From Escola Nova to CEIP Climent Serra i Servera, 50 years of public and inclusive education in Porreres

PorreresIn 1976, Porreres took a key step in education. That academic year, the doors of a center named “Colegio Nacional Mixto” opened. It was a school that came to respond to the demographic growth and the need for new facilities in the municipality. This year, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the currently named CEIP Climent Serra i Servera blows out its candles, consolidated as a benchmark for public, inclusive, and diverse schooling in Porreres and Pla de Mallorca.

Many generations of Porreres residents will remember the center as Escola Nova, a designation it adopted in June 1985 in reference to the popular name by which it had been known for years. The school has undergone a profound transformation over the years. In fact, it has grown and adapted to the reality and needs of the municipality.

On September 27, 2021, in the plenary session of the Porreres City Council, the name change to CEIP Climent Serra i Servera was approved, in honor of the stonemason teacher who began the works of the center in 1936 and who was assassinated the same year in Son Coletes de Manacor during the Francoist repression. The works did not conclude until 40 years later. The name change became official in 2022.

To commemorate the half-century, the center has prepared a series of events and activities. In this way, in everything related to the celebration, publications and other initiatives, the anniversary will be evident with the commemorative logo designed by the Porreres creative and former student of the center, Miquel Morlà. The mention of the anniversary is already present in all communications of the CEIP Climent Serra i Servera, which faces the future with the challenge of continuing to be an open and inclusive school.

The opening of the center -explain from the CEIP- was a key step in the progress of public education and, with it, also of the municipality. "The infrastructures that existed at the time were not of good quality, even though there was public education in Porreres, there were no adequate infrastructures. The children enrolled in this school went to different rented buildings," they explain.

During these 50 years, the center has had up to 11 directors: Tomeu Llinàs

Toni Barceló, Tomeu Barceló, Bernat Ribas, Blanca Rueda, Tomeu Gil, Margalida Mora, Xesca Servera, Catalina Capellà, Maria Antònia Rigo, and Tomeu Barceló.

Since its inauguration, the school has undergone three reforms or expansions. They were in 1984, 2006, and the last one in 2021.

These interventions have been important and have gone parallel to the population growth of Porreres and also the diversity of the town, a plurality that has been reflected in the school center. Not in vain and as an example, the AFA organizes a Coexistence Day for some years now and in the last one, besides Mallorca, there was participation from countries such as Colombia, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Italy, Paraguay, Germany and Romania.The center has organized a series of events and activities that will have the central program on April 23, 24, and 25. They have invited to participate those people who during these 50 years "have contributed, with their dedication, commitment, and affection, to the growth of the educational project we share today".

Thus, on April 23, at 7:00 PM, in the Municipal Auditorium, there will be a round table of the center's directors.

The next day, April 24, at 6:00 PM, at the school, the naming ceremony of the center's municipal library will take place with the name of Margalida Blanch Bauçà, wife of the aforementioned Climent Serra i Servera. Afterwards, there will be a colloquium on historical memory with the participation of historian Tomeu Garí; Laura Bosch, a psychologist specializing in historical memory; representatives of Dones Feministes; and Catalina Moragues, a lawyer specializing in the subject.

Finally, on April 25, at 11:00 AM, an exhibition of photos, timelines, audiovisuals, old materials, a commemorative mural, and a photocall will be inaugurated. In addition, there will be a musical performance by Tallats de Lluna (12:00 PM) and it will conclude with a fellowship lunch in the schoolyard.