Moscow is Russia’s biggest centre for education, science and innovation – it is also a place where children can grow up to have a shot at becoming the next Lomonosovs or Sakharovs, Tsyolkovskys or Korolyovs.
The Strogino, Tverskoi, Fili-Davydkovo and Troparyovo-Nikulino neighbourhoods are famous for being some of the best locations in Moscow for easy access to good schools. These are districts many families relocate to so as not to have a long commute get in the way of providing their children a great education.
Strogino is for young economists
Strogino is located in the northwestern of Moscow, with a population of over 120,000. The history of the neighbourhood dates back to 16th century, but it was only in 1960 that it officially became part of Moscow. This was also when mass residential development commenced in the neighbourhood.
Strogino is well-liked for its wide avenues and long lanes, a good environment and a well-developed infrastructure. There are dozens of small shops and big shopping malls in Strogino, among them the Petrovsky and Solnechny Veter shopping centres on Ulitsa Marshala Katukova, Sedmoy Kontinent on Ulitsa Tallinnskaya and Admiral on Ulitsa Kulakova.
There is also Yantar, a large football stadium which regularly hosts various sports events. Lovers of ice-skating, meanwhile, congregate at the Ice Palace of Elena Tchaikovskaya on Ulitsa Marshala Katukova.
Strogino is also the neighbourhood that has 22 public and private schools, 18 kindergartens, and a number of musical schools. One of the best private schools in all of Moscow, Integratsiya XXI Vek, is located here on Ulitsa Marshala Katukova. Students here train to enrol in the Higher School of Economics – one of Russia’s newest and finest higher educational institutions, where one can study economics, politics and various disciplines in the humanities.
Integratsiya XXI Vek is considered the city’s third best school when it comes to English language training – and students must also study a second language while there, choosing from among Chinese, French, German or Spanish.
According to Georgy Dzagurov, general director of Penny Lane Realty, Strogino is also one of the greenest neighbourhoods in Moscow.
“There are the Stroginskaya and Kirovskaya floodplains, Lake Chistoye, the Serebryanny Bor park – the scenery in Strogino is spectacular even after all of the massive residential development, which is why it continues to be referred to as Moscow’s Switzerland,” Dzagurov said.
Rent in Strogino currently hovers at around 32,000 roubles for a simple one-bedroom apartment and around 100,000 for some of the fancier optionsid.
“The average cost of a square metre in the economy sector is 124,000 roubles and 168,000 roubles for the business class sector – this is 20 to 25 per cent more than average real estate prices in Moscow,” Dzagurov said.
Get up and dance in Tverskoi
Tverskoi is located smack in the centre of Moscow, which makes it both an exciting and noisy place to call home. But aside from all of the usual tourist-themed sites one associates with the neighbourhood, Tverskoi is also known for its schools – among the famous ones is Public School 1113, which offers in-depth study of music and dancing.
School 113 features a curriculum which emphasises artistic and aesthetic instruction, providing for the in-depth study of the following subjects: music, literature, history of fine arts, theatre, introduction to Russian art, art history and choreography.
Students in this school learn by working with famous choreography studios and dance troupes, sing in popular choirs and perform at various theatres, such as the Musical Theatre for Young Actors.
According to Anna Levitova, managing partner at Evans Property real estate agency, rent in Tverskoi can fluctuate wildly – some of the more affordable options in the area are studio apartments that tend to cost about 56,000 roubles per month.
Physics and maths in Fili-Davydkovo
Fili-Davydkovo, located in western Moscow, is the home of Moscow State University’s Kolmogorov School, a place where many future scientists and scholars go to study.
Kolmogorov is a boarding school with a special mathematics and physics curriculum; its students are admitted to Moscow State University [MGU im. Lomonosova] if they pass the final exams – there’s no need to apply separately to the university.
Fili-Davydkovo has 16 public schools in total, five libraries and a unique cadet boarding school called Navigatskaya School.
According to Georgy Dzagurov, general director of Penny Lane Realty, rent in Fili-Davydkovo starts at 47,000 roubles for a one-bedroom apartment and 59,000 roubles for a two-bedroom.
“The average cost per square metre for economy-sector housing is 135,000 roubles, while real estate in the business class sector costs 182,000 roubles per square metre,” Dzagurov said.
Local residents have an easy time traveling to the centre, as there are four metro stations available: Filyovsky Park, Pionerskaya, Kuntsevskaya and Slavyansky Bulvar.
Fili-Davydkovo is also famous for its large, conveniently located shopping centres and outlet malls – in particular, Gorbushkkin Dvor, Moscow’s largest electronics market is located here on Bagrationovsky Prospekt.
The scholars of Troparyovo-Nikulino
Located the southwest of the city, Troparyovo-Nikulino is a simple neighbourhood with many advantages, among them good public schools and the Olympic Village built for the Moscow Summer Olympic Games of 1980.
The village was actually constructed in 1979, a year before the official Summer Olympic Games.
Afterwards, the area was turned over to the city and converted into a residential site.
One of the best public schools in Troparyovo-Nikulino is School 1543, which boasts close relationships with famous institutions of higher learning in Moscow and regularly sends its graduates on to promising academic careers.
Anna Levitova, managing partner of Evans Property, told The Moscow News that rent in Troparyovo-Nikulino is fairly close to city average, though there are occasional cases of apartments that go for hundreds of thousands of roubles per month – somehow located right alongside the cheaper fare.
Other residential options worth checking out when it comes settling down alongside a good school are the Moskvorechye-Saburovo and Brateyevo neighbourhoods – both of which are regularly rated among the best places to live for families with school-age children.
Public schools in Tverskoi
Anna Luganova, who preferred to use her maiden name, lives in the Tverskoi neighbourhood and believes that it’s difficult for many parents to find a good school for their children in Russia’s capital.
“I was initially choosing between two local public schools, 1113 and 1275, for my daughter when it was time for her to enrol,” Luganova said.
Luganova pointed out that there are many schools in Tverskoi neighbourhood that claim to provide good instruction and in-depth training in several subjects, but in reality some lag way behind others, and parents ought to be wary.
“The school my daughter is attending now, School 1484, teaches children to be responsible and makes them think – there is good maths instruction and language training there,” she said.
Luganova said that she originally enrolled her daughter in School 1275, because it came highly recommended – but she found out the hard way that it was a mistake. “My daughter gave up on studying after the first year – the teachers didn’t encourage the children,” she said.
Luganova also said that she doesn’t believe that the highly rated School 1113 in Tverskoi is that great.
“In School 1113, kids have music, arts and dancing as their main subjects, but even they are taught badly,” she argued, adding that she wanted her daughter to learn ma-thematics well – and this would have been impossible in School 1113.
“I’m glad my daughter is in School 1484 now – she is doing well in most of her subjects and there is a good chance that by the end of secondary school she will be able to choose her path in life,” Luganova concluded.
