Municipality of Parma

Founded by the Romans in 183bc, Parma is acity of about 200.000 inhabitants and it’s located in the westwern part of the Emilia Romagna Region, halfway between Milan and Bologne. It is a city with a glorious past: it’s one of those places where art, music, literature, history, traditions and good life are strictly linked together: the beauty of Marie Louise; the genius of Toscanini; the harmony of Correggio; the talent of Verdi. Every year, in October, the Verdi Festival celebrates the Maestro born in Roncole di Busseto, in the province of Parma, at the Regio Theatre of Parma and in Verdi's lands. Since 2003 Parma is the headquarter of the European Food Security Authority (EFSA); in December 2015 it was included in the UNESCO Creative Cities network as City for Gastronomy, and it’s also the Italian Capital of Culture 2020+2021.
The Municipality of Parma directly manages 12 pre-schools, spread all over the city from the city centre to periphery. Our pre-schools admit children of any social rank. We aim at contributing to the development of all the children regardless of sex, social range, ethnic origin, faith.Our services are inspired by pedagogical values that focus around these key words: enhancement of differences, equality, transparency, acceptance and tolerance, participation, professionalism, learning, training, socialization, relationship and connection. In our pedagogical project children are at the centre with their competences active since their birth. In their daily life in preschools teachers propose to children playing itineraries through which they explore and express their competences. Children have awareness over the direction of their learning, they are able to learn through experiences , they have many and different relationships with other children, adults, material items and environment.This approach includes the participation of the families: they have the right to understand (through meetings and other different occasions of participation and through documentation too) the learning and relational process of their children. In this way parents are involved with educators and teachers in developing the curriculum. Municipal Educational System in Parma includes:

• 8 Nursery Public Schools that welcome 524 from 0 to 3 years old children;
• 12 Preschools that welcome 1450 children from 3 to 6 years;
• 2 Experimental 06 Services that welcome 60 children from 0 to 6.