School Expansion and Upgrades Amid Growing Demographic Demand
“The preschool, already under construction, will initially feature the nine sections that constitute the maximum allowed by the project plans, but now the middle school also requires a significant intervention,” says school principal Maurizio Tencheni, on the sidelines of the City Council decision to allocate nearly one billion euros to complete the kindergarten works and go beyond the initially planned 6-7 sections, which are now insufficient due to the town’s demographic growth.
Tencheni calls for measures to improve the middle school, which now, together with the kindergartens and elementary school, is part of the same comprehensive institution (with nearly one thousand students across preschools, elementary, and middle schools), to enhance its livability and functionality: “It is necessary to repaint the interiors because the grayness of the ceiling is depressing, and the heating system needs upgrading because we may not always have mild winters like the one just passed.”
It would also be important to make the spacious basement more functional by creating partition walls in aluminum. Let’s not forget that the middle school hosts significant extracurricular initiatives, numerically counted, such as the Università del tempo libero (University of Free Time) and the Centro educazione artistica (Center for Artistic Education).
Future prospects and building organization
On the other hand, if the seven-year plan (elementary and middle schools) is implemented, the fifth-grade students will be transferred here, also to soften the transition that has been felt so far in moving from one level to another.”
The goal is to make the environment as beautiful and welcoming as the most recent elementary school.
“Schools shouldn’t resemble hospitals,” continues Tencheni, “and the forty-seven colors of the elementary school help make it livable.” This focus is also reflected in the organization of the new centralized structure, which will replace the three existing state-run kindergartens (Villa Zamboni, Ca’ Prato, Vanoni-Remelli).
“Our teachers,” declares Tencheni, “have studied other experiences, such as those in Reggio Emilia, which are benchmarks in Italy and worldwide, but modestly, even we have visitors—from trainee teachers to a delegation from Liverpool.”
The mayor, Fausto Sachetto, expressed satisfaction because the final expenditure for the kindergarten should stay within the planned limits, and has kept open the possibility, since the budget approval, of increasing the funds (around one hundred million euros) allocated to school building maintenance.
But now, summer—the time available for these interventions—approaches.
