[altoman]

Hi all,

Has anyone heard or knows how the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir is? It is located on Pimpri Chinchwad link road. I am looking for pre-school/nursery for my son in Pimpri area.

thanks,
altoman

[mb_jg]

We finished with the admission interview for Bishops Camp yest. THE child was only observed & we were interviewed. Results are out on 31st March.

[S_U_N]

@Manish: All the best!
Hope you get through the process since Bishops has been your first choice.
Do update with any more details that you can share over the course of time.
I believe they don't take donation openly but they do (in the name of development fees).
I assume your child would be getting into Jr. KG.

Meanwhile a few days ago, we had been to Lohegaon where some relatively new schools have come up. Since it was a Saturday, we could not meet anyone or see much.

1. St. Peter's: Nice infrastructure from outside. Watchman did not allow us to get inside the gate.
2. Vikhe Patil: Decent looking building, just adjacent to Diamond Water Park. We were able to see a few classrooms from the windows. Watchman was very cooperative.

But the approach road towards these schools is horrible. I would never recommend anyone driving on that road - it is filled with pointed stones.

Then we checked out Aman Setu. Some caretaker girl allowed us in and didn't bother us while we were checking out various parts of the premises. A very different kind of a school. They have a real ST bus parked at one corner and they also have a red Willis (or some other) soft-top jeep.


2.

[cediafan]

@Manish,

Best of luck with Bishop's Camp. This is one school which I am really interested in along with DPS, but my son will not be eligible this year (he will turn 3 this May).

@SUN,
I have heard a lot about Aman Setu. It is a very different kind of school. However, the building that you have looked at is not sufficient and I think the school also operates out of a building opposite to the current premises.

In between, I visited Victorious Kids in Kharadi. I liked the school the fee was very high.

[mb_jg]

Thanks for your good wishes. I really hope my son gets to pass out of Bishops. He already loved the school environment & created a ruckus when it was time to leave.
They have maintained the same old school charm within the premises. No drastic changes, except for technology (cctc cameras, bio-metric attendance systems etc).
I've heard they take donations, but not from everyone. I guess I was lucky enough to be an ex-student & a Christian too, preference is definitely given.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by cediafan

@SUN,
I have heard a lot about Aman Setu. It is a very different kind of school. However, the building that you have looked at is not sufficient and I think the school also operates out of a building opposite to the current premises.

In between, I visited Victorious Kids in Kharadi. I liked the school the fee was very high.

Yes. I was informed by the girl at Aman Setu that there is another premises down the same road (further away from city), though I did not see it.

Victorious Kids fees are between 1.5 to 2 lacs as per some information that I got----- *atrocious.*

[maverickxx2006]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

My daughter got admission to New India School in Kothrud last year. She was just about 2 year old when we filled up the admission forms. So naturally, she is one of the youngest in her class. But, these days securing admission to the school of your choice is so tough, we went ahead and got the admission done. Now, we don't have to stand in any queue(hopefully) for next 15 years.

The school is very good. The entire staff has migrated itself from the more popular Abhinav School to this school starting from the prinicpal, Meena Chandavarkar. All those originally from Pune might understand this point better. Fantastic bus service, even for kids as young as 2.5 years. We paid around 22k as fees and 7k for one-way bus service. One way because I drop my baby to the school in the morning.

The syllabus is based on State board and I have no particular reservations for CBSE or state board, so I was ok. Here's the official site link: Welcome to New India School

For your info, the admissions to the RC-1(playgroup) classes will begin in March 2012. The admission process is straight forward, fill up the forms, 1st round of discussion, no interviews of any sorts. If you are through, you will get a secret call and then 2nd round of discussions and you got it.

What do they ask in second round of discussions? Is this one more elimination round or its almost confirmed admission if you get a call?

[mb_jg]

My son's admission was finalized at Bishop's-Camp. Total fees for the 1st yr is 50k-this includes a one time admission fee of 20k :o) what a relief from the 1lakh+ we used to pay at Vibgyor.

[maverickxx2006]

My daughter's admission got confirmed today at New India School, Kothrud.

What a big big big relief to see my daughter's name on the shortlisted names on the board.

No need to worry for next 14 years (till 10th std) now..

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by maverickxx2006

My daughter's admission got confirmed today at New India School, Kothrud.

What a big big big relief to see my daughter's name on the shortlisted names on the board.

No need to worry for next 14 years (till 10th std) now..

Congratulations!!! I can echo your excitement, it's like a huge burden being lifted off!!

[WindRide]

How is the reputation of Amara Jyothi Public School (CBSE) K.R.Puram? It seems to belong to pearson group.

[LonelyPlanet]

I will be relocating to Bangalore shortly and am on the lookout for school or my 9 yr old son.
Are there any good schools that are still open for admissions or I have to wait till next academic yr to get my family to relocate
What options other than NPS and VidyaSagar that are good. Looking for a mix of academics and extra curricular ?

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

What options other than NPS and VidyaSagar that are good. Looking for a mix of academics and extra curricular ?

I my personal view, NPS is more focused towards study-study-and-more-study. We did not like the approach and hence stayed away from NPS. Another drawback is getting into NPS is like getting lottery, we anyway had no intentions in putting her through the grind at such a young age hence stayed away from the NPS madness.

What i would recommend is do not relocate family now, let the session get over. In the mean time the admissions start somewhere around Aug onwards for next July session, hence it would be a good idea to try multiple schools. Which area you will be moving to? or you want to do it the other way around, look for school first and then residence (as many do).

I liked Shishu Greha (Indiranagar), Vibgyor (Kundanhalli & Harlur Road), among many others.

Inventure is good too, but quiet expensive.

[LonelyPlanet]

Thanks Mayank
Work wise I will be on ORR. The school is what will determine my home So I am flexible on stay based on the admission to a good school !!
I will temporarily be based out of NGEF east

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by WindRide

How is the reputation of Amara Jyothi Public School (CBSE) K.R.Puram? It seems to belong to pearson group.

AFAIK, Pearson doesn't own these schools, and only manages them..

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

I my personal view, NPS is more focused towards study-study-and-more-study. We did not like the approach and hence stayed away from NPS. Another drawback is getting into NPS is like getting lottery, we anyway had no intentions in putting her through the grind at such a young age hence stayed away from the NPS madness.

This is my kid's third year in NPS-HSR, and I disagree about the grind part. From my personal experience, the emphasis they place on studies is no more than other schools like Vibgyor etc. For example, they don't give any homework on weekdays. Perhaps things will become more intense in high school, but talking to other older kids in my apartment, that doesn't seem to be the case either.

They don't have great sports infrastructure, and are very quirky about issues like attendance on last/first day of school etc. If you are okay with those, IMHO, NPS is a pretty decent school.

Agree about the lottery part though!