In the center of Los Angeles, at 650 Micheltorena Street, is the Church of Saint mother of God with an attached Orthodox Sunday School. As a rule it is quite common to have a Church school, but the unusual warm atmosphere and genuine enthusiasm of the people involved and their true love of the children here, make this one quite special.

The principal, Irina Usova, acquaints us with the premises, There is a private parking, a small two story building with well lit classrooms, teachers’ quarters, a library and a prayer counter. Few Sunday Schools can boast of such facilities.

As the children and the faculty are preparing for year-end graduation ceremonies there is a lot of excitement because the children fully participate in the preparations and the arranging of newly received furniture and supplies from the Church’s sponsors.

Here there is a home atmosphere; the faculty is made up of dedicated well-educated people for whom teaching here is not work but a connection to their roots. The children, though mostly born in the United States, still feel some detachment; but here they enjoy a connection to their Russian blood and origins.

Studies start with a short Service followed by five classes that familiarize the students with their Mother language, literature, classic authors, grammar, history, music, art, song and dance, and Bible Study.

Irina, who teaches history, proudly shows me a montage of tin infantry and cavalry soldiers depicting the Battle of Borodino that Vanechka, her student, had made up. It required considerable effort to conceiver the project and it shows how much interest it created in a child whose main education is not occupied by Sunday school.

In present day Russia, it has become fashionable among the well-to-do people to educate their children abroad. Upon their return, their Country feels inferior to them. This creates a paradox because they really do not feel completely connected abroad, nor do they feel completely at home in their Fatherland. In the Diaspora, it is a totally different situation: the parents, having made the decision to leave their country for good and settle in a new land, and after their children are born, being to feel a longing for their roots. They want their kids to be familiarized with their heritage, It is then, here, at the Church School, where they get it.

The faculty receives nominal compensation from Church funds; tuition for children is free. Instruction ends at 3 PM but few leave before 6 PM. “It feels cozy here” say the students. Irina says, “it is a shame that there are only 57 kids at the school; it can accommodate twice as many.” There were many activities in the past that afforded contacts with parents and American charitable organizations which allowed for the production of religious plays and musical presentations. Even Gogol’s Inspector General was produced once. The current effort is currently a marionette theatre.

Saint Mother of God is the first Russian Church, not only in Los Angeles, but in all of Southern California. It was founded in 1923 by emigrant Cossacks and members of the White Army. Among the founding members were also Counts Golitsin and Volonsky. In 1943 a memorial service was held for Sergey Rachmaninoff, the world famous composer and pianist – also a church member.

When first built, the Church was surrounded by open spaces, but now is in the built-up center of Los Angeles. The Church is fully endowed and financially independent and belongs to The Orthodox Church of America, and not to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Church is quite small but well-used and cozy. According to its membership it has a special aura. The founders also willed that only Slavic services be held and that will is strictly observed. The Church contains many unique relics and icons. There is also a large collection of books that was brought from Russia after the Revolution. Most of them are in old Russian orthography and are starting to disintegrate, making them unsuitable for reading.

The school holds two sessions on week-ends; they both have religions and cultural curriculums. The Saturday school is in Russian; and the Sunday school is for English-speaking children.

The clerical staff consists of three priests headed by Father Nikolai Bondiryev, a priest from Canada. He is also a psychologist who is particularly able to connect with children.

Irina Usova states,” We do not interfere with the children’s religious instruction. We are secular and have our own program. We have a strong and accomplished teaching staff of ten people, all with college education and are all well-integrated into American life and has their own unique story. Alla Yakubian has taught Russian language and history to the upper classes for many years. By education she is a nuclear physicist and immigrated to the US with her family thirty years ago. She first joined another Saturday school at the Pokrovskaya Church, attending it with her children. When the children grew up she left, but later returned to our Church with her grandchildren. At the parking lot we were approached by a stylish, attractive woman; she was introduced to us as Natalya Borisovna Orlova, out former priest’s wife. I had a different image of a Father’s wife in my mind and was surprised to learn that she was the principal of the school when her husband headed the Church before his transfer to San Diego. A year later he returned to another Parish, but Natalia returned to her favorite school. She now teaches music, dancing, and singing. She is a conservatory graduate. She organizes her events with great taste. Liana Vertiolkina, who is a chemist, teaches Russian language to the lower grades. She also heads St. John of Kronstadt Russian retirement home. Yevgeniya Ilchenko is a psychology graduate from UC Irvine. Yekaterina Moore, a UCLA lecturer, is preparing a dissertation about parochial schools.

The school contacted Professor Olga Kogan, a member of UCLA Slavic Studies Department, and have arranged for the students to take a test in Russian as a second language to qualify for university entrance credit.