The history of the Tambov Diocesan Women's School began in 1863 when a resident of Tambov, Migrina, sold her house to the Diocesan Administration. The house, located on Varvarinskaya Street (now May Day Square, Soviet), was transferred along with furniture, utensils, a garden, and outbuildings.

This educational institution became the third of its kind in Russia. It accepted orphan girls aged 10-12 from clergy families. Children of clergymen could also enroll on a paid basis. The education lasted six years, and later an additional class was added for obtaining a diploma as a governess.

The main subjects included religious studies, the history of the Old and New Testaments, church history, geography, Russian language, theory of literature, history, church singing, geometry, physics, and the history of literature. Girls received knowledge about child-rearing, medicinal plants, and caring for the sick. They could study German and French, music, and drawing if they wished. Special attention was given to home economics and handicrafts. Gymnastics and hygiene were also taught, and lectures on agriculture helped spread knowledge among peasants.

After graduation, orphans could remain as assistants to the educators or be assigned to monasteries as novices. Those who got married received a modest dowry from the school.

In 1884, with the increase in the number of students, a new building was constructed. Twenty years later, a room for the house church was added, consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Later, an extension was completed according to the design of architect V. I. Freiman, finishing the architectural complex.

By 1914, more than 700 girls were studying at the school, and a total of 1886 girls graduated, over 500 of whom became teachers, mainly working in church-parish and zemstvo schools in the Tambov province.

After the revolution, the school was closed, and the building was handed over to the military. Since 1923, it housed classes for the illiterate, and in 1937, the building was transferred to the regional administration of the NKVD. Since then, it has belonged to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and currently houses the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Tambov region.

The building of the former Diocesan School has remained without significant external changes since 1911.