In 1862, Alexander II was welcomed in the Kremlin, and representatives of all estates gathered for this event. On behalf of the merchants, the city mayor Mikhail Leontyevich Korolev greeted the emperor. After a conversation with him, the sovereign inquired about his surname. Korolev, interpreting the word "surname" in the old sense as "family," began to talk about his wife and her health issues. Alexander II quickly understood the misunderstanding and promised to visit Korolev's spouse, which he did. In gratitude, Korolev donated a significant sum for the construction of the Alexander-Mariinsky School.

This educational institution accepted children from low-income families of all estates. The teachers here were of high caliber, and many graduates successfully entered higher educational institutions. The school also had a practical department where girls were taught handicrafts and boys tailoring. The Alexander-Mariinsky School was always under the care of its trustees, who also looked after the teachers. In 1877, a separate residential building was constructed for them. A few years later, a young graduate of the physics and mathematics faculty of Moscow University, Ivan Bukharin, settled there.

In the "dormitory," he met the teacher Lyubov Izmailova, and in 1888, they had a son, Nikolai, who would become a future associate of Lenin and Stalin. The famous Bolshevik spent his early years in cramped rooms of the teachers' building. It was said that Bukharin and Stalin were close friends. Nikolai Ivanovich called Stalin by his party nickname "Koba," while Stalin affectionately referred to him as "Bukharchik." "You and I, Bukharchik, are the Himalayas, and all the others are just small spots," Stalin would say. Bukharin was executed on March 15, 1938, in the case of the anti-Soviet right-Trotskyist bloc.

Before his execution, the Alexander-Mariinsky School was named School No. 17 after Bukharin. Today, the former merchant institution trains social workers, educators for kindergartens, and other specialists.