The school band playing our anthem

Our school has a long history. It is the story of several generations. Here people made a lot of memories and friends and gained important achievements. There are only speculations on how the story of our school began. One of the theories is that in 1939 the building was built, and it was a girls’ gymnasium. Another idea is that it was a German hospital during the second world war. Some people are certain that the building was the headquarters of the German Construction Battalion.

The most real thing from the history of our school is that on 1945 September 1 the Third seven-year school was founded. At first, it was a Russian school, where every subject was taught in the Russian language. In 1969 the new building was added to the original one because during the time at school there were so many students that they couldn’t study in only one building, so the space for studying was a priority. During the time there were a lot of achievements gained in maths, physical education, history and other subjects. In 1968 in the same building the evening school started. In 1991 after Lithuania gained independence two schools were joined, and they formed a Russian middle school. After a few years, in 2000, it changed the name to Santarves high school. Sadly, in 2010 the school lost its original building, the one that was built in 1939. This happened because of the decrease in the number of students. It almost made the authorities close the school. In 2013 there was a fight worth fighting for the survival of the national minorities school in Siauliai city. And the teachers with the principal won it. From 2015 it became the long gymnasium, where students from age 6 can start their early studies. And it gained the name - Siauliai Santarves gymnasium.

Our school is a gymnasium where every single student from Lithuania or any other country can find one’s place here. Nowadays, we have 12 classes and a preparatory education class with around 230 students and 45 staff. Now the numbers of students are increasing. So, because of these small numbers of students in the classes teachers can get to know every single one of them, learn their similarities and differences, likes and dislikes. The school becomes a family.

The school has 18 classrooms, a canteen, a library, a reading room, a career and social competencies centre, a museum, a psychologist class, a health centre, social educator class. In the museum, you can find different things that represent the history of the school, and the country. Our canteen is a very colourful and joyful place and probably the most liked one in the whole building. The career and social competence centre has two teachers that can help students with their choices of career path, with voluntary work at school and in the city. The health centre has a nurse who can help if the student has some problems with their well-being. In the library and the reading room, students can not only read a variety of books, take them home, but they can also do research using the computers that are there. The meetings of the teachers, students, and students' council usually happen there. The psychologist of the school has her room, where she does the meetings with the students. And the social educator class is full of educational things for the students who can’t concentrate during the lessons, for those who have some problems with the attendance of the lesson.