‘Ten years on from the earthquake, we are a school that remains open for the community’

In fact, we have not been an emergency school for a long time now: we have become a permanent school, a cultural centre, a point of reference. But I think it is very important that we were chosen for the opening of the school year, because we are proof that a school is not just a school building. A school is a community, and we have rebuilt Amatrice’s school community. We don’t just hold lessons; we also organise a range of activities. The spirit and principle that drive the school are to look to the future whilst keeping one eye on the past, because we cherish the memory of what Amatrice once was; however, the identity shaped by the earthquake must not become a cage for our identity. We want to look to the future not as a ‘school of the earthquake’, but as a school in a place that has experienced the earthquake.

With the start of the new school year, the whole of Italia will be watching your school. What does that mean to you?

The President’s presence allows us to shine a spotlight on this area, which is still under development and moving towards reconstruction; we are therefore delighted that our school has been chosen from amongst all those in the earthquake zone, where attention must remain high. We are one with the area within the earthquake crater. Without a school, an area is doomed to die out, because a downward spiral is created. Families leave because their children cannot fulfil their compulsory education, the population declines, economic income falls, and more families leave. This creates a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse. The school therefore has an additional role to play in an area such as this, and it is important for the community of Amatrice that the start of the school year takes place here.