Review By: Swara Review Date: 08 Mar 2012
Overview
The Utpal Shanghvi School, Mumbai celebrated its silver jubilee four years ago. Its birth was the concerted effort of over a dozen co-operative housing societies in the Juhu locality. The Juhu Parle Education Society manages the school. Today the school has about 3,400 students with approx 1 teacher for 40 students in the SSC section and 1 teacher for 30 students for the IGCSE section.
The school is considered to be among the top ten schools in Mumbai both for its academics and for the strong participation of parents in the schools functioning. There are special enrichment workshops for the parents to ensure that they are not only up to date about what is happening but also to provide their feedback to the school management.
Location of Utpal Shanghvi School
The school is located on Parulekar road, which is off the main Gurunanak Road. Well-known landmarks located a little distance away in the same area are the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana Club & the Hotel Ramee Guestline Juhu. The nearest shopping mall is the Dynamic Mall in the JVPD Scheme area. There are a number of B.E.S.T. public buses going to the JVPD Bus depot which is the closest main bus stop. The nearest railway station is the Vile Parle railway station.
Utpal Shanghvi School Achievements
For the academic year 2010-2011, out of the 168 students who appeared & passed the final year exams, a good 139 got distinction, which is testimonial to the fact that the school has good faculty and effective teaching methods. The Principal has also won the National Award for Best Teacher, the award being presented by none other than the ex- President of India, Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
In 2007, the Utpal Shanghvi School was honoured with the International School Award in appreciation of its active partnership with international schools whereby the students are exposed to a perception of global schools through interaction with other school children.
Academics at Utpal Shanghvi School
The Utpal Shanghvi School is affiliated with the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary & Higher Secondary Education and students follow the State Board's SSC exam curriculum. Today it offers education as per the International General Certificate of Secondary Examination (IGCSE) & Cambridge International Primary Programme (CIPP) curriculum offered by the University of Cambridge UK. The school thus introduced the AS & A levels for class XI & XII students.
The school management started the Prabhavati Padamshi Sohni International Junior College (PPSIJC) four years ago, soon after celebrating its silver jubilee. This gave the school's students who had completed their Std.X the option to continue with the international curriculum with AS and A levels. The college offers arts, science & commerce streams & students are allowed to select 4 to 5 subjects as per their future education & interests.
Utpal Shanghvi School Infrastructure and Facilities
The pre-primary school students play area is safe & secure with a lot of exciting play equipment & learning tools, including dolls & puppets. There is even a paddle pool for the little ones!
All the school's classrooms are well equipped with modern teaching equipment to impart education with the help of computers. There is also a computer room with about 50 computers, with one computer per student.
The large auditorium, which also functions as the assembly hall with a seating capacity of 500, has a stage for conducting competitions. There is a separate conference hall for about sixty people where seminars & workshops can be conducted.
The school's audio-visual room has got the latest sound equipment & visual aids. About one or two years back the school even started a news telecast project whereby students, with the help of their teachers, create a news bulletin & which is then projected to all the classrooms. Quite a unique idea!
There are also separate rooms for drama, art, dance, yoga & music.
The school library not only has a vast collection of books, journals and periodicals, but also has an arrangement with other sources for inter-library loans. The digital section of the library gives students access to rare books & material. A recording room with digitalised recording & editing facilities is a plus point, as speeches, a student's musical talent or a seminar's talk can be recorded easily & saved for future reference.
With the introduction of the subject of home science in the curriculum, the school set up a Home Science lab where students learn about personal hygiene & nutrition.
The science laboratory has individual sections for the varied science subjects, namely biology, chemistry and physics.
The school canteen has a stilt area & provides wholesome food to the students during the school breaks.
The school does not have hostel facilities.
Utpal Shanghvi School extra-curricular & co-curricular activities
Other than learning art, dance & drama, students can also learn to create objects with ceramics at the school's ceramic center.
There is also a cultural centre to encourage learning the various aspects of the art and heritage of India. As for music, there are teachers to teach the students both Indian and Western music forms.
Sports activities don't just include the general ones to be found in other schools, such as swimming, football, basketball, badminton, table tennis, etc, but also the martial arts of jujitsu and belt-wrestling. The school has its own large playground located a few footfalls away from the main school premises in Juhu.
The school students have enthusiastically done their bit towards the protection of the environment. For example, a few years ago they got together with students of other schools in Mumbai to clean up the festival debris in a few pockets of the city as part of the clean-up campaign initiated by the Childrens Movement for Civic Awareness.
Utpal Shanghvi School unique features
A unique facility in this school is the presence of what is called the Interaction Room. Here, parents can meet the teachers in an informal way to discuss their child's development.
The student council, along with a few students of the senior school, are assigned groups of students whom they have to guide as mentors.
As part of the learning process, the school equips students with much-needed language development skills.
Much like the HRD department in a corporate house, the school has a human resource development room for developing skills in human resources.
Utpal Shanghvi School Timings
Pre Primary School Timings: 8.30a.m. to 11.30a.m.
Primary School Timings: 1p.m. to 6p.m.
Secondary School Timings: 7.30a.m. to 1p.m.
Utpal Shanghvi School Fees
The annual fee for the SSC section is approximately Rs.24,000/- and for the IGCSE section it is approximately Rs.54,000/-. School uniform, school bus charges and books are likely to be extra.
Current Principal: Mrs Abha Dharampal
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Good: Academics
Bad: Nothing specific
Recommend: Yes
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