This research aimed to analyze the actions developed by the Projeto Escola Aberta in five state schools in Rio Grande do Sul, seeking to understand how the participants have perceived the Project and their own participation in the activities developed on the weekends. This investigation has also aimed to identify the kinds of activities and the responsibility for their coordination. This article discusses four aspects that stood out in the analysis of the Escola Aberta actions : a) the meaning attributed by the communities to the use of the schools on weekends; b) the directors' roles in the opening of the schools to the communities; c) the relationship between permanence in school and reduction of violence; d) the voluntary characteristic of the Project actions. The qualitative method was adopted in this research. The whole field work was developed in 2006. This study has showed that the populations who live around the schools have a strong desire to realize the activities on weekends, confirming the institutions as leisure centers which serve, at the same time, for both diversion and formation.
Participation; Public school; Community
