After the revolution, a single labor school was established, in which free education was introduced, the study of the Law of God was abolished. Pedagogical courses began to work in the preparation of teachers in Polotsk. In 1919, eleven schools of the first stage were already opened in the city. Also, there were eleven replacement schools and secondary schools. In addition, one Polish and two Jewish schools worked.
Individual educational institutions were opened on the basis of pre-revolutionary educational institutions. Thus, for example, a teacher's seminary was transformed into a four-year Pedagogical Technical School. The educational building of the former women's diocesan school housed the Polotsk Forest Technical School.
In 1919, the People's Art School was opened under the direction of D. Vinogradov, who worked as an artist in the Polotsk Commission for the Protection of Monuments of the Ancient and Art.
At the end of 1920, clubs, libraries, theaters "Internationale" and "Colosseum", theater-cinema at the House of District Political Enlightenment, amateur art groups, the international folk chorus, wind and string orchestras were working in Polotsk. The city theater was opened in the building of the former noble assembly.