Kitajskij Blagovestnik. № 9/10, June 15, 1915. pp 56-57.
English translation by Fr John Bartholomew

The Girls' School at the Russia Ecclesiastical Mission in Beijing

The girls' school in Beijing is divided into two groups — the older, with fifteen students and the younger, with 23 students. The ages of the students are from 7-21 years of age. The teachers are Nun Fiva, O.P. Figurovskaya and (for the younger group, one of the older students, Feokrist Xin); and the singing teacher is Aleksei De. The time is divided in this way: the students wake up at 5:00 a.m. After washing and dressing they go to the Liturgy, and eat at 7:00 in the morning. After breakfast those on duty clean the rooms and the others review the previous lessons. Lessons go from 8 to 12 noon and from 2 to 5:30. In the interval between 12 and 2 they knit various Chinese trifles. At 6:00 there is dinner. From 6 to 7 they walk or play. From 7 in the evening they go to the evening service. At 8:30 there are evening prayers and then they go to bed. Successes: in their study of the Law of God the students of the older group have studied the first half of the catechism, have repeated the prayer book and a short sacred history: the students of the younger group, besides a short introductory textbook of The Law of God and study of the prayer book, the younger students just recite sacred history according to the illustrations. The students study Chinese according to the usual textbooks used in Chinese schools. They learn to change phrases of the literary language into ordinary speech and also to explain illustrations in answers to the teachers' questions. They learn Chinese calligraphy. They learn Russian with the textbook "Russian Speech", translating it into Chinese. The older students can translate readings from parts of the textbook they have already studied and take dictation. The others learn to read and learn vocabulary according to their ages. Arithmetic and geography are taught in Russian. In the geography lessons the goal is to give the students a general conception about the globe. The students learn the names of countries, oceans, rivers, mountains etc. pointing them out on a map. In arithmetic the students, depending on their ages and development learn calculation and perform operations with whole numbers and fractions. In singing lessons (under the guidance of conductor Aleksei De) the students prepare to conduct the daily service on their own. They also learn church reading. In the handicraft classes they learn to sew for themselves and the male students. In one year they sewed 45 quilted cotton garment and trousers, 45 busharov, 15 changes of linen, 30 pairs of stockings and 24 towels. In addition, some students are occupied with making woolen rugs. They also wash and repair old clothes and also clean and repair items in the sacristy. On holy days the Nun Fiva and the students teach the Law of God to the women who have gathered together.

There is another girls' school beyond the municipal Dongzhimen gate. It's located in a building belonging to the Mission. There are 15 students in it. The teachers are the senior girls from the school at the Mission.