Our school

Gymnasio Karatoula (Junior Secondary School of Karatoula) is a public institution under the Directorate of Secondary Education of Ilia.

Location

It’s located at the end of the village of Karatoula in the Municipality of Pyrgos in Ilia, Western Greece. It is 16km away from Pyrgos, 19km away from Ancient Olympia, 265km from Athens (port of Pireus and airport of El Venizelos), 136km from Kalamata (port and airport) and 77km fromPatras (port and airport in Araxos). It is in a rural area.

History

The name has Turkish origins (Greece was under the Turkish rule from 1453AD to 1821 AD). The first school was built up at the top of hill in Karatoula surrounded by greenery and trees in 1983. Before this the school had been housed in different buildings in the centre of the village. In June 2008 it was hit by an earthquake so the school had to be moved in another area in containers, which still lies there. The ruined school was demolished in September 2015 and the construction of the new school is on progress. It is estimated to have it ready by 2017.

Curriculum

The syllabus offered is scheduled by the ministry of education and it is the same for all the schools in the country.

Mathematics, literature (ancient and modern), modern Greek and ancient Greek language are taught, English and French, religious education (RE), physical education(PE), home economics(HE), chemistry physics, biology, ICT and many projects on various topics are taught.

Facilities

Although it is in containers there are facilities to provide quality education to our students.

There are 6 classrooms for 20 students each, the teachers’ office, the headmaster’s office, an ICT laboratory with a projector and 9 computers.

There is a school canteen and our school is housed in the same area with the Senior Secondary School of Karatoula.

There are a soccer field, an open air basketball and volleyball court and an indoor basketball court.

At a short distance there is a conference room used to house our school events.

Staff

This school year there are:

One RE Teacher, one PE teacher, an ICT teacher,  a biology teacher, a mathematician , a physical sciences teacher, 4 Greek language teachers, 4 foreign language teachers (2 French language & 2 English language teachers).

Students

The average number of students attending the school is 90. During this year there are 92 students. Last year it was 85. Next year it is estimated to increase.

Students of the age of 12-13 attend the 1^st grade.

13-14 year old students attend the 2^nd grade and students at the age of 14-15 attend the 3^rd grade, which is the last compulsory year of education in Greece.

Students who live in the nearby area attend this school. So we have students from 13 different villages all at short distance. The majority of the Students take the bus to go to school, students from Karatoula walk to school and a little minority takes a taxi. These means of transport are free for students by showing their students id card. The vast majority of Students comes from families who are farmers, cultivating local products such as olive oil, grapes and other agricultural products while some others breed animals, a few are occupied with commerce or work in the public sector.