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About St. John's - History
The origin of St. John's School is intimately tied with its sibling institution - St. George's School.
St. George's School was acquired by its current owners in 1997. It has always been recognized for the outstanding educational principles that were first established by the school's founder, Mr. Patrick Hoare, and are now continued by his daughter, Ms. Deborah da Silva, school principal.
From 1960 to 1997, the school's premises were located in Quinta das Loureiras, a beautiful 18th century house at the entrance of Cascais. Initially an exclusively British school, St. George's found itself opening its doors to the Portuguese-speaking community in 1962, due to an increased interest of the population in learning the English language and culture. The Portuguese curriculum was, at this time, adopted by the school along with the long-standing British curriculum. St. George's school ceased, then, to be an exclusively English school and instead became a forum for multicultural education, a characteristic it has maintained to this day.
In 1997, St. George's School was forced to abandon Quinta das Loureiras and relocate elsewhere due to the construction of a new road leading into Cascais. The school's campus changed its scenery at this time, from Cascais to S. João do Estoril, occupying a building that formerly belonged to the American International School. The school's opening ceremony on the 30th of June, 1998, was marked by the presence of Mr. Roger Westbrook, H.M, British ambassador at the time.
As St. George's School continued to grow and expand, the need to extend the school's eligibility to the preschool years became increasingly significant. The lack of space of the S. João Campus fostered the need to create a new campus in addition to the already existing one; a place dedicated exclusively to the little ones, leaving St. George's school with the 6-10 years range. Thus, in 2001, St. John's School was created for this purpose.
An example of a school, St. John's has always been extremely thorough in its presentation, organization, facilities, curricula, and choice of personnel as only "Tia Gracinha" could do. Maria da Graça Corrêa de Oliveira Cardoso Moniz has been an Early Childhood Educator since 1956, having had experience in both private and public schools, as teacher and principal alike.
The opening ceremony of St. John's School was graced by the presence of Sir John Holmes, H.M, British ambassador who, in his speech, spoke about the hope and confidence he felt regarding both St. John's and St. George's Schools and praised the tremendous contribution they have given and continue to give in preserving and propagating English culture.
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