Arcobaleno pre-school was built recently (November 2003), and was designed according to architectural criteria consistent with our Pedagogic Project, that places the children at the centre of its efforts.
The turretlike entrance is a in the shape of a large pencil, causing it to be often referred to as the ''big pencil'' school. From there one enters a large shared space that leads to the four sections, the school ateliers and the internal garden. This is our ''square'', a place of transit, passage and meetings that, during the day and through time, is modified and inhabited by the children of the sections for motor or building experiences, for games in small groups or simply to meet, play and talk.
The four sections cleave into lateral corridors. Each section is organised in two rooms and a bathroom, set up as centres of interest with furniture and materials which, through time and depending on the different project paths, are changed, enriched and articulated in different ways.
The school also contains two ateliers with large windows overlooking the gardens, one for pictorial-creative experiences, the other set up with materials more apt for scientific, natural and manipulative experiences (including recyclables). These rooms are lived daily by small groups of children. The school is furthermore equipped with internal spaces that have allowed the launch of a project, in agreement with the territorial Child Neuropsychiatry Service, to host children with particular disabilities and special needs.
The premises are surrounded by a large and splendid garden containing shrubs, trees, bushes and hedges with different characteristics and flowerings, small woods to venture in and discover, a hill and a few swings and slides. The garden is experienced and inhabited by the children daily, through the different seasons, because it constantly offers the possibility of living the experiences of exploration, discovery and complicity necessary and important to support their growth paths. The outside allows them to build large constructions with natural materials, test their motor skills , invent situations of play where they can hide or use large spaces, observe small natural elements or insects and spot changes to the environment...these experiences and opportunities enrich the children’s learnings, including their emotional and relationship landscapes.
The school is in constant and continuous dialogue with the territory, and therefore the children are often involved in walking tours (to the close-by vegetable gardens of their grandparents, to the city centre), or by bus to places further away. Every year, workshops and themed courses that also allow family participation are planned.

Families and participation

Families participation in the school's life is achieved through different modes: assemblies, parents-school individual talks, the section meetings, the School Board, workshops and parties testify to the wealth of opportunities for interaction, discussion and sharing. In addition to these chances, by joining the Special Agent 006 Association, the School Board and families can activate special and transversal missions: projects and activities aimed at enriching the educational experience, play materials and project proposals for the children.