Location: Caminho da Lapa Branca, Sítio das Casas Próximas

Function: Former Teaching Establishment and Housing

Owners: António José Vieira (1928); …………………… (Current)

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History

Despite some development of public and private education in Madeira in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it wasn't until 1928 that the first public school was opened in Curral das Freiras - the Casas Próximas School, dedicated to primary education.

At that time, the Junta Geral do Distrito Autónomo do Funchal [the main administrative body of the archipelago, 1901-1975] was responsible for appointing teachers and paying their salaries, and the municipal councils were responsible for providing the school facilities. At the end of 1928, Câmara de Lobos Municipality rented this house to António José Vieira, from Lombo Chão, to set up a mobile school [i.e. one that was only intended to function for a short time] on the ground floor. The upper floor of the building would be the teachers' residence. Ermelinda Cecília Soares Gouveia, from Funchal, was appointed as the first teacher.

In 1930, the mobile schools were abolished and the Curral das Freiras Primary School became a permanent school. It continued to be mixed, with pupils of different ages and levels learning together in the same room. In 1952, Câmara de Lobos Municipality decided to convert this mixed school into a boys' school and to create a second girls' school, to be run as soon as a suitable room was available, as there were no other facilities.

The school continued to operate until the late 1960s.

A few decades later, the old building was enlarged and the façade facing Lapa Branca Road, which had been widened to give access to the new Seara Velha Road, was completely rebuilt.

But the record of the first public school in Curral das Freiras remains symbolic.