A small statue of Vladimir Lenin presides over the lobby of this village's public school. But upstairs, some second-graders are getting a lesson at odds with the state atheism imposed by the Soviet Union's founding father.
They're learning about the theology of the Russian Orthodox Church.
School administrators in the Noginsk district, with some 20,000 students about 22 miles southeast of Moscow, have added religion to the curriculum as a moral framework to replace Lenin's now-discredited communist dogma.
After a recent endorsement from the Education Ministry, such programs look set to spring up around the country -- despite a federal law prohibiting religion in schools and the Russian Constitution's separation of church and state.
Human rights groups worry that bringing the dominant Russian Orthodox Church into public schools will upset the country's fragile ethnic peace.
Officials in Noginsk and the local priests who helped develop the class, ``The Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture,'' say their version of the subject is respectful to other faiths. They say they are merely exposing students to the country's traditional religion, which they consider essential for understanding Russia, its art and its literature.
School officials are quick to point out that anyone can opt out of the class. In Yamkino, one Muslim first-grader gets extra art and music lessons while her schoolmates study Orthodox beliefs.
The Rev. Igor Gagarin, who trained Noginsk teachers in the new subject, said the class differs from ``God's Law,'' the czarist-era theology course that was mandatory for all Russian schoolchildren.
``We're not teaching people to pray,'' he said. `` `God's Law' assumes everyone studying it is a believer. We don't say this. We say we want to teach you about the faith, and you can decide for yourself whether to be a believer or not.''
On a recent day in Yamkino, a group of 7- and 8-year-olds listened as teacher Yelena Zvonova talked about the birth of Jesus, ``our savior.''
Zvonova described how Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem and no one would give them shelter. She then asked the class where Jesus was laid after he was born.
Several hands shot up. ``On hay!'' answered one boy.
``On straw,'' Zvonova said, nodding. ``So, you see, kids, Christ began to suffer for people from his birth.''
Zvonova told the children that Jesus' birth is celebrated Jan. 7 -- Christmas according to the Orthodox calendar. She did not mention that Catholics and Protestants, of whom there are small communities throughout Russia, celebrate the same event Dec. 25.