Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi

Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi Una scuola nella storia d'Italia. Il Liceo 'Sarpi' 1803-2003
The neoclassical façade of Sarpi palace, designed by Ferdinando Crivelli in 1842. The school was established in 1803.
Address
Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi
Piazza Rosate, 4 Upper City of Bergamo  Lombardy Bergamo, 24125  Italy
Coordinates	Bergamo 45°42′08″N 9°39′44″E / 45.7023°N 9.6622°E / 45.7023; 9.6622
Information
Other name	Liceo Ginnasio Statale Paolo Sarpi
School type	Public liceo classico, high school
Motto	Una scuola nella storia d'Italia. Sarpi 1803-2003 (Italian) (A school in the History of Italy)
Denomination	Liceo Classico Statale Paolo Sarpi
Established	1803
Category	Liceo classico
Grades	5
Age	14 to 19
Enrollment	100-120 yearly
Average class size	20-25
Education system	Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Italy)
Classes offered	All compulsory: Ancient Greek language, literature and culture, Latin language, literature and culture, Philosophy, History, Italian literature, Mathematics, English literature, Art History, Physics, Biology, Natural Sciences, Geography, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Computer Sciences and Physical education. Second Foreign Language and History of Music (optional).
Medium of language	Italian
Schedule type	2 semesters or 4 trimesters
Hours in school day	5-6 daily hours, six days per week
Campus type	Urban
National ranking	2nd
Alumni	sarpini
Information	Named after Paolo Sarpi
Website	http://www.liceosarpi.bg.it/

The staircase leading to the first floor of the building

Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi, known as Sarpi, is a public high school in Bergamo, Lombardy, northern Italy, and a leading academy (ranked 2nd nationally by Eduscopio in 2016 and 2017^[1]) for students aged 14–19, due to the methodology and the plan of study combining Ancient Greek language and culture, Latin language and culture, Philosophy and History. The experiences of Sarpi students are the subject of the 2012 Italian documentary film Gli anni e i giorni.^[2] Every year, some 100 students graduate from Sarpi, that is one of Italy's oldest humanistic, scientific and social high schools (founded in 1803). The school is located in the Città Alta, the Upper City of Bergamo.

The documentary-film Gli anni e i giorni (2012)

Some fifth-grade Sarpi students share their last school year experience in a documentary-film about the Italian Education System. Students live the delicate moment of transition to adulthood and they seek to balance both the uncertainties and expectations of their future.

Excellence at Sarpi: the 2015 National Report

Sarpi is considered an elitist high school and ^[3][4] a selective, harsh and competitive environment^[5] and the enrolment decreased by 40% between 2015 and 2016.^[6] A 2015 report of the Italian Ministry of Education^[7] highlights that the numbers of drop-outs and failures at Sarpi are too high and must be reduced significantly.^[8] Too many students (a quarter) do not pass classes, while others are conditionally allowed to advance to the next grade, only after re-taking failed exams over the summer. Students tend to enrol in other high schools, because of the higher chances to succeed. Strict school's policies too rarely allow teachers to assess students with top grades. Bright pupils at Sarpi are rarely graded 9 and 10 out of 10 but more often middle band grades 7 and 8 (with 6 out of 10 being the passing grade). This grading policy disfavours Sarpi scholars as compared to students of other Italian high schools, where teachers abide by the national grading system, ranging from 3 to 10. In 2016, the average grade at Sarpi was 6.98 out of 10 and 1% of Sarpi students had a GPA higher or equal than 9.^[9] Although data show that grades awarded at Sarpi stand below the Italian average, the report highlights Sarpi students excellence. At the 2014 Ministerial National tests of Humanities and Scientific studies, the Institute performed far above Italian schools' average and Sarpi pupils were asked to re-take the tests, because results exceeded the expectations as compared to the National situation (INVALSI National tests 2014).^[10][11] On the other hand, students in South Italy, who are less prepared but tend to get better grades as compared to Northern Italy,^{[12][13][14][15][16]} came last in the INVALSI National tests.^[17] This phenomenon is also known as Italy's North-South divide in school grading standards, and was described in the Italian Journal of Sociology of Education in 2015.^[18]

