2 (unrelated) questions

[Nancy Novak]

Hello SEELANGERS!
I hope some of you can help me with some questions:

1. Does anyone know the former name of Sennaya ploshchad' in St. Petersburg,
assuming it had a former name?

2. Is anyone willing/able to describe a typical schoolday of a Russian child
(anywhere from grade 5 or so and up through highschool), in a currently
typical, non-special school? I'm interested in things such as what subjects
they take, is it the same every day (& with the same teacher or many
different teachers), how many days a week do they have school, do they have
any electives, what are typical after school activities, what's the attitude
of teachers to students & vice versa, is it still sort of a policy of public
embarassment (i.e. everyone knowing your grades, whether you did poorly,
etc.), are tests more often oral than written, is there still a fair amount
of rote learning, or is that changing, etc. etc.

Anything you could tell me about any of this would be much appreciated!

Please reply to me off-list, & I will post a summary if there's interest.
Spasibo zaranee, Nancy Novak (gjcnen at aol.com)