Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro (often referred to as "Porto Seguro" or "CVPS", formerly named "Deutsche Schule" (''German School'')) is a private bilingual school located in the neighborhood of Morumbi, in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The school was founded in 1878 by German immigrants, who wished a school in which their children could learn about German culture, without losing the connection with Brazil. It was elected by ''Veja'' magazine as the best school of São Paulo. Nowadays, the school has several other related units. Its main unit had the 149th best national performance at the 2014 ENEM in a ranking of 15640; the Panamby unit was ranked at 236 and the Valinhos unit had the 67th best performance.

History

The school was founded on September 22, 1878, as "Deutsche Schule", located in a rented building at Florêncio de Abreu Street, in downtown São Paulo. D. Pedro II visited the school in 1886. In 1913, the school moved to its own building at the Olinda Street, present day

Praça Roosevelt Praça Roosevelt is a public square in São Paulo, Brazil. Construction of the square began in 1968 and was completed in 1970. After decades of decline, the square was renovated in 2011–12. A second renovation to expand the skate park on Pra� ...

. As the demand for school enrollment grew, two new units were built, one in

Consolação Consolação may refer to: * Consolação (district of São Paulo) * Consolação (São Paulo Metro) * Consolação, Minas Gerais Consolação is a municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Repub ...

, and the other in

Barra Funda Barra Funda is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 2,551. References See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul This is a list of the municipalities in the state of ...

. In 1943, due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, it changed its name to "Ginásio Brasileiro Alemão" (''German-Brazilian Elementary School''), and later to Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro, after Francisco de Vahrnhagen, German-Brazilian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. In 1974, the school moved to its current location, in Morumbi, with its main entrance in Clementinne Brenne Street. Famous German musician Karl Richter was hired to direct the Colégio Porto Seguro Choir (''Coral do Colégio Porto Seguro''). Later on, in 1982,

Karl Carstens Karl Carstens (, 14 December 1914 – 30 May 1992) was a German politician. He served as the president of West Germany from 1979 to 1984. Early life and education Carstens was born in the City of Bremen, the son of a commercial school teacher, ...

, president of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, became another notable visitor. In 1982, the

Valinhos Valinhos () is a municipality (''município'') in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is the birthplace of Adoniran Barbosa. Valinhos is famous for its purple fig, the theme of its annual Fig Fest. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campina ...

branch was founded. Valinhos was, at the time, a major residence for German immigrants, who had come to work for companies located in the region. In 1997, the Panamby unit was founded in order to answer to the high demand for room at the original Morumbi branch. The inauguration of the new branch had the

Vice Chancellor of Germany The vice-chancellor of Germany, unofficially the vice-chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (), officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (), is the second highest ranking German cabinet member. The chancellor is the head of governm ...

Joschka Fischer Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer (born 12 April 1948) is a German retired politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. He served as the foreign minister and as the vice-chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005. Fi ...

as a guest. In 2003, when the institution celebrated its 125th anniversary, more than 46,000 people attended the celebration event that took place at the

Estádio do Morumbi Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, widely known as Morumbi (), is a football stadium located in the eponymous district in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the home of São Paulo Futebol Clube and its formal name honors Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, who ...

, located near the school. During the celebration, Brazilian singer

Fafá de Belém Fafá de Belém, born Maria de Fátima Palha de Figueiredo in Belém do Pará on August 9, 1956, is a Brazilian singer considered one of the great female singers of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). She took her stage name from the city of her ...

sang the School's anthem. In 2002, the first "Portinho" was founded, in front of the Panamby unit. In 2007, the second "Portinho", built inside Morumbi unit, was founded. This portinho was built where once has been one of the parking lots of the school. Nowadays, there's only one underground parking lot, with two floors.

