Parque dos Sonhos State School, located in Cubatão on the coast of São Paulo, is the winner of T4 Education’s 2025 World’s Best School Prize, announced this Tuesday (30). The school won the award in the “Overcoming Adversity” category, leaving behind a history of squatter takeovers and the nickname “Parque dos Pesadelos School.” In recent years, following the implementation of a series of activities focused on student development, the public state school has seen a 500% increase in enrollment.

The school’s principal, Régis Marques Ribeiro, says he hasn’t filed a police report for trespassing or vandalism since 2021. The effort to transform the school began in 2016, when the principal started working there.

“At Parque dos Sonhos State School, we have learned that knowledge must go hand in hand with nonviolence, building bridges, not walls. This international award from T4 is the crowning achievement of this work. We believe that true education liberates, welcomes, and promotes human dignity. Just as hatred is learned, so is love. May we continue together, following the path we have begun, believing in the power of education to transform the world into a more just and humane place. In keeping with this commitment, we also express our solidarity with the peoples who are fighting for justice and freedom, and we support the dream of a world without war,” celebrates the principal.

The winners were selected by an international panel of judges based on rigorous criteria. Other institutions also received awards in the other four categories of the awards:

• TheFranklin School in Jersey City (U.S.) received the “Innovation 2025” award; 
• aFavor del Niño, in Mexico City (Mexico), won the “Community Collaboration 2025” award; 
• SK Putrajaya Precinct 11(1), in Putrajaya (Malaysia), was recognized in the “Supporting Healthy Lives 2025” category; and 
• Arbor School, in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), won the award in the “Environmental Action 2025” category.

“I want to say something from the bottom of my heart to the entire Parque dos Sonhos School community, but especially to the teachers and the entire school staff: you are incredible. Today is one of the most moving days of my life. Thank you very much to Principal Régis and his entire team for their work. When I see these children and this celebration, my life feels meaningful,” said Renato Feder, São Paulo’s Secretary of Education. 

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In addition to the winners in the five categories, the “Community Choice” award went toZP School Jalindarnagar in Maharashtra (India). The school received the most votes in a public vote involving the 50 finalist schools that were in the TOP 10 of each award category.

Vikas Pota, founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best Schools Awards, praises the school’s work: “I want to congratulate Parque dos Sonhos State School in São Paulo, Brazil, on the tremendous achievement of winning this global school award. Our world is at a crossroads. We need leaders who can tackle the greatest challenges of the 21st century—from climate collapse to the AI revolution, from war to poverty, from populism to prejudice. Above all, we need leaders who recognize that at the heart of all these crucial issues lies the importance of quality education.”

Dream Park

The school earned its award through a project focused on welcoming, connecting, and fostering a culture of peace among students—who live in a vulnerable neighborhood in Cubatão—and on helping them overcome episodes of violence, with an emphasis on learning and 21 complementary projects, such as figure skating. 

At Parque dos Sonhos School, Principal Régis notes, all students are known by name, and teachers are encouraged and motivated to develop projects with which they identify, in addition to the classes covered by the São Paulo State Curriculum.

“We have 21 projects proposed and implemented by our teachers, and our students are recognized regionally in volleyball, for example, and internationally in figure skating. Our school also runs the ‘The School Comes to Your Home’ project, in which our teachers visit our students’ homes—yet another way to build closer ties with their families,” he emphasizes.

During the awards ceremony, Secretary of Education Renato Feder also announced plans to install air conditioning in the school and expand its educational programs. The Best School in the World will now offer high school classes, which should ensure that many of the students currently enrolled at Parque School remain there. Expanding the school’s programs was a dream of Principal Régis Marques. “Now we’ll be able to shape citizens throughout their entire basic education,” the principal celebrates. 

Source:Article originally published by Seduc/SP.

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