Sergei Sobyanin: 100 renovated schools opened their doors in Moscow on September 1
Sergei Sobyanin has inaugurated the building at Kaptsovs’ School (No. 1520) in the Presnensky District, which was renovated under the My School program.
“Many generations of wonderful students graduated from the school. And, of course, it had to be made great, so that it would carry on the best traditions. We had an option to simply to close it, since it did not meet the standards. Yet, on the contrary, we have chosen to revive this wonderful learning space. I hope you like it,” said Sergei Sobyanin during his meeting with the students.
One hundred renovated and twenty newly built schools, including five with preschool groups, along with twenty-five new kindergartens opened their doors on September 1. The new schools will educate 115,000 children, admitting one in ten Moscow students — a high record figure in the recent years and possibly even in the city’s history.
Around 1.6 million children and students will be attending local schools, kindergartens, and colleges throughout the academic year. Approximately 95,000 children started first grade in Moscow schools.
“Today, around 1.6 million Muscovites entered colleges, schools, and kindergartens. We have made 547 educational institutions ready for the start of the academic year. We are launching 145 new buildings or entirely renovated schools and kindergartens, such as Kaptsovs’ School (No. 1520) in the Presnensky District, which reopened its doors upon renovation,” Sergei Sobyanin writes on his Max channel.
Source: Moscow Mayor’s Max channel
To prepare for the start of the academic year, the authorities made ready 547 schools, colleges, and supplementary education institutions supervised by the Moscow Department of Education and Science (over 4,100 buildings in all), while routine repairs were carried out on more than 1,500 school and kindergarten buildings in the summer.
Moscow schools and colleges have got 76,000 new digital devices, including interactive panels and laptops, as well as server and network equipment. All educational institutions have taken steps to ensure proper school feeding standards; the protection and security systems were examined and double-checked, as well.
My School program
In addition to constructing new educational facilities and creating the so-called schools of the future, the Moscow Government is running My School, a project of unprecedented scale for the renovation of existing school buildings.
Initiated three years ago, it has reached its highest point, with four schools renovated in 2024 and 51 buildings in 2025. In September 2026, they re-launched 100 revamped schools, another 85 school buildings to follow in 2027.
Upon renovation, the school spaces are getting absolutely transformed:
— common areas evolving to be used more effectively, with recreation zones, multifunctional event spaces, and media centers instead of narrow passageways, assembly halls that remain closed most of the time, and underutilized libraries,
— trendy furniture and next-gen equipment enabling a radical improvement in instruction in science, engineering, and IT; Moscow schools and colleges have got 76,000 digital devices this year alone,
— academic buildings getting metamorphosed with state-of-the-art design solutions, depending on school characteristics; this year they have developed two more alternatives, so schools can choose from three design options, enabling greater individuality in the buildings.
For those schools that occupy historic buildings, such as Kaptsovs’ School, architects apply custom designs incorporating restoration aspects. As a result, school buildings look stylish, open, bright and comfortable, with a friendly and motivating environment inside.
Renovation of Kaptsovs’ School
Erected in the late 19th century, the four-story historic building of Kaptsovs’ School No. 1520 in the Presnensky District (19/2 Leontyevsky Pereulok, Bldg. 1) spans 8,000 square meters, including the basement.
“The renovation project for the building on Leontyevsky Pereulok erected in the late 19th century was started under the My School program in the spring of 2025. The custom design solution took into account the need to preserve the building’s architectural distinctiveness and established historical exterior,” Sergei Sobyanin adds.
Source: Moscow Mayor’s Max channel
The comprehensive renovation project kicked off in the spring of 2025. Architects developed an architecturally unique, tailor-made design solution that took into account the need to preserve the building’s architectural distinctiveness and historical façades. Moreover, specific requirements were applied to the interior finishes, furniture, and equipment,
so they used natural materials and carefully selected decorative elements to highlight the building’s architectural value and enable its long service life.
Architects and engineers replaced utility systems, doors, and window units, installed partitions, screeded the floors and beatified the interiors; the school grounds were landscaped.
The project focused on creating a modern educational environment for both children and teachers. In accordance with the My School program, the renovated building features general-purpose and special-focus classrooms, a classroom that can be divided into two spaces by a movable partition, a state-of-the-art media center with group and individual learning sections, a multifunctional space flooded with bright natural and artificial light for events, lectures, and exhibitions, as well as a dining hall, and sports facilities.
The interior colors are subdued with accents of acoustic panels, bright furniture or design elements, while glass partitions and doors add natural lighting, making the space more open visually.
The sports grounds include a multi-purpose court for mini-soccer, volleyball, and basketball, playgrounds for children of various ages, and parking lots for bicycles and scooters; there is also a quiet relaxation area.
