Our family moved from the United
States to Chennai in early 2014, a city very close to our hearts, being our
hometown. When we relocated, our daughter was a wisp of girl – a wee
little almost four year old. Our little champ was battling problems of her own,
which in retrospective may have been mere grown-up concerns that we were
excessively paranoid about. In the US, she was attending a private pre-school
three days a week for a year until the move. A panel of experts in speech
therapy and developmental delays assessed her, along with her uncommitted
teachers who didn`t have much to say to us whenever we approached them
personally. They implied that she was developmentally lagging social skills,
had a severe speech delay and that she would need to attend public school with
a speech therapist. While all of this was suggested in her best interest and in
the most goodhearted manner, we considered this a warning bell. Our daughter
needed to be around a bigger family and more involved teachers who would take personal
interest in her condition.
When we moved in March, we were
caught in a rut about which school to get her into. We knew we wanted her to go
to an International school with a background similar to the US, because we
weren`t pretty sure if she would have survived in bigger, regular board schools
based on the feedback we received in the States. It was out of sheer luck that
we passed by Indus (IELC Adyar) during one of our drives home, and after a lot
of Internet research, we decided to meet with the administration.
It took us just one visit to
decide this was where our daughter would attend school for as long as we
decided to stay in India. She joined PP1 in August that year. We had a
discussion with the then center head, Ms. Manveen Chaddha,
about her so-called `condition` and her words of reassurance that this
diagnosis sounded wildly exaggerated was all that we wanted to hear. Her
approach was wonderful, and she clearly mirrored in her thoughts a lot of years
of experience helping children grow into outspoken and confident individuals.
She said she would leave her teachers uninformed about prior reports and let
them give their point of view after analyzing our daughter`s in-class behavior.
In class, our child was blessed
with wonderful teachers – Ms. Sunila, Ms. Kavitha, and Ms. Aishwarya. After a
more than normal adjustment period, her teachers treated her with the right
balance of sternness and kindness. They were very involved with us as a team
and kept us constantly updated about our daughter`s progress. A child who
previously wouldn`t feed herself, eat on time, chew her food or sit in a group
was transformed. She gained irreplaceable life skills. Her academic skills were
beautifully enhanced. We knew she was always an advanced reader, but to put her
in front of a parent crowd and have her present ceremonies, read, play the
piano, and just enjoy herself during this time – now that`s a whole new level
of involvement. The amount of commitment we received from all of her teachers
was actually quite touching. They ensured that she was taught academic skills
at her level of readiness.
Our experience of schooling in
India versus the US was a stark contrast, even if the Indus system was
structurally very similar to the American system. A simple example would be how
her teachers readily answered all of our questions about her progress every
single day, during pick-up. There were also formal PTM`s every quarter where a
detailed discussion about every child`s progress was carried on, with metrics
and reports. This system and personal involvement has tremendously helped us
keep tabs on our child`s school life and stay on top of everyday classroom
happenings.
After a beautiful year at Indus,
work was beckoning us back to the US. We weren`t sure if switching our daughter
back at this juncture was a good idea, but the upcoming move seemed to be quite
unavoidable. At this time, the school welcomed a new center head, Ms. Beena
Malhotra, with whom we haven`t been fortunate enough to spend the rest of the
school year. We continued to enroll her in PP2 with Ms. Aamera and Ms. Misbha,
from September to November. The things she learned at school and the pace at
which she picked up to leap ahead after a whole month`s absence was an exposure
to us about how much the school had transformed her. At this point, the
school began providing critical after school classes that we would have gladly
enrolled our daughter into, had we been around. With a heavy heart, we had to
pull her out of school this year just as she started and have since then moved
back to the US.
Indus has been more like family.
The wonderful PP2 teachers are still in touch with us and keep tabs on Keya`s progress. Whenever they have time, they share
ideas about how to keep her on par with what`s being done at school in India,
including music notes and song sheets by her wonderful music teacher, Ms.
Chaitanya. We couldn`t have asked for a more closely-knit school environment
and involved teachers for our daughter.
We wish the school and the entire
management more success in changing lives for the better. The school definitely
needs to expand beyond PP2 so a lot of families like us benefit for their
children.
Ms. Manveen, Ms. Beena, Ms.
Sunila, Ms. Kavitha, Ms.Aishwarya, Ms. Aamera, Ms. Misbha, Ms. Deepti, Ms.
Chaitanya, Kanchana Akka, Vijaya Akka, Sukanya Akka, Lakshmi Akka,
We personally thank each and
every one of you for believing in Keya and
her capabilities, for not giving up on her a single moment, for all that you`ve
done for her. It is because of amazing teachers and helpers like you children
look forward to going to school every day. She misses you all and her friends
in Indus too, and often talks about wanting to go back.
