My School Ticino

Thanks to the support of Medacta International SA, a company with strong social responsibility and an awareness of corporate welfare, the Medacta for Life Foundation was founded in 2011 and the My Baby 0-3 Nursery school was opened the following year

The promoter and founder of the project is Maria Luisa Siccardi Tonolli, Vice President of the Foundation, mother and entrepreneur. Maria Luisa has always been attentive to Sustainability & ESG Strategies and has followed  the story of the institute with daily passion and effort from its beginnings through to the current and continuous innovations giving life to a philanthropic project that is committed to the local area and close to its needs.

The story of the educational structure develops rapidly and constantly to respond to a precise need of the local families. The school was initially created to welcome its employees children but later opened its doors to all local families with the aim of providing support to parents and promoting the return of women to work after having a baby. In 2015 the school’s educational services expanded with the opening of the My Child 3-6 Pre-school. In 2017 it became My School Ticino – a bilingual school with a wide range of curricular and extracurricular educational activities.

In 2018 following the authorisation by DECS the My Kid 6-10 Primary School opened. In September of the following year My Languages language school was born – a service offering language courses to children, teenagers, adults and companies. After two years of success the second language school opened in Lugano, where in Sept. 2023 has opened the third branch. My Languages guarantees the preparation of exams for European language certificates: Cambridge for English, Delf / Dalf for French and Goethe for German. The school is also a recognised Cambridge Examination Centre, first held in June 2023 at Castel San Pietro.

In 2013 the My Baby 0-3 Nursery was awarded the “QualiNido” certification from Kibesuisse and since 2018 it has been authorised by the Cantonal authorities to accommodate 50 children from age 0-3 years. In the same year My Child doubled in size with the opening of a second section. In Sept. 2024 the third section will be open.

Today My School comprises the Nursery, Pre-School, Primary School, Extracurricular Service and Language School (in two locations Castel San Pietro and Lugano) . The institute also boasts a rich and well organised Extracurricular Service, My Extraschool, with pre and after school, canteen with in house kitchen (recognised by the Fourchette Verte quality seal), courses and workshops open to all even children who are not enrolled at the school. Today My School Ticino has over 200 subscribers, a minor part (15%) are children of Medacta International employees with the rest made up of children from the local area.

In 2023 the campus expansion has been completed to a total area of more than 3,000 square meters. The campus gained a STEM classroom, a library, an auditorium, new classrooms and activities areas, both inside and outside.

My School is a school that offers continuous and extended hours complete with extra curricular services.

The school is open 49 weeks a year. It runs the My Weeks service during the Cantonal school holidays  and the My Summer Camp service during the summer holidays for all children even those who normally attend other schools.

The Educational Project offered by My School Ticino aims for excellence in its field supported by active teaching particularly influenced by the Montessori method and its approach of “ help me to do it myself “ and the creative style of “100 languages “ of Loris Malaguzzi, the inspiration behind Reggio Children. The third educational pillar that is of fundamental importance to My School Ticino is Italian / English bilingualism which provides the full time presence of mother tongue and bilingual teachers in each section with a systematic approach that constantly places the two languages side by side in all activities proposed. Great space is also given to Outdoor Education which is defined at an international level as teaching that aims to encourage experiences in direct contact with the environment : from the natural childhood need to explore and test himself to environmental education projects. The school campus is in a sunny, green area with little traffic. It borders the Riale river and the woods offering young students huge spaces for play and learning in the fresh air : My Woods for activities in the woods, al fresco lunches and snacks; the garden, the playgrounds for the school breaks and the football pitch.

My School Ticino is also committed to projects with strong bonds to the region and the local community. Among these highly significant are:

– scholarships awarded to underprivileged students, a support for families that has expanded over the years;
– the now long-established Intergenerational Project, with the ATTE Day Centre for the Elderly, aimed at fostering opportunities for interaction and moments of joy and growth between childhood and elderly people;
– the opportunities for interaction and socialisation between the children of My School Ticino and the children and young people of the Sant’Angelo School in Loverciano;
– the requalification of the stream on the area adjacent to the School, which has seen the creation of benches and wooden games as well as a playground, which can be used by both the My School pupils and the local community during extracurricular hours.

The interaction of families in the daily activities of the school has the aim of creating an educating community, or a “shared” place where parents and teachers, respecting each others competences, accept and experience the responsibility of the learning processes related to teaching/learning and caring for the children’s well-being.