Quote Originally Posted by PunkyBabyJr
What is the difference between "общеобразовательная школа" and "гимназия"?
After the Soviet Union collapsed, many schools started calling themselves fancy names like "гимназия" or "лицей". Other than the name, there is virtually no difference. Well, some of them claim that they provide better education than your common, run-of-the-mill secondary school, but those claims are not always true. When a school management changes the name, they usually make some changes in curriculum, like add a subject or allocated more hours to a certain subject, etc, to show they are special. But a "школа" diploma and a "гимназия" diploma are absolutely the same from a legal standpoint.

Oh, and before the 1917 revolution, all general (non-vocational) secondary schools in Russia were called "гимназия".