The Salesians arrived in the Amazon, invited by the then bishop of Manaus, Msgr. Irineu Joffily, with the specific task of starting the activities of the “Colégio Dom Bosco”, whose first Director was Fr Pietro Ghislandi. In the precarious settings of the old episcopal building, the first lessons of the Primary School began to take place and, in the adjacent land, the activities of the Festive Oratory.
In 1940 courses in Science and Accounting Technicians began, which over the years have formed many future professionals. In 1959, however, the boarding school was closed.
A new stage in the history of the institute began in 1971 with the arrival of the first female students and the start of preschool courses. With the opening of the Free Trade Zone of Manaus and the growth of the city's population, it became necessary to expand the facilities, and so in August 1976 a new school building was inaugurated.
In 1993, the church of the institute was elevated to a parish to take care of the pupils, past pupils and their families. Following the request of the local Church, the institute built a new church in a modern and very welcoming style on the same site as the old one.
Today the “Colégio Dom Bosco” (Don Bosco College) has modern equipment, which allows its students to make use of the digital teaching material offered by the Salesian Brazil Network, and has a large library, computer, physics, chemistry and biology laboratories. The structure of the school is complete with a gym suitable for playing various sports, a semi-Olympic swimming pool, indoor sports fields, an auditorium that can accommodate 600 people, a ballroom, a judo room and a space for formation and leisure time of the educational community.
Since 2019, the "Colégio Dom Bosco" has begun to have a special gaze upon the Kindergarten, looking for the best solutions for students and educators, making changes to the building and making the rooms more comfortable and functional.
This year the Salesian institute celebrates 100 years of existence and continues to follow Don Bosco's mission of satisfying the needs of its students and their families.
To mark its centenary, the renovation of the Kindergarten building was completed in the beginning of the year and, following the tradition of the first Salesians who arrived in Manaus, in July 2021 the school started the “Dom Bosco dreams with us” - a Social Welfare Project, which cares for Brazilian and Venezuelan children aged 6 to 12.
The oldest school in Manaus currently offers courses ranging from kindergarten to level I and II primary schools and high school, with opportunities for full-time, catechesis, sports and cultural courses that serve students and the educational community.
