“Benfica is a unique parish”, says Ricardo Marques, parish council member for Education and Training. “All levels of education can be found here”, with a total of 32 schools, if you include the private ones. Five are public (free) kindergartens, and this will soon increase to six. The Lisbon Polytechnic Institute’s schools of education, communication and music are all here. Construction is just being started on ISCAL, for accounting and administration, and there is promise of a fifth institution: the Higher School of Dance. Secondary education is provided by José Gomes Ferreira (yes, the school from the series 1986), with a strong link to the sciences, and “where great doctors and nurses come from”

“Once a week, the kids are taken out of the school environment, with transport provided by the parish, to go to play sport, to learn drama at the Carlos Paredes Auditorium or to the Baldaya Palace to do yoga”

What is a School Neighbourhood?

It’s an educational hub where kids can spend their entire school career – from their first scribbles to final exams in higher education. The public school is responsible for most of the options on offer: two kindergartens (for kids from three years and older), two primary schools (one for the first three years of education, from primary to nine years old), one secondary school and three higher schools run by the Lisbon Polytechnic. The private option is the “Pedrita” crèche, which welcomes babies older than one year. The construction of any non-school development is prohibited on the land next to FÁBRICA 1921 (distances to schools vary between 200 and 700 metres, that is a maximum of ten minutes walk).

Adapted from: Time Out Lisbon – July 2019 Issue