124 rather than just a sequence of studies, and civic education, which the researcher says are underpinned by “modern pedagogy” and “experimental and intuitive teaching”. As a stimulus to their autonomy and initiative, students had an active social and cultural life: they published their own newspapers and magazines, including O Liceu and the Rio Branco magazine, maintained a School Association to represent them and promote several cultural and social activities, participated in competitions, and were attentive to what was going on around them, in the city, in the state, in the country and in the world. The Colégio’s unique and advanced characteristics are emphasized by former Minister of Education Esther de Figueiredo Ferraz, who recalled, in a speech delivered at her inauguration at Academia Paulista de Educação (São Paulo’s educational academy) in the 1990s, her experience as a student at Rio Branco at that time, describing it as “a different school where teachers and students alike would let themselves be carried away by an environment of joy, enthusiasm, renewal, creativity, and freedom combined with responsibility, all of which would have the students prepared ‘for real life by the very life they led there,’ as the adepts in what was then known as New School would point out at that time.” Once the project for an innovative school was firmly established and recognized, the 1930s were a period of significant progress for Rio Branco, ending in 1939 with the creation of the law school Faculdade Paulista de Direito, with classes in the evening period in the same facilities as the high school. A fleeting initiative, it was discontinued in the following year, and students were transferred to the Faculdade de Direito do Largo de São Francisco. The failure of that initiative can be viewed as an omen of difficulties to come in the following years. Government-mandated teaching reforms, combined with measures limiting the autonomy to fix compensations and school fees, caused serious problems to the Colégio on the pedagogical, administrative and financial levels. The fact that some of the founders left the Colégio to engage in other activities —in other educational institutions or the Ministry of Education— was another significant loss. Government interventionism also gave rise to the need for renaming the institution, as using the term “National” in private school names was forbidden. At first, the school was renamed Liceu Rio Branco, and shortly thereafter it took the name of Colégio Rio Branco. Sampaio Dória was running the school at that time, while former partners had left. In that capacity, he had the power to make such decisions as he deemed most expedient. Already tired, with no support from the initial group, and with his heirs showing no interest in getting involved with the administration, he initiated a process of reducing activities. The Trade School was closed down in 1943, and so were the boarding and semi-boarding schools. The Normal School was next. The possibility that the Colégio might close down was already being discussed by concerned parents and society at large when, in July of 1945, a decision to that effect was officially made by the principal’s office. A circular issued at the end of the first semester, signed by Omar Sampaio Dória (Antônio’s son), announced the discontinuation of activities. The justification, as it reads at the end of the notice, was a cost increase that could not be passed on to the students. “In view of two governmental measures, the first of which increasing teacher-related expenses by more than 34 percent, and the second prohibiting any increase in the Colégio’s revenues, there is no solution other than discontinuing our activities,” said the text, which ended with the information that the student transfer forms would be available to the parents by the end of the month, so that their children could be transferred to other schools. The surprise and indignation took their toll on parents, students, teachers and employees. More than 1,600 students were losing their school, and dozens of professionals were losing their jobs. Influential personalities, politicians and journalists were mobilized and tried to intervene, while students and teachers joined their efforts in search of feasible alternatives, but the countless attempts to reverse the owners’ decision were fruitless. Just as unsuccessful was an attempt to set up a new maintainer entity to run the Colégio. It seemed there was no happy solution in sight. However, as the wise Chinese saying goes, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”. And the way to keep Colégio Rio Branco open for business involved senator and major industrialist José Ermírio de Moraes. Not only did he have his children going to school there, which made the close-down a family problem to him, he was also a man who had, in the words of teacher Nórton A. Severo Batista, “clarity, a shrewd insight into educational problems” and, in addition, a capacity to find practical, objective solutions to important issues. José Ermírio de Moraes had already contacted Sampaio Dória to try to talk him out of closing down the Colégio, but to no avail. Encouraged by student parents and by a commission formed by teachers and employees to look into alternatives, teacher Carlos Cattony requested and was granted a meeting with the senator. The result of the meeting was related by teacher Antônio Demóstenes de Souza Brito as follows: “Dr. José Ermírio gave his support to the Commission and authorized teacher Cattony and his fellow Commission members to immediately contact Dr. Antônio
Livro Comemorativo dos 70 anos da Fundação de Rotarianos de São Paulo - Uma história de ideias e ideais
To see the actual publication please follow the link above