Construction of the Pasteur school 1883 (≈ 1883)
Opening of the school, pioneer with indoor sanitary.
1930-1960
Period represented by the collections
Period represented by the collections 1930-1960 (≈ 1945)
Focus on school methods and objects.
1952
Manufacture of telecinema
Manufacture of telecinema 1952 (≈ 1952)
Exposed artisanal object, symbol of local innovation.
1979
Closing of the Pasteur School
Closing of the Pasteur School 1979 (≈ 1979)
Last come back before turning into a museum.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Étienne Notardonato - Last director of the Pasteur School (1972-1979)
Museum initiator after closing.
Origin and history
The Musée de l'École de Villeneuve-d'Ascq is housed in the former Pasteur school, built in 1883 in the Sart-Babylone district. This building, a pioneer in the Roubaisian agglomeration for its interior sanitary facilities in the 20th century, closed in 1979. His last director, Mr. Étienne Notardonato (from 1972 to 1979), transformed a class into a museum to preserve local educational history.
The museum's collections plunge visitors into the school atmosphere from 1930 to 1960. Here we discover the subjects taught (moral, calculus, geography, etc.), as well as emblematic objects such as wooden benches, inkwriters, a blackboard, or a 1930s piano. A 1952 handcrafted telecinema, produced by a local resident, also testifies to the educational innovation of the period.
The Pasteur school embodied the technical and social developments of its time, such as improved hygiene with its indoor sanitary facilities, a rarity for schools in the region in the first half of the 20th century. The museum today perpetuates this collective memory, highlighting the daily lives of students and teachers through decades marked by rigorous teaching methods and often rudimentary material.
The museum project originates from Mr. Notardonato's personal initiative, which sought to preserve the heritage of this emblematic school. The museum is thus part of a process of preserving the local educational heritage, offering a concrete testimony of the school practices of the past, between tradition and emerging modernity.
