front. The new director and some teachers also left there. Primary school students went to the Yaroslavl region for evacuation, and only high school students remained in Krasnye Zori – they had to harvest. At the end of August, the girls moved to the building of the Institute for Blind Children, where they became “orphanage”, and not “Krasnozor”.
Throughout the autumn and winter, the girls took in new orphaned children – there was enough food only because the former pupils of the “Krasnye Zor” still had prepared products of their own harvest. Not a single child died in the orphanage, and in 1942 all the children were evacuated from the besieged city over the ice.
“While our hearts are beating”
“It was a breakthrough into our future,” teacher and founder of the communitarian movement Igor Petrovich Ivanov said about Krasnye Zori. Creating his “pedagogy of cooperation”, he was guided by the experience of both the commune of Anton Makarenko and the school-colony of Ignatius Ionin.
Communard detachments officially appeared in 1963 – the beginning of their history was laid by the first All-Union Gathering of young Communards in the legendary Orlyonok camp. The organization was an association of teenagers and adults who held summer labor camps together. There they were engaged in the same thing as the Krasnozorians once did – manual labor.
“Communards perceived their behavior and way of life as communist, and the commune as a kind of embodiment of communism that had already arrived,” wrote Darya Dimke, a researcher of the communitarian movement.
Focusing on the experience of Makarenko and Ionin, Ivanov considered the most important thing in organizing the education and living together of children not at all their independence, but the care of each for each. And he believed that his idols were able to create just such an atmosphere of community, warmth and “commonwealth of different generations” in their own communes.
As for Krasnye Zor, the history of the colony school has not ended.
In 1949, an orphanage under the same name reappeared in Leningrad, and in 1961, a boarding school with a special working regime for children who had poliomyelitis appeared on its basis.
The Krasnye Zori boarding school, which implements adapted educational programs, still exists. Mikhailovskaya Dacha, where Krasnye Zori was originally located, is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is partially abandoned.
Ignatiy Vyacheslavovich Ionin was rehabilitated in 1990.
<…>
Of course, time heals early,
But in order to repay the debt in full,
It would be nice to perpetuate
All the “Krasnozor” names:
So that the names of the heroes
Cast on bronze slabs,
And these slabs in Krasnye Zori
Set up in a conspicuous place.
While we are sailing the sea of life,
While our hearts are beating,
To our dear “Red Dawns”
We will be faithful to the end.
From the documentary “Red Dawns” (1985)
The editors thank Yulia Elantyeva and Maria Katz, descendants of students and teachers of the Krasnye Zori school-colony.
Cover image: The book “Colony School Red Dawns”. Ionin Ignatius Vyacheslavovich. 1933
No phone and YouTube. What do they teach in high security school? | SOCIETY
Bright and spacious classroom. On the walls are teaching aids. On the board is the topic of today’s essay: “How do I see my future.”
“Pay attention, here are the words: “I see”. Each of you sees your future in your own way, and this should be written about. How do we write an essay? Introduction, main body, conclusion. The essay must be at least 250 words. First, we write on a draft. We start working, then we’ll check it and we’ll write a clean copy,” gives parting words 10 “B” Russian language teacher Alexei Safronov.
And the students of the “high security school” start the task. All of them have been convicted and are serving sentences for serious crimes, while their class is behind bars in correctional colony No. 13 in the village of Zaozernoe.
Certificate at the age of 47
Aleksey Safronov has been teaching convicted students for 15 years.
Prior to that, he worked for 25 years in a regular school “outside”.
“I like being a teacher here and working with convicts. My students are adults, it is interesting with them, they have life experience, thanks to which I can learn something from them. I’m tired of working with small children, it’s hard with 5-6 graders, so I changed my job at the time. And here – the discipline is ideal, no one provokes, a controversial issue has arisen – we calmly discuss it. No one is on their phones in class – students listen and learn,” says Alexey Safronov.
From the outside, a school behind bars doesn’t differ much from a regular one: well-equipped classrooms, a teacher’s room, a stand with lesson schedules and useful information in the hallway, and even an honors board with portraits of the three best students. The supply manager, a graduate who graduated from school last year, keeps order.
In total, there are nine teachers in evening school No. 12, as well as the head teacher and director, who also teach lessons. The school was opened in 1964, and since 2013 it has been located in three correctional institutions: women’s IK-12, men’s strict regime IK-13, and colony-settlement KP-22. 59 people study behind bars this yearpeople, and about 15 – voluntarily. These are those who are over 30 years of age (the younger ones are required to complete a school education by law). There are no age restrictions: teachers also remember the 47-year-old graduate.
