The CEIP Valdepalitos served as the venue for the official inauguration of the school year in Alcobendas on Monday, September 7th. This marks the beginning for approximately 33,000 students returning to classrooms, ranging from toddlers aged 0-3 to those in Early Childhood and Primary Education.
On Tuesday, students in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training are expected to begin classes. Concurrently, municipal nursery schools are maintaining an extraordinary enrollment period, with some places still available for the 2-3 year old group.
The mayor, Rocío García Alcántara, described the day as "very exciting" and highlighted the "record investment of 3.3 million euros in the city's nursery schools and colleges," the largest sum ever invested in a single year in Alcobendas.
One of the main novelties is the expansion of the public school network with two new centers offering Compulsory Secondary Education: Valdepalitos and Miguel Hernández public schools. These join CEIPSO Bachiller Alonso López and Luis Buñuel, consolidating four centers that integrate Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary education within a single educational project. This model aims to facilitate transitions between stages, reduce school failure and dropout rates, and improve academic performance.
Another notable initiative is the launch of a second TGD (Generalized Developmental Disorders) classroom at CEIP Castilla, designed to provide specialized support to students with autism spectrum disorder. With this addition, Alcobendas' public schools now have a total of 19 TGD classrooms, strengthening educational support for these students.
The CEIP Tierno Galván is joining the ROBIC program, promoted by the Digitalization and Education departments of the Community of Madrid. This program will introduce robotics and artificial intelligence tools to support the learning of students with special educational needs, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or developmental delays.
Lastly, IES Ágora is joining the IPAFD program (Institutes Promoting Physical Activity and Sport), already offered at other institutes in the city, expanding the range of extracurricular sports activities.
Regarding family support, the City Council will allocate over one million euros this academic year. The call for school material aid (138,000 euros) is now open, and 715,000 euros have been approved for school meal assistance, 200,000 for academic performance improvement and absenteeism prevention programs, 22,000 for work-life balance measures, and 93,000 euros for excellence scholarships.
Improvements at CEIP Valdepalitos, including a new laboratory and classroom, along with dining hall upgrades, have involved an initial investment of over 50,000 euros, with an additional 135,000 euros planned for this academic year for safety and enclosure enhancements.
