ROOF's early years
| Feb 1997 | The non-profit Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund is registered in New York, USA. |
| Dec 1997 | Georgia Williams begins interviewing orphanage directors and writing a business plan. |
| Aug 1998 | Russia's August economic crisis: ROOF needs to find replacement funding just as its first school year is about to begin. |
| Oct 1998 |
Classes begin in Moscow Orphanages 6, 69, 50 and 1843.
4 orphanages / 8 teachers / 100 students |
| Jan 1999 | The English Club in Orphanage 1843 opens with the participation of Moscow's Anglo-American School. |
| Feb 1999 |
ROOF registered in England and Wales, Charity Registration No. 1075985. |
| Mar 1999 | In response to need, ROOF teachers take on their first 4 post-orphanage students. |
| May 1999 |
Results from the first year reveal that not a single child in Orphanage 6 is held back, the four orphanage directors with whom ROOF works have come to consider ROOF teachers an essential part of orphanage programmes and the overall academic success rate is much higher amongst ROOF students.
4 orphanages / 23 teachers / 200 students |
| Jul 1999 | Exchange Programme between Moscow and Pereslavl orphanages, giving the children a chance to travel; ROOF teachers continue their educational programmes at orphanage summer camps. |
| Aug 1999 | ROOF swamped with requests from other orphanages to extend programmes to include their children. |
| Sept 1999 |
1999-2000 School Year starts:
9 orphanages / 40 teachers / 400 students |
| Oct 1999 | The Post-Orphanage Education Centre opens with 36 students. |
| Jan 2000 | ROOF registered in Russia as a Non-Governmental Educational Institution. ROOF starts to outfit two children's libraries in orphanages in Pereslavl-Zalessky. This project is exclusively sponsored by the Moscow International Women's Club. |
| May 2000 | Results from the 1999-2000 school year show that 18 children completed 2 years of school in one year and 200 children significantly improved their marks in school; 6 of ROOF's Post-Orphanage students were placed in entry-level positions with Moscow companies. |
| July 2000 | ROOF's work in Belskoye-Ustye psycho-neurological orphanage begins with a 3-week summer camp. In Moscow, ROOF's computer centre (with 9 PCs and a connection to the internet) opens to ROOF students. |
| Aug 2000 | 7 Post-Orphanage students pass college entrance exams; one of ROOF's post-orphanage students who grew up in a psycho-neurological orphanage successfully enrolls in a technical school to learn furniture-making. |
| Sept 2000 |
2000-01 School Year starts:
10 orphanages / 50 teachers / 500 orphanage students 90 post-orphanage students |
| Nov 2000 | Craft classes begin in Belskoye-Ustye psycho-neurological orphanage. 120 students who previously received no education are now working with ROOF teachers. |
| Jan 2001 | Post-Orphanage Education Centre splits into Preparatory and College levels, 18 students accepted at College level Russian Language and Mathematics classes begin at the Belskoye-Ustye psycho-neurological orphanage with the 20 most able students. |
