150th anniversary of the Nemenčinė school

In 1865 the first school in Nemenčinė was established. It was located in a small room on the first floor of a post office, only 30 pupils attended it and teaching was conducted in Russian. Currently, there are two schools in town, including the Polish Konstanty Parczewski Gymnasium, the organiser of the celebrations of 150 years of schooling in Nemenčinė.

Schooling has been conducted in the town for 150 years. At first, teaching was conducted in Russian, then in Polish. Between 1915 and 1918 the school was closed. In 1919, teachers called Skarżyńska (later on she was appointed as the director of the education department of the Nemenčinė region) and Michajłowska started teaching children in Polish. In the inter-war period the new school building was erected as part of the governmental programme “100 Marshal Józef Piłsudski schools for the Vilnius region”.  Marshal Józef Piłsudski Progymnasium started using the building in 1936. The school comprised 210 pupils and 8 teachers. Between 1941 and 1944 the school was closed and the building was converted into military barracks. Right after the war the teaching was conducted in Polish but in 1947 the school was converted into a Russian one. The representatives of the committee established to ask to restore teaching in Polish went as far as to Moscow to defend their case. The first class with the Lithuanian language of instruction was opened in 1957. In 1991 a separate Lithuanian school was opened in Nemenčinė – the current Gediminas Gymnasium.

The Polish-Russian school in Nemenčinė acquired the status of a gymnasium 10 years ago, in 2005. The school’s patron became Konstanty Parczewski – a member of the Filaret Association from Raudondvaris (Polish: Czerwony Dwór), a leader of the November Uprising of 1830 in the region and an active expatriate activist after the Uprising’s demise. Currently 526 pupils attend the school. About 40 of 60 teachers working here are the school’s alumni, including the current Headmaster Tadeusz Grygorowicz.

The facts from the history of schooling in Nemenčinė were collected by the staff of the school museum. In October an exhibition of photographs illustrating the history of the establishment was opened, as part of the 150th anniversary celebration. It presents photographs taken during various events and photographs of former pupils and teachers. The earliest photo comes dates back to 1924. It shows Ms Skarżyńska and her pupils. Current pupils could also attend several meetings with alumni telling stories about their schoolyears and their life after the Matura exam. A booklet on the history of the school was published as well.

The staff of the Gymnasium organised the main jubilee celebration in the culture centre in Nemenčinė. It was attended by the representatives of national and local government and numerous friends of the school who congratulated the establishment on their anniversary.

Based on: parcevskio.lt, own information