In 2016, no scholars at Sarpi graduated with honours. On the contrary, South Italy holds the record of students graduated with honours: 944 in Apulia, 802 in Campania and 516 in Sicily.^[19] About the competences, the report says that "the curriculum of this school is not meant for the world of work, rather to educate the future ruling class. Apprenticeships involving all students should be nonetheless implemented".^[20]

History

The first public school of Grammar, Humanities, and Rhetorics dates back to 1506 and was renamed Accademia della Misericordia in 1566. It was abolished in 1610 and revived in 1617 as Nuova Accademia della Misericordia. Having collapsed because of the 1630 plague, the school was reopened with the name Collegio Mariano by Ambrogio Mariano, who in 1663 was charged of the restoration of the palace. In 1700, the Collegio Mariano was closed by Napoleon. The modern school was established during the Napoleonic epoch on the 15 November 1803. It was located in Via Arena. The Convento della Clarisse became the permanent location of the school in 1816. The convent was then demolished (1844). On the site, the current building was erected between 1845 and 1852. It was designed by the architect Ferdinando Crivelli. Following the Italian Unification, a 1865 royal decree ordered to name the school after Paolo Sarpi, a polymath of the Republic of Venice.

Sarpi seen from Piazza Rosate and Cathedral

Recently, some reforms took place:

• in 1989 the Liceo adopted the continuation of foreign language learning in the triennium;
• in 1990 the Liceo adhered to the National Plan for Computer Sciences Learning;
• in 1996 it approved the experimentation of cultural heritage studies and history of art;
• the Hermes project (1998) was an experiment of autonomous pedagogy, to find new ways to develop recovery activities.

The palace as a movie setting

The palace and the surrounding areas have been used as setting of several movies:

• Call Me by Your Name (by Luca Guadagnino, 2017). Piazza Rosate and the courtyard of Sarpi were used as part of the movie setting of the 2017 romantic-drama film set in Lombardy. Among the other historical buildings, Bergamo Cathedral, Santa Maria Maggiore, and the University of Sciences, Letters and Arts were also used. ^[21]
• Una grande famiglia^[22][23] (The Family, 2012-2015, by Riccardo Milani for Rai 1, flagship television channel of Italy's public broadcasting company Rai).
• Gli Anni e i Giorni^[24] (by Beppe Manzi, 2012).

Notable alumni

• Claudia Ferrazzi, French President Emmanuel Macron's cultural advisor. Former director-general of Louvre Museum in Paris.^[25]
• Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served as Italy's ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2011. Former Permanent representative of Italy to the United Nations, where he headed the Italian delegation to the United Nations Security Council.
• Filippo Maria Pandolfi, Italian politician, exponent of Christian Democracy, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of the Industry, twice Minister of Treasury. European commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science
• Roberto Calderoli, former vice president of the Italian Senate of the Republic
• Vittorio Feltri, Italian journalist
• Giorgio Gori, Mayor of Bergamo and exponent of Democratic Party
• Giacomo Suardo, President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy (1939-1943)

The architecture

The museum within the school

The school hosts a museum of Physics, Art and History that is run by students.

External links

• "Liceo Sarpi has to repeat the INVALSI tests: students are too smart" - L'eco di Bergamo 26 September 2013. http://www.ecodibergamo.it/stories/Cronaca/395452_sei_bravo_nel_test_allora_bari_il_sarpi_penalizzato_allinvalsi/
• Liceo Sarpi opens its museum of physics and literature. http://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2012/09/13/foto/fisica-42466922/1/

Pictures

• 
  The skyline of the Upper City of Bergamo. The Liceo Classico Paolo Sarpi palace is on the left of the picture.
• 
  Physics Laboratory
• 
  Physics Laboratory
• 
  The building
• 
  The staircase

School subjects and plan of study

In 2010, the Gelmini reform changed the traditional Italian school system, so now students follow this specific pattern of courses that covers a large range of disciplines:

However, nowadays it is common to find licei offering (together with this programme of studies) courses in music theory and history of music or an in-depth course in science or maths, for one or two hours a week every year.

Upon the completion of the studies, students must pass the Esame di Stato (until 1999 denominated Esame di maturità) to obtain their diploma di maturità.

• *with computer lab at first biennial
• **Biology, chemistry and earth science

Second Foreign Language and History of Music (optional). Speciality of Maths offered as well during the final three years of Liceo.

References