Our school is located in the town of Latina, in the Lazio region, 50 Km south of Rome. It includes Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary grades in two separate buildings within a walking distance, in an urban area. It is the first school in town for number of students, staff and for the dimensions of its facilities. It hosts an average number of 1400 students and a staff of 130 people. The first name "L. Da Vinci" is the Secondary School while "G. Rodari" is the Primary and Nursery School. In fact they are two different schools but merged by a law enacted in 2012. They are two different buildings but a single administrative/legal entity and there is one Headteacher.
In our Primary School students explore their creative talents in a dedicated arts and crafts centre, and benefit from an IT room, music rooms, a space for movement and dance, and separate playgrounds. Early Years students have dedicated classrooms and a play area.
Our Secondary School facilities are set up to support students as they master a wide range of subjects. There are rooms for Arts and crafts, computer technology, music and drama. Students can explore the wonders of science in a science dedicated class, or borrow books from our Library.
Our Institute has always been devoted to curricular and extra-curricular projects to enhance the students learning experiences. In recent years we have reached dozens of successfull achivements. We are part of the EcoSchools networks and we won the Green-Flag in 2015 (http://www.eco-schools.it/). Every year a junior mayor and a junior council election take place and the elected students meet the Local Authorities to express their petitions. Following the national and international guidelines, European Projects have been gaining more and more importance in recent years. In order to enhance this mindset, the school accomplished a COMENIUS project (2013/15) and an ERASMUS PLUS K2 (2014/2016). Last year we scheduled our European Development Plan and we are currently working to fully blend it with all the different organizational/education areas. Our EDP covers a three-year-period since we merged it with our P.T.O.F. (Piano Triennale dell'Offerta Formativa, 3-year educational syllabus plan). Our aim is to make internationalization a systematic element of our school. Moreover we implemented a Vertical Curriculum Continuity, so we will have the opportunity to measure the effects of a long term development plan with our students, from early years to the secondary grades.
70/80% of students come from families of the Italian middle class and there is a 15/20% of students with foreign parents. Dedicated Special Need Teachers take care of disadvantaged students and the school develops special educative programs for them. It is generally a very quiet school where you find a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.
The syllabus includes Italian Language and Literature, History, Geography, English, Second Foriegn Language (Spanish or French), Technical Education, Science, Arts, Music, Physical Education, Religion. The school offers extra curricular activities as well.
The Institute promotes trilingual education: native (Italian) and other two EU languages (English plus French or Spanish). In the secondary education stage (3 years) all the pupils (age from 11 to 14) study English as 1st foreign language and Spanish or French as a 2nd foreign language. International exchanges are also required to enrich the multicultural educative approach and to increase European awarness among teachers and students.