__________ARAGONA (ITALY)__________

   The comprehensive school "Luigi Capuana" has 131 teachers and is attended by 928 students. It has become a comprehensive institution only a few years ago; welcomes all schools in the municipality of Aragona, a town of approx. 9,000 inhabitants, located in central-southern Sicily. The territory offers few employment opportunities. The socio-economic context is reflected in the pupils of the school which present very diversified family situations and socio-cultural needs. There are several reception houses for non-EU citizens, which are sorted here in part as a result of migratory flows from neighboring Africa. On the other hand, there is also an emigration flow of indigenous families that move to northern Italy and, increasingly, to other European countries in search of work. The recent economic crisis has exacerbated the unemployment problem with more and more people losing their jobs and investing especially
the younger age group.

   The Institute includes 4 nursery school complexes, where 37 teachers work, 4 primary school complexes where 54 teachers work and 3 first grade secondary school complexes where 40 teachers exercise their work. The auxiliary, technical and administrative staff is made up of 24 units. The first grade secondary school is musical. English is a curricular subject already from primary school. In secondary school, in addition to English, French is studied as a second community language. Through the National Operational Plans (NOP) "Skills for Development", funded by the ESF Fund, and NOP "Environments for Learning", funded by the ERDF Fund, it has received various funding for training and infrastructure interventions. These concerned the training of staff in mathematics and technology, that of students in mathematics, technology and linguistics (English). The ERDFs financed allowed to set up different laboratories: IT, linguistic, scientific and allowed to install the wired network, integrated by the Wi-Fi network in all the complexes. The Institute has participated with its students in provincial and regional music competitions, achieving good results (eg Euterpe). Take part in the Mathematical Olympiad. It has relations with external bodies, which carry out projects for pupils in various fields such as education for health, affectivity, the environment and legality.

   The School adheres to the "Class Sports" Project, promoted and implemented by the Ministry of Education and the Italian National Olympic Committee to spread physical education and physical activity in primary school, to encourage the introduction and adoption of 2 weekly hours of physical education in the hourly plan; promoting the educational values of sport as a means of growth and individual and collective expression.

   In addition to the NOPs mentioned above, the School had funded in 2017 the Erasmus + Project, "New Horizons", Action KA1, staff mobility.