[PAVAN KADAM]

Didnt quite get where to post this thread. Mods kindly move accordingly.

My kid's now 2.6 yrs of age, and as a responsible parent i need to get her into best of school possible, i bunked my office to attend to my little princess today.

This topic generates so much of interests and confusion to all parents when they seek admission for their wards. I felt similar today.

My day starts at 10 am today with getting her Birth Certificates xeroxed, i move out of my house and on her request tagged her along with her favourite car the VW Bug.

My parents wanted her school to be within a vicinity of 10 kms from home, need to agree with her grand parents, anyways had no choice.

As i am in North Bangalore-Vidyaranyapura, i had only 4 choices of best schools around my vicinity. This is how my experiences with the schools unfold.

I- Sri Sri Sri Ravishankar gurukul (ICSE syllabus)

This school is just 350 meters away from my abode.

Built around a 3 acre area, consists of all basic amenities- a play area for kids, play ground, well equipped class rooms and 5 winger vans for school bus.

Entering the school, i was greeted warmly and was offered a seat.

My kid starts running around the campus excited to see so many kids yelling an creating chaos all around.

The officer at the school calls for me and explains me about the formalities, she hands over the admission form (Rs 450/-) and registers my kid for the saturday seminar, where on which day i'll be explained about the schools mode of operation and fee structure.

My next school visit was something that did'nt quite go well with me

MES Kishore Kendra (CBSE and ICSE)


Located 1 km away from my house, this school is a well established school.

Has a nice school campus and no play area for kids apart from one small ground.

I reach the school at around 12 pm, was greeted by the security guard at the gates rather unwelcoming, ' sir no visiting now come after 3 pm" I could see the "OFFICE" board and people working inside.

Felt this might be their timings and left from the gates.

More to continue later.....

After this, my wifey dear accompanies me to the next school 3 kms away from home.

TRIO World school- (MCREL syllabi)

Situated on the kodigehalli main road, this school is truly international in its standards.

I get inside a vast looking neat campus, got the gate pass and guided towards the parking lot.

I get worried as i see kids playing out, all firangs barring few Indian students. Kids there start shouting "HERBIE HERBIE". My kid again excited to see so many welcoming kids in the campus.

We get inside the school, neat and tidy truly international school, Greeted by a front office executive who comes over and greets me, my wife and my kid, She now puts us on to Mrs Andrea, guides us to her office and takes leave.

Mrs Andrea- " Hi sweety how are you- greets my kid and talks to her in her baby language, which amuses my kid and us together. She was at so much ease talking to kids.

The next part was rather sad but really enriched. She gets her laptop, shows us a PPT about the school and its way of operation, in between entertaining my kid. After interacting with us for over 45 minutes, she concludes saying

" We love to have your sweetheart learn at our school, but as the American school programme, we are allowed to start education to your kid only from Grade 1(i.e., 5+ years). we dont have pre-nursery. Pls put her into any other school till then and later we would be glad to get her into our school"

We were already sold onto this school with the way the whole atmosphere was built around us. We were a happy lot returning from that school though we will not be able to start her academics from the next year.

.........Earlier part continued-MES Kishore Kendra (CBSE and ICSE)

We reach back home at around 2 pm as it was time for my little princess to have her lunch. Back home she wants to go to some more schools: ) . We assure her and she finishes her lunch rather sooner than regular.

As per their timing i reach MES at sharp 3 pm, Again at the gates the security stops me and says " sir please wait maadi, let the bell ring" Hot sun blazing outside and time for my kid also to have her late afternoon nap. In the event of seeing the school she keeps calm with her fav toy poo tucked between her arms.

3:30 pm the bell rings and all the kids from the schools start running out, which keeps my princess occupied and happy for some time as we were still denied entry till all the kids leave the premises. This was getting too much of my nerves.

