Turun normaalikoulu (or Norssi for short) is a school in Varissuo, an eastern suburb of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It provides education from

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

(age 7) to

upper secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

(age 19). The school is authorized by the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

to teach in both the Middle Years Programme and the

Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

. Founded in 1892, the school is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Turku. The school holds a unique position as the only school in Turku not managed by the city's educational authorities, being federally funded and controlled by the

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

, who use it as one of their

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

training schools. It is the largest such establishment in Finland. There are usually approximately 1,300 people working at the school, of which 900 are students, 300 teacher trainees, and the rest teachers and other staff. In autumn 2015, the school began renovation, lasting until winter 2017.

History

The school was founded in 1892, under the name Käkisalmen reaali- ja porvariskoulu. It was located in the town of

Käkisalmi Priozersk (russian: Приозе́рск; fi, Käkisalmi; sv, Kexholm) is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern ...

on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...

(now Priozersk,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

). It was later renamed to Käkisalmen yhteiskoulu, and as the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

between Finland and Russia broke out in 1939, the school moved to Turku in South-Western Finland. In 1957, the school was moved to the administrative hierarchy of the University of Turku and made into its teacher training school. It was transferred into a newly constructed building on Mestarinkatu, and retitled Turun normaalilyseo. However, only upper secondary school (ages 16–19) classes were taught until 1980, when the school was relocated to Varissuo and received its current name. The Varissuo building is designed by architect Björn Krogius and completed in 1980.Laaksonen, Mikko& Nummelin, Juri: ''Turun seudun arkkitehtuuriopas,'' 2013. Page 243. .

References

External links

Turun normaalikoulu
- Official website. Educational institutions established in 1892 Secondary schools in Finland Education in Turku International Baccalaureate schools in Finland Karelian Isthmus 1892 establishments in the Russian Empire {{finland-school-stub