THE SCHOOLCHILDREN’S TRAIL

MONTVALEZAN'S SCHOOLS

A village's children are a reflection of village life and community.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Montvalezan had four schools for just 500 inhabitants: in Montvalezan village, Le Crêt, Le Châtelard and Les Laix. Each school had just one class, which had around thirty pupils. Over the school year, the children moved from school to school as their family moved up or down the mountain, according to the stock of hay stored to feed their herd. The children had to walk for up to an hour a day to get from their home to school, the furthest being the boys who went to school in Le Crêt.

The 1970s were a pivotal time for the area. Traditional pastoral agriculture was modernised and La Rosière as a ski resort began to develop. The population began to settle, no longer moving around according to the seasons. In 1973, a school opened in La Rosière. For the next few years the schoolchildren were divided between the school in La Rosière and the school in Le Châtelard. In 1995, the hundred-year-old school in Le Châtelard was closed and a new school was opened in Le Chantel. Today, all the children no matter their age go to La Rosiere's school.

In 2022 Montvalezan had a total of 711 inhabitants with 55 children attending school, a number which increases during the winter season.