Carluccio Nursery School Como: staff writes to the Municipality

Context

In brief

• After September 28, the staff wrote a new letter.
• Carluccio is the preschool on via Volta in Como.
• The positive ruling: Carluccio remains open.
• Signed by Bozzi, ten teachers and the school assistant.

Key facts

• Location → Carluccio preschool, via Volta, Como
• Document → letter from Maria Grazia Bozzi
• Signatories → ten teachers and the school assistant
• Debate → reorganization involving closures and mergers
• Precedent → closure decided by the Municipal Administration two years ago
• Appeal → TAR, filed to defend the school
• Outcome → positive ruling: Carluccio remains open
• Symbol → olive tree given by Comitato Nova Como in September

After the City Council meeting of September 28, Carluccio preschool is once again at the center of the debate over the reorganization of schools in Como. The reorganization sought by the Rapinese administration provides for closures and mergers; the majority approved a resolution on the downsizing of schools. It is from this development that the new letter from the staff of the preschool on via Volta stems.

The letter is signed by Maria Grazia Bozzi, the school’s representative. The document also bears the signatures of ten teachers and the school assistant. The letter is addressed to the Mayor and the Councillor for Education and Educational Policies and argues that one cannot remain indifferent in the face of the resolution. The text makes clear that it does not intend to repeat the explanations already set out in previous letters concerning the effects of mergers and closures; instead, it chooses to return to the reality of Carluccio.

The text recalls what happened two years ago. The Municipal Administration had decided on the closure of the school. Families, committees, teachers and the entire school community did not remain indifferent to that decision. Thanks to the determination of the families, the committees and, in particular, Comitato Nova Como, together with the teachers and Istituto Comprensivo Como Borgovico, a campaign was launched to defend Carluccio. The process also led to an appeal to the TAR. Then came the positive ruling: the school remained open.

Teachers, parents and the entire Istituto Comprensivo Como Borgovico celebrated that decision, because Carluccio is not simply a place in which to welcome children. For the staff, it is a school founded on educational values, on a specific view of the child and on a pedagogical project built day after day. The letter thus calls into question an understanding of the school based solely on organizational or numerical criteria, as if it were merely the place where children are left while their parents work. The position expressed is unequivocal: Carluccio must be considered for what it represents educationally and within the community, not merely for its place in the reorganization of schools.

Operational details

An Educational Project Built Every Day

La Carluccio is described as a socio-educational hub in the heart of the city of Como. In the document, attention shifts from the organizational aspect to the meaning of preschool. It is the first educational environment in which children experience relationships with others, learn to share and communicate, recognize their own emotions and those of others, and gradually become independent. For the letter, these steps describe the school’s daily work.

The structure of the project moves from sections to spaces, from workshops to the schedule of the day and the stable presence of teachers. The document considers them integral parts of the educational project, not secondary components to be improvised. The environments must be designed to allow children to explore, experiment, play, create, and learn. The stable presence of teachers also has an educational and relational function: the reference figures know each child’s development, characteristics, vulnerabilities, and potential.

The word continuity occupies a central place in the letter. Continuity means not viewing each school year as an isolated experience, but building a path that accompanies the child as they grow. The educational thread must connect teachers, families, and the local community and, subsequently, preschool and primary school. Time and conditions are also needed to observe each child in their uniqueness: not everyone learns in the same way, not everyone has the same pace, and not everyone expresses their needs through words.

La Carluccio is also described as a place of inclusion. Differences can become a source of enrichment, and every child must be able to find their own space, feel part of the group, and develop their potential. This reading leads to criticism of an assessment based solely on the number of enrolled children, the spaces occupied, or a financial statement. A school is made up of relationships, skills, experiences, professionalism, and community. La Carluccio, the staff writes, represents all of this.

Another element mentioned in the letter is the olive tree donated to the school by Comitato Nova Como last school year, in September. The tree was chosen as a symbol of rebirth, strength, and resilience. For teachers and school staff, it aptly represents the school: once again, they have started anew with determination and passion, continuing to believe in the value of their work and in the strength of the educational project.

Key points

The request to listen to the community

The letter indicates the criterion to follow before making decisions about Carluccio's future. The staff asks that those who experience the school every day be listened to: the children, families, teachers and all the school staff. The document specifies that the value of the school concerns not only the families who attend it today, but the entire community. For this reason, the assessment of its future should not stop at the premises, the numbers or the economic dimension mentioned in the text.

The point called for by the authors therefore concerns recognizing the network built over time. According to the letter, closing or scaling back a preschool would mean breaking up a network of relationships and weakening an educational hub. That network includes the relationship between children, families, teachers and the local area, along with the path connecting preschool to primary school. Carluccio is thus presented as an institution that belongs to the community, not merely to the families who attend it today.

The document then returns to the image of roots. Carluccio school has already shown that it has deep roots, and the olive tree donated by Comitato Nova Como has become their symbol. Those roots, the staff writes, ask to be respected, nurtured and allowed to grow. Behind a school there are not only walls and numbers: there are children, people, relationships, an educational project and a community. The letter links to this heritage the idea that a community capable of investing in its children also invests in its future.

The signatures make the position expressed in the document a collective one. In addition to the representative Maria Grazia Bozzi, the teachers Angelica Sansone, Giorgia Marchio, Paola Della Bosca, Sabrina Ghielmetti, Domenica Previtali, Virginia Fiandaca, Manuela Ghislanzoni, Lucia D'Angelo, Francesca Pellegrino and Silvana Somaini sign. The school support staff member identified is Nunzia Battista.

«The school is not a cost to be reduced: it is an investment to be protected.»

This is the phrase with which the staff summarizes the request for protection addressed to those who will have to deal with the future of the Carluccio preschool.

Source: comozero.it