Many of the students are participants of all kinds of the city, national and international Olympiads, contests, conferences and competitions.

Apart from Russia's basic curriculum, the Second Gymnasium provides an opportunity of extensive English and a second language (either German, Spanish, Chinese or French) learning.

96 pupils were admitted to the school on the opening day, but soon the number of students reached 400.

Initially intended as a boarding school for boys of noble families, the Gymnasium, nevertheless, provided full-tuition financial aid for talented but poor children if they were able to pass the entrance exams successfully.

[1] After 1917 the gymnasium became a co-ed school, and its focus steadily shifted to providing general education with a practical emphasis.