Dome School Reopens After 72 Years of Slumber
Twenty-six first-graders will go down in Tallinn history as the first students of the re-opened Dome School which closed its doors 72 years ago.
The first written sources mentioning the Christian school date back to 1319 and after being closed down and reopened several times, the institution, mainly but not exlusively catering for the German-speaking nobility, ceased to exist in 1939, after the mass resettlement of the Baltic Germans to Germany.
The reopened school is currently operating under the auspices of the privately funded Old Town Educational College, the capital’s main Christian school. Nevertheless, once all the legal proceedings have been completed, the Dome School will become an independent institution run by the Dome Congregation of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
The school currently comprises two classes, one for 16 girls and one for 10 boys. The facilities are located in the heart of the capital's Old Town, in Town Hall Square.
In addition to the national curriculum, the Dome School has integrated subjects like religion and folklore and recreational activities into its schedule. Students attending extra music classes take them during daytime and not in the evening after regular classes, as in most schools.
Ingrid Teesalu