Collège Longchamp

In 1899, Collége Longchamp began its life not as a school, but as a home for the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. The building, located at 23, rue Jean-de-Bernardy, exudes a classico-religious style. It stands as a testament to its multifaceted history. Collége Longchamp transitioned in 1906. It became the second lycée for girls in Marseille, following the lycée Montgrand. This shift reflects the growing demand for girls’ education in the early 20th century. Collége Longchamp opened its doors to 243 students: 146 in primary and 91 in secondary education. Interestingly, lycées at that time encompassed both primary and secondary levels. During World War I, parts of Collége Longchamp became a Red Cross hospital. Classes continued in other lycée rooms and buildings along Boulevard Longchamp. This supplementary health center remained until 1930. After the war, Collége Longchamp experienced rapid growth, exceeding its intended capacity of 500 students. Expansion plans were considered in the 1920s. However, Marseille, already committed to other projects like the lycée Périer, declined to fund it. The 1930s saw student numbers explode to over 900, driven by increased female enrollment and the gradual extension of free secondary education. This, ironically, strained the lycée’s resources due to the 1930 finance law. Unlike World War I, Collége Longchamp retained control of its premises during World War II. Safety drills, including gas mask practices and descents into the courtyard’s air raid shelters, became routine. The lycée even housed boys from Saint-Charles lycée, which had become a military camp. It also sheltered student teachers from Aix’s École Normale and those preparing for the École Normale Supérieure. In 1978, mirroring a national trend, Collége Longchamp embraced co-education. Its transformation into a collège finally came in 1982, under the Haby law. The spacious courtyard with its plane trees, the two-level technology rooms, the vast dining hall, and the library within the old chapel with its Gothic arches became part of students’ experiences. So did the administrative corridor, the science rooms with their fossil collections, the language classrooms on the second floor, the gym with its green corrugated iron facade, and the wooded courtyard used for class photos. The late 1990s saw the construction of a modern cafeteria, replacing the old canteen and dining hall. From 2007 to 2011, Collége Longchamp underwent a significant restructuring. This included a redesigned courtyard with underground parking, a merged library and science wing, a new amphitheater and science building, and a renovated main courtyard. This modernization prepared the collège for generations to come.