The School is involved in more sophisticated sustainable projects like intelligent watering and flushing systems using rainwater for gardening, solar energy and other energy saving projects which include the building of a greenhouse to have year-round crops, and the building of an Eco-house to learn about sustainable Eco living.
Campus Life
A wide range of Activities
Student life at Castelli is full of discovery. Students are offered a vast range of educational and recreational activities, including educational trips, community service, sports, library, Earth to Table, guest visitors, fairs, expositions, inter-school games, social events, fund raising and eco-projects.
School hours: Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to 15:30. There are two recess periods: one mid-morning and one at lunch.
School gate opens at 7:30 and supervision is offered at cost until 8:30. Parents must accompany their children to the designated supervisor.
After school activities are held from 15:30 to 16:30.
School gate closes at 17:00.
Lunch is provided by a catering service. The school’s menu is published weekly and at least one day per week, proteins are plant based. Special diets for food intolerance and religion are arranged upon request.
A vast range of after school activities are offered, including homework hour (Mondays through Thursdays), music lessons, sports, chess, and foreign languages. Cultural clubs organized by parents are welcome.
School bus service is outsourced and covers the Castelli, South Rome, EUR and FAO area. The outsourcer guarantees that pick up time begins not earlier than 6:45 and ends not later than 17:00. However, every effort is made to set up a more convenient time schedule, depending on pick up points and traffic conditions. Specific transport arrangments can be made upon request.
Educational trips are part of the curriculum. A minimum of two trips a year are organized for each class. Overnight trips, either domestic or international, start with the 5th grade.
Community service is encouraged and consists of several activities such as assisting in the Library, helping with the gardening and the recycling, playing games and reading with younger students (buddy system), monitoring the efficient use of school resources.
Parents / Teachers meetings are held twice a year, one in November and one before Easter break. Individual meetings with the teachers are arranged when necessary.
Two parent class representatives for each class are appointed to interface with the school management regarding any issue that may arise.
The main social events are, Haloween party, Winter show, “Carnevale”, Easter raffle, Sports day, Music Under the Stars and Graduation.
Our Approach to sports
Sports for a healthy life
Weekly physical education covers a range of activities, including yoga and aerobics,
which lead to a healthy lifestyle.
The holistic approach to sports ensure an optimal
personal development and lifestyle management,
which will prepare the students for the future challenges of life.
Sports for competitions
Internal as well as inter-school games are held regularly during the school year.
Soccer is Italy’s national sport and Castelli’s teams regularly excel in their performance winning spectacularly, or losing with grace and poise.
Sports for education
At Castelli it’s how you play that makes you a winner. Sports is learning how to win and lose well.
Our students are regularly praised not only for their abilities, but also for their attitude and excellent team work and sportsmanship.
Multi-purpose court
Astroturf football field
Astroturf volleyball court
Elementary play area
WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
RECREATION MEANS RANGE OF ACTIVITIES
Students are encouraged to play a variety of games during recess and, often, new sports and games are introduced and practiced spontaneously.
The older students often volunteer to play with their younger peers which reinforces the school community spirit and motivates all the students to socialize through games.
We are a Green Eco School
4 Rs
Students, faculty and staff are all involved in contributing to a sustainable future. The 4 Rs are an active component of this campaign: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Reinvent. Students are encouraged to monitor simple habits like switching off lights in unused classrooms, monitoring water use , turning computers off rather than leaving them on screen savers, and recycling paper.
Gardening
Students work in small groups differentiating and composting leftover food scraps which nurture and fertilise the organic vegetable gardens. The rolling harvest of seasonal crops results in the rewarding task of earth to table tasting. Children sow seeds and harvest organically grown vegetables which they then prepare in their nutrition classes so that they are tasty and wholesome.
A future Eco School
Calendar of Shows and Events
October
December
February
March
April
May
June
Graduation
We Love Educational Fairs
Collaborative Learning
Children learn best from taking a hands-on approach, and collaborative learning, where students share knowledge and skills within a group.
At the Science and Humanities Fairs students collaborate to create science experiments and interactive demonstrations.
Making the Complex Simple
The annual Science and Humanities Fair in June, is planned and delivered by middle school students specifically to teach elementary students some of the concepts they will learn in Middle School.
Middle school students have to plan and create demonstrations that a 3rd Grade student will be able to understand.
Communication Skills
The Science and Humanities Fairs also target parents. Students are challenged to adjust their delivery style for their audience, both in terms of detail and complexity.
During the demonstrations students readily switch between English and another language.
Trips and excursions
School trips are an exceptionally important educational and social experience.
At least two trips are run for each class every year which are closely connected to the curriculum. Assignments are prepared to reflect on the learning experience.
From Grade 5 on trips are overnight or week long stays in domestic or international locations.
Since 2002, our school has been invited to participate in the Harvard Model United Nations conference in Boston. Graduating students are selected for this rewarding international experience attended by more than 3,000 students from all over the world. This event also includes a guided visit to UN HQ in New York City.
Ski-Week is organized in February in the Dolomites for students, parents and friends. Students from grade 1 through 4 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Homework hour, debates and social games are organized after skiing. This is an extraordinary opportunity to reinforce the community spirit and friendships.
After School Activities
The importance of after school activities
Introducing students to a variety of recreational and cultural after school activities is important to enhance the community spirit of the school and the social relationships among the student body.
A varied and interesting programme of activities each year are delivered on the campus. Some activities are are run by our staff, whereas others are delivered by carefully vetted external staff. The full programme is available to parents in September and after school activities begin in October. Below is an indication of the activities held.
Lunch Menu
Healthy Local Menu
The School strongly believes in educating the children towards a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating a variety of whole foods and reducing processed foods.
The daily menu includes a two course meal and dessert: first course includes grains or pasta, the second course is made up of one serving of vegetables and one serving of protein.
Once a week the protein is plant based. For dessert seasonal fruit is served.
All fresh food is locally sourced. Our menu does not include fried foods and processed meats.
School Bus Service
Areas covered
School bus service is outsourced. Drivers are professional and exceptionally good with the children.
All school buses are equipped with safety belts.
Pickup and drop off routes are usually planned early in September. The map below shows the areas usually covered by our bus service.