Hi All
Small update on our Son's (April-2012 born) school admission experience from Dec-2014 till now(Mar-2016):
City: Bengaluru
New to Bengaluru
My family moved from Chennai to Bangalore in Dec-2014. My 2.5 year old son was with American Kids at Chennai (Had completed only 6 months there when we shifted him to Bangalore)
Playschool
Once in Bangalore, we took a place on rent in Mantri Sarovar, HSR Layout and put-up our son at Euro Kids,HSR Layout for Play School. We had to pay for Half-year fees even though we could avail only 3 months of classes. We also had to forego all payment at American Kids.
Admission Hunt - 2015-16
For the session 2015-16, we applied to
NPS(HSR),
NPS(Koramangala)
HeadStart Montessori(Koramangala)
NPS contacts you only when you are selected. No news is bad news.
We didn't hear from either of NPS HSR and Koramangla. We came to know from neighbours whose kids got admission(all of them had elder sibling already studying at NPS). *NPS has a strong policy on admissions criteria which can be seen
here
On NPS, a colleague told me that its easier to get admission on IITs - but more difficult to get admission in NPS.
HeadStart Montessori called us for interaction and during the interaction said that our kid was over-age by 2 months and they need board's approval for doing an admit- which was a polished way to say no.
We didn't apply to any other place as we wanted to try NPS again. Also, as we were still settling down - so were not much aware of geography etc and travel times.
So, we continued with Euro Kids for 2015-16.
Admission Hunt - 2016-17
For the session 2016-17, we applied to
NPS(HSR),
NPS(Koramangala),
NPS(Indiranagar),
Bethany High(Koramangala),
Bethany(HSR/Sarjapur)
Greenwood High.
We enquired, but didn't apply to these schools:
Cherubs Motessori (linked to Inventura academy)
Vibgyor(HSR Extension)
DPS(Sarjapur Road)
We realised that we could get admission to Vibgyor and DPS anytime while Inventura was way toooo costly for us.
Interviews(Interaction) and Results 2016-17 Dec'15: Bethany
We got email from Bethany to come for parent+child interaction with principal. They told us that there are 2 branches- Old campus at Koramangala and new campus split between HSR(KinderGarten) and Off Sarjapur Road (Secondary and High School).
We were told that since we stay in HSR, we cannot get admission in Koramangala branch as that school caters to residents of MG Road, Indirangar and other central Bangalore areas. The only option was to get admitted at KG in HSR where kid will study for next 3 years and then move to Sarjapur Road campus.
The principal showed some toys to our son - and asked to name which he did. He was also shown a doll and asked to name body parts - which he did. Then, he was shown small case alphabets and asked to identify them - which our son couldn't- he was not taught this by Euro Kidz till now.
Bethany wanted us to deposit around 85K in next 5 days to secure the seat.
We saw the campus photo on their website and were not comfortable.
Dec'15: Euro Kidz
The current school sent a letter for Parent Teacher Meet.
During the same meeting, they gauged our interest to go for next academic year with Euro Kidz- to which we told we'll get back.
Within a week, they sent formal letter that if we want to continue with them for next academic year, then we'll have to submit the fees by 15th Jan 2016 or else we'll miss the seat.
We were not interested to continue with Euro Kidz- We felt Euro Kidz was good enough only for play schools and not senior years.
So, we politely let that opportunity go by.
Dec'15: GreenWood High
2 days later, we got call from Greenwood High to come for parent+child interaction with principal.
The principal did take proper interview of our kid- she had an assortment of items in baskets in her table: (colours, shapes, letters, animals, transport toys etc).
Our son did fairly good to identify and name the objects(Square, Oval, Rectangle etc).
Then she asked us to let him recite any of his favourite rhymes. He was so shy (and we were so nervous!)- he wouldn't recite the poem '
twinkle twinkle little star'! I somehow managed him to recite '
bits of paper' rhyme.
Then she asked to read from 1 to 10- and my son read out 1 to 10 and conveniently skipped 7 and 8.
Then she asked to recite from A to Z - and my son was so resistant to recite.. and recited about 16-17 letters and skipped the rest.
In the meantime, the electricity supply was restored in their office and tube-lights switched on. Next room exhaust fan was on- and my son was so happy - "Papa current has come back" "Papa, tubelight is on" "Papa, exhaust fan is on" and was going on non-stop.
The principal told us that whether Euro Kidz teach phonetics to our kid- and we said no. She said that we should teak him Phonetics as Bethany teaches phonetics in equivalent class. Our son should study phonetics and be prepared for the upcoming session with other students. Also she advised us to teach our son tracing skills for capital alphabets.
Finally, we were advised to deposit around 85K in next 5 days to secure the seat.
Dillemma
Both these schools had Kindergarten campus near to our residence(HSR)- Bethany(HSR) and Greenwood High(Koramangala) and primary,secondary,high school campus far off - Off Sarjapur Road.
We spoke to colleagues, acquaintances and finalized GreenWood High- primary reasons:
1. Each class has only 20 kids upto 12th i.e. better Teacher to Student Ratio
2. Better campus facilities and already the session was active for 10+2
3. Everyone we spoke to - they had positive feedback on Greenwood - the only common negative complaint being its too expensive.
4. School Buses are all air conditioned and have upto date GPS tracking.
5. Emphasis on extra-curricular activities
Decision- Jan-2016
We deposited the cheque to Greenwood high and let go the opportunity at Bethany.
And we were bracing ourselves to shell out ~2Lakhs per year henceforth with annual increment of ~15% per year.
New Development- March-2016
Today I got call from NPS(HSR) that our application has been shortlisted and that we've to visit the school for parent+child interaction with school chairman and when we come for the interaction, we should bring a DD of Rs 1,31,250.
What did we change in our application form to NPS from previous year? - Nothing.
I was left overwhelmed and so relieved. Informed my wife and she was also so relieved.
I'd asked the caller - can I take this as final confirmation of admission to which she said its 90% confirmed.
Spoke to a colleague whose kid is in NPS Montessorri-2, and he said I should take it as 100% confirmed.
Also, I've set-up a Recurring Deposit for Rs.12500 for 1-year so that I get Rs 1,56,000 next year and use that fund for tuition fees. The fees increase by ~15% every year
Will post NPS experience once its done.
PS
To all the other followers of this thread- my heart goes out to you. I have gone through the anxiety that goes through the minds of parents. Its so appalling that there is no such forum like team-bhp for schools and hence there is no credible information or advice available - especially for people new to this city.