at the school, following the construction of the new school cafeteria (two citations HQE). The gardens are watered with rainwater. Each child is responsible for a block of the garden." Sister cities Saint Bartholoma since March 2001. In March 1990, after the deposition of Nicolae Ceausescu, a Sister City committee was created as a project to be a sister city with a Romanian village. This project did not succeed. In September 1998, a boisgeorgienne delegation was received by Saint Bartholoma. Then, in March 2001, the municipalities of Saint-Georges-du-Bois and Saint Bartholoma region of Styria near Austria formalized their relationship. After some discussion, the sister city committee is now dormant. People and society Demographics The population of Saint-Georges-du-Bois stagnated for decades. Lack of clean water is probably the reason as it can be noted that the increase in population comes with the arrival of the so-called water on the town in 1956. The population then exploded in the 1970s, with the creation of numerous subdivisions south of the town (Bideaudière, Croix Sainte-Apolline, Jardin de la Petite Pièce, l'Écoté) and north of the town (Panorama, Pré de la Vigne, Pré du Pain). The recent creation of new subdivisions (Bassetin, Clos des Cèdres) barely makes up for the departure of the children from earlier subdivisions. Parc des Hayes (ongoing since 2008) should reverse this trend (over 140 lots, rental houses, apartments) and restarting the upwardly mobile population. Demographic trends 1793–2017 In 2017, the town had 2,121 residents, and its population density was 293 /km2. Since 2004, census surveys in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants are held every five years (2008, 2013, 2018, etc. to Saint-Georges-du-Bois) and numbers of other legal municipal population years are estimates. Education Saint-Georges-du-Bois is located in the Academy of Nantes. Schools A public school (for boys only) existed in Saint-Georges-du-Bois before 1849, as shown in accounts of local councils. Due to weak finances, the municipality leased space until 1862, when a grant from the Department of Public Instruction allowed the purchase of the school building. Following the Falloux Laws, the town opened, in a rented house, a public girls' school in 1852, although this was not mandatory. It moves to a new location in 1866, then in 1882, the municipality launched a project to build a school for girls, at 26 rue de Sable. Finances slowed the project, which was completed in 1889. The school has grown from