The renovated building of School No. 1520 on Leontyevsky Pereulok reopened its doors on September 1 to accommodate students in grades 5 through 11. They continue their in-depth study of some specific subjects, such as math, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, foreign languages, literature, history, and social studies, and take part in city-wide projects, including the Math Vertical, Math Vertical Plus, Entrepreneurship Class in Moscow Schools, and IT Class in Moscow Schools.
The school has a media center, museum of history, Pierrot theater studio, and Victoria dance theater,
which have been enhanced with more opportunities for supplementary education as school students can attend sports clubs for basketball, volleyball, table tennis, rugby, CrossFit, gymnastics, sambo, karate, aikijutsu, and chess. There will also be clubs for media creativity, dance, theater and visual arts, as well as Olympiad, programming, prototyping, robotics, and 3D modeling courses.
From Primary School to Gymnasium
130-year-old Kaptsovs’ School is one of the oldest educational institution in Moscow, its history dating back to the early 1890s, when they founded Sergei Kaptsov Municipal Primary School for Boys. Sergei Kaptsov (1816–1892) was a hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow and a First Guild merchant who traded in silk goods in the Bolshoy Vetoshny Ryad market. Funds for the establishment were donated by his son Alexander Kaptsov (1849–1897), a hereditary honorary citizen of Moscow, a member of the Moscow City Duma, and a First Guild merchant.
The academic building on Leontyevsky Pereulok was built in 1892–1893 by architect Dmitry Chichagov (1835–1894), its architectural features alluding to the Swedish and Norwegian trading compound that had once been located in this part of the city. The building in fact resembles a Scandinavian castle with a steeply pitched roof and turrets.
In 1895–1896, architect Maxim Geppener (1848–1924) built an extension, which housed Ksenia Kaptsova School for Girls — named so after the wife of Sergei Kaptsov and mother of Alexander (1821–1895).
Both educational institutions were very popular in Moscow and were commonly known as the Kaptsovki. Until 1917, the Kaptsov family remained trustees of the schools, donating funds for their upkeep. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the buildings were occupied by general-education polytechnic labor schools.
In 1964, they were set to open Special English School No. 31 that gained renown under principal Grigory Suvorov (the school was then known as the Suvorov School) and Galina Sobenevskaya who was his deputy for foreign languages.
In 1993, the school was awarded the status of gymnasium and was renumbered 1520. In 1996, it was restored to the name of its founders — the patrons of the arts, the Kaptsovs; in 2015, it merged with School No. 1243.
Graduates of Kaptsovs’ School include Andrei Goncharov (1918–2001), chief director of the Mayakovsky Academic Theater, People’s Artist of the RSFSR Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, playwright Emil Braginsky, People’s Teacher of the USSR Leonid Milgram, poet Yulia Drunina, actress Yulia Rutberg, directors Fyodor Bondarchuk and Rezo Gigineishvili, Konstantin Bogomolov, artistic director of the Theater on Bronnaya Street, writer Viktor Pelevin, and many other prominent Muscovites.
Collaborations with universities and colleagues in other countries
Today, Kaptsovs’ School comprises two buildings located on Leontyevsky and Maly Kislovsky Pereuloks, which accommodate 1,830 schoolchildren in all. The school employs 157 people, including 101 teachers and 23 other faculty members.
Its ten and eleven graders can choose from five fields, including technology, social sciences and economics, humanities, natural sciences, and general studies.
To help students make informed career choices, the school actively cooperates with Moscow universities, such as Lomonosov Moscow State University (including the Institute of Russian Language and Culture), Higher School of Economics, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, and Linguistic University.
In addition, the school partners with the Rencheng Campus of China’s Jining No. 1 High School, the relevant agreement providing for sharing best EdTech practices and improving teaching methods and techniques.
Extra education options: from theater to tourism
The school offers supplementary general education programs at various levels and in different fields, covering 98 per cent of its students.
In the past academic year, 179 eleventh-graders graduated from the school; 74 of them (41 per cent) were awarded federal and Moscow medals for outstanding academic achievements. At the Unified State Exam (USE), 82 graduates (46 per cent) scored over 220 points across three subjects, with 35 of them scoring above 250 points. Three graduates scored 100 points in one USE subject (Russia, chemistry and physics).
In the 2025-2026 academic year, 119 students were announced winners and awardees of the municipal stage of the Russian School Olympiad; seventeen students won the regional stage, while two did so at the final stage.
The school has an in-house theater studio Pierrot with the status of Moscow city creative group.
Students can also benefit from joining the school’s 1520 in Sports club that offers a wide range of sports options or the Path of Discovery hiking club.
Special attention is paid to patriotic education. Indeed, there is a military and patriotic club named The Heirs of Traditions and a Movement of the First branch, while primary school students participate in the Orlyata Rossii program.
Young actors of the theater studio took part in a festival of patriotic productions under the national School Classics project and in the interregional theater festival Spring of Victory.