BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL
 AND OF ITS ENVIRONNEMENT.

            Our school is a Liceo Scientifico ( Secondary school specializing in scientific studies), our students range from 14 to 19 years of age.

Their total number is about 920. The school building is set in a town of 17.000 inhabitants, surrounded by four other towns of the same size, were the students come from. Scordia is 50 minutes far from Syracuse, 30 minutes from Catania, 45 from Caltagirone, 20 from the Jonio sea and the Natural Reservation "Oasis of the Simeto river". The natural park of Etna is 40 minutes far, Taormina is 55 minutes for.

            Our town is an agricultural centre with one of the most important intensive citrus industries in Italy. We are proud to say that our oranges are the sweetest in the world. The climate is mild Mediterranean: in winter the temperature never goes below 0° C.

From the didactic point of view, there are four main courses of study:

SCIENTIFIC

            This course of study is based on the deep connection between science and humanistic knowledge Scientific methods and procedures are studied without forgetting the function of the language as intermediary in the description of reality. Mathematics and experimental sciences have a basic cultural and didactic role. The humanistic area is given great importance, too, so to allow the students to acquire an overall historical and cultural vision of human society.

BILINGUALISM

            The study of two foreign languages (French and English) gives the students the chance to acquire a linguistic and communicative competence. At the end of the course, the knowledge of two foreign languages will help our students to feel really 'European '', in a world where languages are more and more important.

            This course is different from the first one only for the presence of the second language and implies 4 extra hours per week during the first two years and 3 extra hours per week for the third, fourth and last year.

Social - psychological - pedagogical

            This course provides our students with the cultural basis and the skills to continue their studies in the field of teaching or in the social one.

            They study psychology as a basic subject, sociology in order to understand the problems connected with their territory, the mass media and work in general. They also study some principles of law so to have a complete vision of some contemporary problems.

            The students attend lessons for a total of 34 hours per week.