3:45 pm i am allowed inside, and that too where, outside the OFFICE board a man stands and crossly asks "WHAT!" i reply" Sir i've come to collect the admission forms for my kid for the next academic year". Oh that, why have you come now, the admissions are open only during March and April please come then. This man sends me out from the doors without giving me any details about the fee structure or anything more.

4:00 pm enroute my kid falls asleep in the car thus ending my days sojourn.

I will be visiting some more schools this weekend, will report them in detail next.

But the day thought me a lot with the above mixed reactions and actions by the school staff. Anyone with similar experiences pls pen them down here.

[mclaren1885]

Try Poorna Prajna, Sadashivnagar. A very good school, operated by the Admur Matt Swamyji from Udupi.

Some of the other well known schools are Vidya Sagar, Hebbal. Once a child gets admitted to this school, he/she gets automatic admission into VNS which is by far one of the best schools in the city.

You might also want to try out Sophia's.

You might want to stay away from Bishop Cotton's & Baldwin's.

[Mpower]

I went to VVS Rajajinagar. Dont know if its still good. Timings were horrible starts at 12 noon.

[deep_bang]

Pavan. What is the minimum age when kids can be admitted to school? Mine is 1 yr 10 months, so i will soon be the same boat as you are now.

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

Pavan. What is the minimum age when kids can be admitted to school? Mine is 1 yr 10 months, so i will soon be the same boat as you are now.

For pre-school/Playschool, At Kidzee, it has to be a minimum of 2 years by May - June of the year of admission.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

You might want to stay away from Bishop Cotton's & Baldwin's.

I second that. If possible, Kindly stay away

[MuraliR]

Pavan,
Did you try Navkis ? Heard some good words about it.

[Hurrycane12]

Pavan what an experience I guess this is what generally happens, parents are made to go round about in search for the right school and after the interviews we wait with crossed fingers.

When we admitted our daughter to school I guess we were plain lucky; we just approached Bethany High - Koramangala and some how had this feeling that she may get through hence did not try out anywhere else.

In 2002 Dec we went to collect the forms and after submission we were called in Jan 03 for a interview; we spend about 20 minutes few questions to wifey and me by the Head Master and Principal, my daughter was with a teacher doing her part. We were todl they will get back if selected also we can come back and check the notice board for admission details and fee structure.

We were very happy that she got there as we always wanted her to go to Bethany High and it was like a dream come true.

[rjstyles69]

pavan may I suggest you try Navaki's in Gokula..

[roamingrao]

Pavan Kadam,

You could also try Cluny convent and Air Force school, both on S M Road ( gangamma circle to Jalahalli cross )- within 5 kms from Vidyaranyapura.

Air Force school also admits civilians and after completing the kindergarden section, you could take a transfer to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jalahalli ( starts from 1st Standard ) - there is a quota.

Please PM for any clarifications. Our neighbours study in both these schools.

Regards,
Rao

[shazikon]

