My reviews on Bangalore schools

[gopalsubs]

Wanted to provide first hand reviews of schools that we visited in July 2010. Admissions for 2010 (yeah we were late!)

Background: 2 kids...3rd grade & UKG. Main focus - ease of integration for the kids, small class size, decent education, accessibility to teachers, reasonable infrastructure / amenities. Fees were not a constraint as it was paid by the company.

School reviews:

TISB: Great campus. school was not in session (Aug-June). Seemed very discipline oriented. IB syllabus. International oriented. Very good option for someone looking for true international school.
Cons: Didn't have seats for 3rd grade (waitlist); would want both siblings in the school; seemed pretty snooty (envisioned lot of peer pressure on kids); 50% boarding students (we were weary of the high boarding ratio)

Inventure: Pretty relaxed environment. Kids everywhere. All seemed to be having fun. Ok infrastructure (swimming pool in next 6 months).
Cons: Seemed chaotic / disorganized; common feedback was more emphasis on other stuff than education; lack of discipline.

Greenwood High: Growing pretty fast. One of the schools not tied to Real Estate company. Good infrastructure / big campus.
Cons: many sections per grade; administration needs to be more efficient

Brigade International - Whitefield: Campus still in construction. Total only 39 students in school (nursery thru 5th grade). Depending on students from Brigade Metropolis to join when Metropolis is occupied (2011). Expect to be a good school in the next 2-3 years.
Cons: 3rd grade had only 7 kids. Too small. Infrastructure still being built. Might be a good choice in the next 2-3 yrs. Currently has only till grade 5.

Gopalan International: Small campus surrounded by residential apartments. Campus had it all but seemed like they put stuff where they found space. Engineering college coming up next door (will be in the school campus till the new building is up & running).
Cons: Just didn't feel comfortable in the school. Seemed more like a money making organization.

Stonehill: Great campus. 200 students. growing to 350 this year with longer term plans for 800. IB syllabus. Great option for someone who truly wants the international school experience in India.
Cons: only 2% indian students; they made it a point to say they serve only continental food (italian chef)!

Didn't go to Indus. We were trying to optimize kids commute and had not heard anything way different than Greenwood (other than IB) about Indus.

Went with Greenwood. Kids liked it & it was their first choice. Overall we felt like our choices were very limited. Good international schools are either in Sarjapur road or north. Both of these were not ideal locations for us from work perspective. But we wanted to optimize kids commute. So decided to go with Greenwod.

[MrLong]

Nice Summary. Well put. I had visited most of the schools you have mentioned and agree on your comments. I wish you had visited 'Primus' school too, since, that is the one I finally liked among all.

-M

[gopalsubs]

Thanks Mr. Long. Unfortunately we were short on time & also wanted to limit commute (work in center / north Bangalore). So didn't get to cover schools further south.

[veda_venkatesh]

Nice Summary. Well put. I had visited most of the schools you have mentioned and agree on your comments. I wish you had visited 'Primus' school too, since, that is the one I finally liked among all.

-M

Hello MrLong, I am currently in Bangalore scouting for schools. Plan to R2I next year with a (then) 7th and 5th grader. I am planning to look at schools this time around and make some decisions. I have the following in mind -- Indus, Primus, Innisfree, Gear, Inventure, TISB, The valley school, Greenwood high, VIbgyor. I am not constrained by the location, as I am open to living close to the school. Did you visit all these schools? I have not heard anything on this thread or other Bangalore school threads about Innisfree and The valley school. Could you please give me your feedback. Thanks.
-V

[back2desh]

You may want to take a look at "The Samhita Academy" as well, this is off Bannerghatta Road. Good Campus and Facilities, CBSE pattern, my kids are going there since last month and they both are liking it so far. There is a balance of academy + other activities which we always felt is very much needed during the initial phase of Settling as kids will not be overloaded.

Hello MrLong, I am currently in Bangalore scouting for schools. Plan to R2I next year with a (then) 7th and 5th grader. I am planning to look at schools this time around and make some decisions. I have the following in mind -- Indus, Primus, Innisfree, Gear, Inventure, TISB, The valley school, Greenwood high, VIbgyor. I am not constrained by the location, as I am open to living close to the school. Did you visit all these schools? I have not heard anything on this thread or other Bangalore school threads about Innisfree and The valley school. Could you please give me your feedback. Thanks.
-V

[MrLong]

Hello MrLong, I am currently in Bangalore scouting for schools. Plan to R2I next year with a (then) 7th and 5th grader. I am planning to look at schools this time around and make some decisions. I have the following in mind -- Indus, Primus, Innisfree, Gear, Inventure, TISB, The valley school, Greenwood high, VIbgyor. I am not constrained by the location, as I am open to living close to the school. Did you visit all these schools? I have not heard anything on this thread or other Bangalore school threads about Innisfree and The valley school. Could you please give me your feedback. Thanks.
-V

I visited most schools in your list.. and certainly did not visit Innisfree and The Valley School.
Deciding on a school is also a factor on whom you get to talk to in the school.

Though Greenwood high could be a good school, I got a moron, who wasnt even interested in talking. While in Primus, I had the fortunate of talking with 2 of the founders, and I fell for it.

At Inventure, I visited the school around 6 PM, and it was closed. I insisted w/ the security to let me in and forced my way into one of the staff room. The staff, after sensing that I was from abroad then opened up and showed me the school around.

After all these visits, I had zero'ed down on Primus (though the approach road is bad).

-M

[rk_mys]

Thanks for the post. last year when v visited India in April we couldn't get admission in most good schools. This year i have registered to website( http://3pundits.com/admissionAlert) which sends me emails alerts on school admissions for various grades for transfer cases. Any other info on admissions for transfer cases?

[idlebrain]

gopalsubs - that was nice summary and very informative. could you please share the fee details of Greenwood. thanks.

[blrmom]

Someone had mentioned fees of 3.7 lakhs in Greenwood for 2 children.

Any opinions on Greenwood as far as academics are concerned?

[satsuv]

What is the fee like in Greenwood High?

Thanks.