From up there at 9,000 feet above sea level in the Baghi valley, near Kotkhai in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, the reputed 20 years old Roots Country School has climbed down more than 7,000 feet to set up a mode day-boarding school branch in the pristine DLF The Valley project in Sector 3 of Pinjore-Kalka Urban Complex, Panchkula.
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Within weeks of opening its doors to admissions from pre-primary to Class VII, the CBSE-affiliated and LEAD-powered school, with an international standard curriculum combined with innovative school ed-tech solutions, is already bustling with 200 students, 38 of whom are day-boarders, apparently coming as a boon especially for working couples and single parents.
Kirti Rotha (left) and Susan Bhagra interacting with the media
Photos By: Life In Chandigarh & Roots Country School
Besides its deep focus on experiential learning with LEAD system of pedagogy, the school has all the mode facilities parents would want for their children. Right from an impressive five-storey centrally air conditioned building, to classrooms equipped with latest tools of learning to assist teachers and students, science labs, including one dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, and well stocked library and e-library, the school has it all.
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An indoor all-weather swimming pool, dedicated dance and music rooms, facilities for indoor games like chess, table tennis, badminton, snooker and karate, outdoor play facilities for the very young and well laid out synthetic basketball court and tennis ground are a few of the other noteworthy infrastructure.
A 700-capacity multi-purpose indoor hall-cum-auditorium is getting ready to house various activities like school assemblies, events etc indoors in all-weather conditions.
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Rejuvenated after a swim
An infirmary manned by a fulltime qualified doctor with laid out beds, separate bunk bed dormitories for boys and girls, kitchen and in-house pastry shop, and dining rooms complete the school infrastructure. For safety purposes, dozens of CCTV cameras are installed all over the school and are constantly monitored by guards in a control room.
The school maintains a fleet of air-conditioned school buses.
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Invited for an interaction on Thursday, the media was guided around the premises by co-founder of the school Kirti Rotha, who is also principal of the school in the Baghi Valley, and Susan Bhagra, principal of the school branch in DLF The Valley and former Vice Principal of the iconic more than a century old Loreto Convent Tara Hall School in Shimla. The other co-founder of the school Sunil Rotha had to excuse himself because of pressing school engagements back in Shimla.
Incidentally, though a generation apart, both Susan Bhagra and Kirti Rotha are alumni of Loreto Convent Tara Hall School, Shimla and Susan happened to be Kirti’s geography teacher. “The caring nature of Susan Ma’am towards her students, and her passion for learning and teaching, which I experienced firsthand, is the reason why we were keen to have her as principal in the Panchkula branch of our school,” Kirti shared.
She claimed that one of the pillars of strength of Roots Country School, Baghi, which they would like to replicate here, has been the excellent working relationship of the school management with the parent community, based on mutual understanding and trust. Parents are kept in the loop on just about every activity in the school through a digital platform.
Another area where the school management has been laying stress at the Baghi, Kotkhai school is sensitising the students and parents about the fast changing demands of the future workplaces and the need to explore newer fields of study after Class X. The role of responsible use of technology for better learning outcomes is another area of focus at Roots, she added.
Susan Bhagra shared that principals in both schools are active participants in day to day classroom learning. “You will hardly find us in the principal’s room. We circulate in the classrooms like ‘invisible’ observers, not to judge the students and the teachers, but to handhold where necessary.”
With the media interaction and a round of the school over, the parting lunch, freshly prepared in the school kitchen for the students, tasted great, just like home.
Overall, must say, came back with a good impression – infrastructure, ambience, learning environment, and above all honest intent!
Wishing the school all the best!
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