Academics

Subjects

From 1st to 4th grade, students have

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, mathematics, sciences (mostly basic notions of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(up to 2006, German was taught only from 3rd grade on),

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

classes. On the 5th grade, history and geography are taught separately, music is no longer taught,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

classes are introduced and plastic arts now teaches basic notions of

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

. On the 8th grade,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

classes are introduced. At high school, all subjects determined by the

Brazilian Ministry of Education The Ministry of Education (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Ministério da Educação''), also known as MEC, an initialism derived from its former name Ministry of Education and Culture (Portuguese: ''Ministério da Educação e Cultura''), is a ...

are taught: Portuguese, English, history, geography, mathematics,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, chemistry and

. German and Spanish are kept until 2nd grade, and plastic arts/geometry is taught up to 1st grade. Also, at 3rd grade, Portuguese is divided into Portuguese (grammar and literature) and Composition (because many universities require a composition for admission at their

vestibular The Vestibular (from pt, vestíbulo, "entrance hall") is a competitive examination and is the primary and widespread entrance system used by Brazilian universities to select the students admitted. The Vestibular usually takes place from Nove ...

es), and the "Atualidades", a subject in which main events taking place during the time the class is given are discussed, was introduced in 2008.

Curricula

There are two curricula (or ''Zugs'', in German): A (Brazilian curriculum) and B (German curriculum). Sometimes the C curriculum (see below) is also considered.

A curriculum (currículo A; A-Zug)

The Brazilian curriculum follows the same system explained above.

B curriculum (currículo B; B-Zug)

B curriculum has a more German-oriented system. Therefore, most of its students are

German Brazilian German Brazilians (German: ''Deutschbrasilianer'', Hunsrik: ''Deitschbrasiliooner'', pt, teuto-brasileiros) refers to Brazilians of full or partial German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South Region, with a smaller bu ...

. Apart from the normal classes the A curriculum have, they have also study History, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Arts, Music, English, Spanish (facultative), French (facultative and paid), PE (for the 1st to 4th grade plus abitur) and German classes taught in German (''Geschichte'', ''Mathematik'', ''Physik'', ''Chemie'', ''Biologie'', ''Kunst'', ''Musik'', ''Englisch'', ''Spanisch'', ''Fanzösisch'', ''Sport'' and ''Deutsch'' respectively). Classes are often smaller (containing around 20 students, in opposition to the normal 35 students of A curriculum classes), and students take the classes in the morning, along with the remaining morning students. B alumni also have the opportunity for taking the Abitur exams in the school.

C curriculum (currículo C; C-Zug)

The C curriculum offers free classes for students from the Paraisópolis

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

, located near the school. Those classes are taken in the afternoon, together with the afternoon students. All books, notebooks, clothes and food are provided free.

Other units

Apart from the Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro Unidade I, which is the first and main unit, there are also other units, such as: * Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro Unidade II, in

* Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro Unidade III, at Panamby, a borough of São Paulo (this unit does not have the B curriculum). There are also the "Portinhos" (literally ''Little Portos''), which work much like a

day care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

. * Portinho Panamby * Portinho Morumbi, located inside the Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro Unidade I * Portinho Valinhos, located inside the Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro Unidade II All units together have about 10,500 students and 550 teachers.

Notable alumni

Robert Scheidt Robert Scheidt (born April 15, 1973) is a Brazilian sailor who has won two gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze from five Olympic Games and a Star Sailors League Final. He is one of the most successful sailors at Olympic Games and one of t ...

– Sailor *

Queen Silvia of Sweden Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...

Queen Silvia visits the school
* Thaissa Presti - Track and field sprint athlete * Rodrigo Hübner Mendes -

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

References

B curriculum at the official site

History of the school at Projeto 125 Anos

External links

Official website

Site for ex-students

Projeto 125 Anos - Website dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the school
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colegio Visconde De Porto Seguro Educational institutions established in 1878 International schools in São Paulo Private schools in Brazil 1878 establishments in Brazil German international schools in Brazil European-Brazilian culture in São Paulo