The article deals with the problems of the organization of educational and educational processes in the Astrakhan diocesan women's school in the period from 1845 to 1917. Special attention is paid to socio - cultural aspects (the development of women's education, reforms of the 1860s, changes in the system of pedagogical education, the change of the role of women of the spiritual class in society, etc.), which had a special impact on the formation and development of the system of education and upbringing in the diocesan women's schools of the Russian Empire. On the basis of the analysis of archival materials, the evolution of educational programs of the Astrakhan diocesan women's school, reoriented from teaching girls of the spiritual estate the basics of literacy to the training of teachers (home teachers), is described. This change changed the social status and role of the pupils of the diocesan women's school in society, the freedom of choice in the arrangement of their future life. Also, on the one hand, the organization of the educational process in the Astrakhan diocesan women's school directly depended on the class affiliation of pupils, and on the other, was influenced by social changes that occurred in Russian society in the second half of the XIX century.
