Meremäe School

Meremäe School is a basic school in Meremäe rural municipality, in Meremäe village in Estonia.

It is 35 km from Võru city, the county centre and 5 km from the Russian Federation border. Historically and culturally, the school is situated in Setomaa. The school is a municipal establishment, the keeper of which is Meremäe rural municipality government. It operates as a basic school-kindergarten. In the school-year of 2010/2011, the kindergarten had one combined group of 17 children and the school had 51 students in 5 combined classes. There were 15 teachers and 3 kindergarten teachers. The school is situated in a building constructed in 1960. The same building hosts a kindergarten group, rural municipality archive and MTÜ Meremäe Kultuuriühing (culture society). In 1960, the newly finished school began its work as a secondary school. In 2000, Meremäe Secondary School was turned into a Meremäe Basic School. In 2004, Meremäe and Obinitsa basic schools were joined together into Meremäe-Obinitsa Basic School; lessons were held in two buildings. Obinitsa schoolhouse was closed in 2008. In 2010, Meremäe-Obinitsa Basic School and Meremäe Kindergarten “Tsirgupesäkene” were joined together into school-kindergarten and named Meremäe School. The school has 2016m² of surface area. The building has a new roof. The ground-floor has a cafeteria that meets all requirements and a renovated gym with changing rooms, showers and saunas. The coatroom and gym room have also been renovated. A new heating system has also been deployed. School library and a music room as well as the office for MTÜ Meremäe Kultuuriühing (culture society) are situated on the first floor. Teacher’s lounge, principal’s office, the office of SEN-teacher-speech therapist, English classroom, natural history/history classroom, Russian class and a rented office for municipality archive are all located on the second floor. The bathrooms are on the same floor. A computer class, Estonian classroom, two primary school classrooms, a mathematics class and a playroom for after-class activities are located on the third floor. Even a project-based outdoor classroom has been built in the schoolyard. Industrial arts classes for boys are taking place at the Meremäe Youth Centre building. The office has modern supplies and teaching materials. The school has its own playground and a stadium. The essential elements for children to have opportunities for exercising were installed in 2007 project. This included a sandbox, swings and a playground. The total area of the stadium is 1.4 hectares and it is surrounded by a fir-tree hedge. The length of the track is 250 m and covered by crushed mineral coal. Football field, long jump boxes, discus and shot putting circles and gymnastic-bars still need maintenance and fixing up. A skate-park and a basketball field built in 2007 are also located on the stadium. For extracurricular activities, the school offers different clubs: singing-music, art, drama, woodwork, laser-design and lore culture. The kindergarten is open from 7.00-19.00 and has one combined group of children from different ages. Main activity: providing day-care services and preschool education to children under school age.