Alexey Safronov has been teaching Russian in the colony for 15 years. Photo: AiF / Yulia Mikhaleva
Boss instead of mother
“When I came to my first lesson in 2005, the students asked me: “how do you feel about us?” And I answered them: “I don’t know why you are here, and I don’t read the Criminal Code. For me, you are schoolchildren, students. And that’s the way it is. It is very important to abstract, otherwise the teacher may not be able to continue working.
Such cases happen: the teacher left after learning that one of her promising students committed murder and plans to repeat after her release. Therefore, it is better not to know,” says director of evening school No. 12 Tatyana Nesterova . She teaches English in IK-12 and IK-13.
Tatyana Nesterova, director of evening school No. 12, teaches English at IK-12 and IK-13. Photo: AiF / Yulia Mikhaleva
“At the very beginning, when I came to teach convicts, I worked part-time, remaining in a regular school. I remember how my second graders were surprised when I started to address them as “you”, already getting used to my adult students. But I want to say that it is easier and more interesting with adult students,” notes Tatyana Nesterova.
If the students do not want to study at all and skip classes, then not the mother is called to school, but the head of the detachment.
“But I want to say that there are times when parents, and even grandparents called us to find out about the success of their students,” notes history teacher Elena Dudkova .
Convicts love how history teacher Elena Dudkova talks about the past. Photo: AiF/ Yulia Mikhaleva
This year IK-13 has eighth grade, tenth grade, three eleventh grades and a twelfth grade (provided by the program of evening schools). And in the women’s colony there is also an elementary school. Now there are eight third-graders over 40 years old. Having lost their freedom, they learned to read, write and mastered basic mathematical operations.
While writing an essay in the Russian language class, computer science is going on in the natural science class. One of the students masters the basics of using Word, the second gets acquainted with e-mail.
“About two years ago, the Internet was installed in IK-12 and IK-13. The line is dedicated, only educational resources are technically available for visiting – for example, the same YouTube cannot be opened. But still, there is no end to those who want to learn how to work on the Internet. Although, in general, computer science and the study of computers do not arouse such enthusiasm: you have to inspire,” says computer science teacher Dmitry Shulgevich.
With the advent of the Internet in the colony, interest in computer science has grown significantly. Photo: AiF / Yulia Mikhaleva
“The future is unpredictable”
The Russian language lesson, meanwhile, is coming to an end. Someone copes even before the end of the lesson, and even manages to count the number of words. “347,” written in neat calligraphy.
“I will finish school and go here to study to be a cook. Why cook? Because you will always be full, both yourself and your family, and you will be paid well.” “My future looks unpredictable to me.” “I want my beloved wife and children to meet me when I come home from work. I will give my son to sports in my footsteps, and my daughter would like to become an artist”, “I want to find my muse,” the students wrote.
Many of them in their writings express concern about finding work in freedom, and most write about the family.
Convicts are worried about future employment at large.
Photo: AiF / Yulia Mikhaleva
And 37-year-old tenth-grader Alexander Vigovsky wrote about how he would build a house outside the city for his family – his wife and 14-year-old daughter. He is one of the best students, the pride of the school: his portrait is placed on the honor roll. He studies voluntarily at his own request.
“I graduated from the wild 9classes, and there is a profession – an excavator-bulldozer operator. But here I started studying from the 8th in order to get a complete education without gaps and continue to study. My favorite subject is history. Elena Yuryevna tells so interestingly, brightly and colorfully. It is very interesting to listen to her and learn about how people lived in the old days, how collective farms appeared, how everything developed and changed,” says convict Alexander Vigovsky .
After his release, Alexander Vigovsky dreams of building a house for his family. Photo: AiF / Julia Mikhaleva
He is sentenced to 20 years 6 months in high security for the murders.
Behind bars for 8 years already: “In the village, I was a drunken hooligan, ran with a knife, scared three people, wounded them slightly. A day later, another dead man was found.”
Says that at first it seemed that 20.5 years is an incredibly long time, the time of which will never end, but then it flowed faster and now it flies.
“During this time, before my eyes, two people have already left and returned here again. How can you not appreciate your life and the opportunity to come out of here and start it all over again?”
24-year-old Maksim Korsachev has been in prison for two years for selling a synthetic drug – “speed”. According to him, he tried himself, but did not become a drug addict. There are still 2.5 years ahead.
“I got a profession as a welder, but I want to graduate. I love the Russian language and computer science. When I go out, I dream of opening my own workshop. And back to sports. In the wild, I played football and taekwondo, and here I play on the football team.