The School Of The Future In The Present

Sergey, before you started an educational project, you worked in a completely different, very profitable area. What was the reason for the transition from gambling to education?

When you achieve significant success in life and business, you begin to think about more important things, including the mission. I had a strong transformation that affected not only my career but also my values, aspirations and the rhythm of life. The gambling business was my first job. And, of course, it is impossible to cross out decades of life in one fell swoop. Now, I devote myself to education.

What was the gaming business in the digital for you – a professional passion of a true marketer or a way to earn money?

All businesses are created to make money. The gambling business is no exception. When I came into the industry as a young man, material aspirations were my main motivation. I have been close to this area since childhood. My father played poker professionally. And I can say that I watched the game all my life. I felt it, and it was embedded in my DNA. Later, I received an appropriate education at a British university, where I was taught how to manage gambling enterprises. But my heart is no longer in this area if we talk about the current moment. The experience and skills of the manager, of course, remained with me. 

When did you decide to leave this business and go into education?

It is difficult for me to name specific factors that transformed the heart. I think that this happened to me with gaining faith. I learned Orthodoxy. And it happened at the age of 30. Until that age, spiritual questions did not interest me. When I started to change, everything around me changed. If we return to the question of my transformation, the old person in me has fallen away, and the new one has requested a new activity. It wasn’t an abrupt transition. Everything came from a deep look at life and values.

How did the idea to create a private school for children come about?

Spiritual people helped me with this. They told me: “You are a businessman, an investor, investing in something. The best investment is in eternity. Invest in eternity, and here you will never lose!” I then asked: “Where is it?” And they answered me: “Children!” If you care for children, you need to invest a lot of effort, but the success factor will not be expressed in money. And that became the starting point. In this case, long-term investments are monetary, and their return is entirely different – a Personality with the knowledge that the school has invested. 

What turned on in creating a private school – the heart or brain of a businessman?

When a firm intention to create a school was formed, I could rely on what I understood and on what I could. I organised teams very quickly without calculating risks (gambling distorts the perception of risks and creates artificial immunity to such things). It was with that mindset that I began to approach building the school quickly, on a large scale and boldly. This impulse paid off: I very quickly began to understand many things, and just as quickly, the right people pulled up to me. But such a principle of forming a new project is entirely incompatible with the school.

School is eternal and enduring, an ecosystem that lives quietly and measuredly. Any fluctuations here cause anxiety, first of all, in teachers, and the same anxiety is then transmitted to children and their parents. But the initial impulse helped shape the idea and unite like-minded people. Today, I try to balance academic pedagogy and my business skills to get things done quickly.

Why are you implementing this project in Cyprus?

We started building a school in Kyiv. But a war began in Ukraine, in which the completion of the project became impossible, and we transferred it to Cyprus. I purchased an existing school. The purchase deal took place in August last year and during this period, I managed to create a team and begin the school’s transformation. I realised I should preserve what has already been developed here and innovate smoothly.

What is the status of the renovated school?

The Trinity Private School has an international status and a bilingual IB training program. We are not tied to any country, are completely apolitical, and have high education standards. Graduates will receive diplomas, which are quoted in any country.

Among the fundamental criteria of your school is the spiritual and moral environment. Why are you focusing on this?

Faith and spirituality are important components in the life of every person. This is the core and inner strength. In the renovated school, we built a temple. It is no secret that this approach is cultivated by many world educational institutions, especially in the USA and the UK, for example, Harvard with its Harvard Catholic Center or Oxford with its University Church of St Mary the Virgin. There are a lot of Catholic schools in Europe. We are adherents of the Orthodox religion. I can say that the school has only become more powerful. The team has united around this idea.

How did you form the team?

The main selection criteria for the team were professionalism and energy, willingness to work two hundred per cent and transforming the old into the new. It’s a startup mode, 24/7 work, and young people can handle it.

There are three criteria by which stable companies and enterprises are formed: unity-thinking, unity-doing, and unanimity. For our school, unanimity is fundamental. There is work with children, who are given both knowledge and states. Therefore, all employees must be on the same wavelength, in the same spirit.