The School

The Emilio Alemagna Nursery School has two heterogeneous sections, each staffed by three teachers qualified to teach in accordance with current regulations, and can accommodate a total of 56 children.

The organization of classrooms is crucial, as the environment influences a child's emotional, social, and cognitive development. Children learn from their peers and adults, and need to find the tools within their environment to make independent discoveries and achievements. The organization of classrooms is therefore the result of careful and informed educational choices, grounded in experience, reflection, and comparisons with other realities; this has created a warm and welcoming environment. The classroom should not be seen as a simple container with traditional age divisions, but rather as a specific educational and relational resource.

Sections and Spaces

The Classroom

The classroom is the reference space for children, parents, and teachers. It is both a physical and emotional environment because it is rich in relationships.

Within the classrooms, organized activities take place: greetings, calendar, attendance, project-related work, as well as free activities such as play, book reading, and drawing. During co-teaching time, children are divided into rotating sub-groups, allowing for more targeted interventions based on their needs. This method helps build meaningful relationships between teacher and child, and among the children themselves.

Teachers have set up specific areas within the classrooms, carefully preparing the layout, materials, and ways of working. These spaces highlight the value of play which, at this age, is a privileged resource for learning and building relationships. Play fosters active and creative exchanges both cognitively and socially, allowing the child to reshape reality according to inner needs, to realize personal potential, and to reveal themselves to others in many aspects, desires, and roles. By offering a wide variety of games and proposals, teachers—avoiding improvisation—send children multiple messages and stimuli that support educational activities across different areas of experience.

Other spaces are available outside the classrooms:

Hall: used for play, parties, free play, singing…
Nap room: dedicated to rest time for the youngest children
Large garden: equipped with slides, swings, sandbox, playhouses, and various toys
Large workshop area: for project activities at the Municipal Multipurpose Center (next to the School), provided on loan by the Municipal Administration

Internal Activities Beyond Classroom Work

Religious education project
Introduction to English language project
Reading project
Introduction to music project – “music in movement”
Civic education project
Mini-basketball project (for 5-year-olds)
Art workshop project
Psychomotor project
Water activities project (for 4- and 5-year-olds)

External Activities

Introduction to music with specialized music educators
Water activities at Robur et Fides Swimming Center in Varese

In addition, numerous field trips are organized to discover the many aspects of the local community.

Meals

Meals are prepared by an in-house cook in the school kitchen, with menus approved by ATS Insubria (formerly ASL) in Varese, using fresh ingredients. Meals include:

First course
Main course with side dish
Fruit or dessert
Bread and water

Community Partnerships

To strengthen children’s sense of belonging to the community, the School collaborates with:

Municipal Administration of Barasso
Parish of Barasso and the Sant’Eusebio Community
Barasso Municipal Library
Pro Loco Barasso Association
Alpini Association, Barasso section
L’Albero di Melem Social Cooperative – nurseries and early childhood services
Comitato Pro Asilo di Barasso ODV ETS Association

Educational Continuity

Educational continuity is very important, as it supports the developmental processes of each child in an organic and harmonious way. It should be as smooth as possible to ensure a serene learning journey. This is achievable when families and educators share a common goal—the child’s well-being and growth—and work together through dialogue and cooperation.

We focus on both horizontal continuity, realized through synergy among school, family, and community, and vertical continuity, requiring coordination between educational institutions (nursery – preschool – primary school).

Horizontal continuity includes:

Individual meetings
School assemblies

Vertical continuity with the Barasso nursery, managed by L’Albero di Melem Social Cooperative, includes:

Meetings between nursery educators and preschool teachers
Nursery children visit our school with their educators and take part in activities designed for them
Participation in an Open Day for children who will attend our school
Meetings with parents
Nursery educators present each child to preschool teachers in a dedicated meeting

Vertical continuity with primary school includes:

Joint workshops with the primary schools of Luvinate and Comerio
Children are formally introduced to the primary school teachers during a meeting

Costs and
information - as 25-26

Enrollment

Enrollment at the school requires the submission of the following documents, available in the Download & Formssection of the website:

Internal Regulations
Enrollment Application Form
Authorization to Accompany Form
Privacy Policy
Educational Co-responsibility Agreement

The school year begins on September 1, 2025 and ends on June 30, 2026. (In July 2026, a Summer Program will be organized).

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees are set by the Board of Directors, which has decided to keep them unchanged for the third consecutive year. Fees are annual but paid in 10 monthly installments as follows:

Fixed monthly fee (payable even in case of absence): €125.00
Reduced fixed monthly fee for a second child (applied to the second tuition; payable even in case of absence): €100.00
Daily meal fee (charged only when the meal is consumed on school days): €5.20

At the time of enrollment, a non-refundable registration fee of €60.00 is required.

Extended Hours (Pre- and After-School Services)

The School offers pre-school and after-school services, covering the hours 7:30–9:00 a.m. and 4:00–5:30 p.m.

These services are subject to fees only when used, as follows:

Monthly pre-school fee: €30.00
Monthly after-school fee: €30.00
Reduced combined monthly fee (both services): €55.00
Daily fee (per service used): €2.50

All amounts are invoiced monthly based on actual use of the services (except for the fixed fee, which is always due even in case of absence) and for all 10 months of the school year.

In addition, a stamp duty fee (currently €2.00 per invoice, except for the registration fee which is exempt) is applied. The stamp duty is paid virtually by the school.

Adaptation and Integration

Children’s integration begins with an initial orientation meeting in June, attended by children and their parents to get to know the school environment, teachers, and other children.

Formal integration takes place in September with a gradual entry process: children, preferably accompanied by a parent, enter in small groups and stay for short periods. This approach allows children to gradually adapt to the new environment, supporting progressive independence socially and personally. Over time, the length of stay is increased until the full-time schedule is reached.

Parent Involvement

School time is important both for children and for families and teachers. For this reason, the following are planned:

Individual meetings with parents, structured at two key times during the year, but possible at any time to address specific needs
Parent assemblies, to present the school, elect class representatives, review teaching progress, and organize events

At the school’s proposal or at parents’ request, meetings with child development specialists may also be organized.

Observation, Verification, and Evaluation

Observation is the tool teachers use for planning children’s activities.

Verification and evaluation of the teaching plan are based on observing children’s needs and their responses to activities. This helps determine whether the path should be modified or supported.

Tools used for verification and evaluation include:

Periodic compilation of learning units
Formative discussions during teachers’ meetings
Meetings with parents
School assemblies
A “logbook” where notes on significant daily observations are recorded
Collection of materials over three years documenting the child’s development, useful for creating a competence portfolio (no longer mandatory but considered valuable by teachers)

Staff Training

All staff are required to attend training and professional development courses promoted by MIUR-accredited institutions, covering topics related to preschool education and maintaining qualification for IRC (Catholic Religion Instruction) teaching.

All staff are trained in the use of the defibrillator with pediatric pads (donated by a local company) and have completed the pediatric airway obstruction emergency course.

In addition, staff participate in ongoing training in the areas of workplace safety, first aid, HACCP procedures, and fire safety.