Pavan,
Good to see a fellow BHPIAN on the same journey. Even my daughter is 2.7 yrs old and i am trying to get her admitted to a good school for pre-nursery next year! I live near Shankarmutt, WOC Road and i was searching for good schools with in a short distance of my home. I went around the same schools you mentioned and MES kishore kendra some what put me off too. My wife is from Pune and has come up in KV all through her schooling days and strongly feels my daughter should come up in CBSE or ICSE nothing lesss SO i always tell her.. my fav phrase.. "I agree but its not that state syllabus is useless after all i have come up in the state syllabus and compete with the best in the world ..Its not the school or syllabus which is important its the education !! "
Here are some schools i visited:
1. I studied in Vidya Vardhaka Sangha (VVS Dhruva dhama) and naturally i have this immense attachment to this school because i know how we were brought up and the values we were thought. This was among the top schools in Karnataka during my days used to secure top ranks in the SSLC exams and we were very good in sports too .. there was a good mix of academics and sports which is importat. Ranking system has been abolished by the state for some time now. This school has a nice prayer ground with in the campus and a small ground attached to it so availablity of a ground is not a problem. I was told it would be easier to get admission for my kid in that school since i was an ex-student.
So a month back i visited the school and went in to meet the Principal i was surprised to see a lot of my teachers are still teaching in the school and was so overwhelmed that they remembered me too. this was it, i decided my daughter has to join this school and i was even told that they would be starting ICSE from next year so it was not hard to please my wife. I paid the fees for the admission form and left. I was told that i would get a call from them some time soon and i am still waiting..
2. NPS , Rajajinagar. This is a very well acclaimed school in the North and west of Bangalore and the hardest to get admissions here. It seems there are interviews for parents and admission is based on parents qualification
Any ways there is no Pre-Nursery at NPS Rajajinagar so its out of question right now.
3. Euro Kids ( Basveshwarnagar and Malleshwaram)
This is a popular chain of pre-nursery and nursery schools. They are costly but I have heard from friends who have put their kids there that they are good and recognized by other major schools when you go for admissions later on. Admission to Basveshwar nagar branch was full so I can only try for admissions in March. Malleshwaram branch had vacancy but they feel its too far for the kid to travel to school every day. They have a school bus which would have been useful but it doesn’t come near my home. So I or my wife have to take responsibility to drop and pick up my kid which I think is okay but my wife is against .. I liked the ambiance of this school, its located in a calm locality behind MES kishore Kendra and there were lots of toys, toy cars and tricycles which my daughter liked a lot and never wanted to leave the place. This was the place for her for the next 1.5 years I thought. I haven’t still decided about it yet.
4. MES Kishore Kendra
This is also a very well known school but once again admissions are from March. Me, my wife and my kid didnt like this school a lot it was cramped there is no playground and dont care sort of attitude from the staff put me off.



I havent yet made up my mind where to put my daughter in but i am strongly in favour of VVS and Eurokids for pre-nursery and NPS for LKG and there on. But changing schools twice in 2 years means paying donation two times.. but anything for my kid i guess..


@MPower which batch were you in VVS??

[appuchan]

We went through the same process two years back for my daughter. We were staying in HSR layout then. Tried in most schools around Koramangala, HSR and Sarjapur Road. Could not "qualify" for NPS Koramangala and Bethany. Got selected for DPS East, but then it was their first year there. Finally ended up in a school in HSR.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by appuchan

Finally ended up in a school in HSR.

Which school in HSR? Freedom International ( theres nothing international about them though ) Even my son studies there.
But my condition was different...the school had to be close to home. Just couldnt accept that 3 yr olds have to leave at 7:00 am in the morning.

[Hurrycane12]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Which school in HSR? Freedom International ( theres nothing international about them though ) Even my son studies there.
But my condition was different...the school had to be close to home. Just couldnt accept that 3 yr olds have to leave at 7:00 am in the morning.

What I have heard is the other schools in HSR too are not so great including Cambridge Public and NPS @ HSR.

[mail4ajo]

My boy is 2.3yrs. Any idea about good schools in Chennai? I stay in Choolaimedu.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Which school in HSR? Freedom International ( theres nothing international about them though ) Even my son studies there.
But my condition was different...the school had to be close to home. Just couldnt accept that 3 yr olds have to leave at 7:00 am in the morning.

Yes it is FIS. I find it pretty ok so far. In fact their idea of international school is different form the typical high-walled, firangi style ones you see in other parts of the city. They also give good importance to local culture and language. My daughter is quite happy there. I plan to continue with that school for some more time until I have a strong reason to change. I too prefered there because I was staying in an apartment almost next to it and it was walkable distance. Now I stay in Bellandur, about 4 kms away.

NPS, situated behind it, started from this academic year. It may take some time for it to get established and become comparable to their other campuses in K'mangala, I'nagar and R'nagar. Other schools such as Cambridge, JSS, Lawrence, etc are pretty ordinary.

There are quite a few decent/ok schools in the neighborhood other than Bethany and DPS, including Greenwood, Vibgyor, Indus, Primus, Jain, Inventure, etc.