How's 'The School KFI'

 Hi Srihamsa,

Were you able to get the details of the Little School and other options that you had in mind?

No hurry, but just checking :)

Thank you 

Lavanya

Hi Srihamsa,

I should definitely thanku for giving us  so much of inputs abt Kfi The school. This is Gayathri Prakash from T.nagar , mother of 5yrs 6 months old daughter. i have been waiting to join my daughter since she was 3yrs old. when she was at right age to join LKG , the school dropped the idea of having kindergarden . now she is ready to join class I  2011-2012 and i read the article about the school and its lease period. i went to school to enquire about the admisssion, they told me that it will take 2 months for them to decide wheather they will be having admission this year or not. can u pls update me on this...

wheather there will be any admission for class I  2011-2012 ....  It will definitely help us to think of other best alternative school....

Thank you again for your inputs....

Regards,

Gayathri Prakash

 As of today, it appears there WILL be admissions. It is sort of unofficially and privately acknowledged. However, I would suggest that you wait for details. Should be clearly known in a week's time, I guess. Please do write to my mail ID srihamsa@gmail.com so that I can share the details with you when I get to know them. It may not be appropriate to share it in the public forum if the details have not been made public.

my daughter is 3 year old...v r living in overseas ..& v plan to settle in chennai very soon.

apart from KFI which starts only by 5 years i want my daughter fora schooling in kindregarden ,so that v can move to KFI when she is 5yrs...can anyone suggest some good schools for her kg..

1. Is Seed school good?..i'm hearing both good & bad....any suggestions please???

Hi neth,

Do visit Kids Central in Kotturpuram. Our younger one goes there and he just loves it!

http://www.parentree.in/reviews-22/Kids-Central.html

It is definitely one of  the best Pre and Primary schools in town.

Cheers,

Shobha.

Hi Shoba,

Could you please let me know the fee structure and ambience in Kids Central. Which class does your younger one go to?

My son is currently in class 1 and the fee is anyhere between 25k -30k per term depending on the grade your child is in.

Shobha.

25-30k per term? If I remember right, your older one goes to KFI? How did you not join your younger one there?

Yes, it is per term. My younger one is not old enough to go to KFI. We will be applying in feb this year.

Do 'KFI' accept children with physical disability ?

Hi,

many people say KFI is not affordable (very high fee). Can someone indicate the fees at the start (1st standard) and probably around 10/11/12. This would guess us the kind of finances we should ready with?

Again heard that, the students aremostly  from affluent family. So the peer pressure for lifestyle in comparision would be daunting? (like my friend comes by BMW amma, why we have Maruti 800 or so... my friend went to Swiss for the vacation, why I have to go to grandpa's village only??). Any comments?

Hi Pathivu,

KFI has a differentiated fee structure, depending on parents' affordability  - base, normal, voluntary high 1 and 2, NRI/foreign nationals. Base is about 30K per year. Voluntary High 2 is about 48 K. That would give you the range. There are also parents who don't pay any fee, though very few. Most fall in normal fee structure. 

The fee includes cost of books, notebooks, lunch, morning and evening snack. Except for a nominal fee for overnight field trip once a year, you don't pay anything more. There are no hidden costs. You also don't spend on uniforms, costumes for annual day, etc..

The current fee structure has been in place since 2008. It is in for revision in 2011 and usually, they keep a structure unchanged for 3 years. 

In short, reasonably high fee structure that comes with no hidden costs and some kind of protection against inflation.

As for "affluent" families dominating, let me put it this way: there is a high proportion of students from relatively well-to-do families, far higher than many schools. They do come in big cars, wear expensive clothing and go on holidays to esoteric destinations. It does create peer pressure problems for many children though not for all.

Having said that, I guess it is also an opportunity to get the child accept the fact that there are wealthier people. I know from personal experience that it is easier said than done and it is a huge struggle, but it is a struggle worth going through. If you can get your child to understand and accept self-worth beyond parents' monetary or societal status, it may prove valuable through college years and beyond as well.

To the school's credit, they don't differentiate or deal with students, overtly or covertly, based on their parents' status. Senior politicians of the state prefer their children in the school perhaps because of this "equal" and more importantly, somewhat anonymity-assuring treatment.

Have I answered your question?

Hello Srihamsa,

Thanks for your reply. It is assuring and creates confidence.

Regards,

Athi

 madam I want to know about 11th n 12th in kfi n when is the entrance test for 11th admission 

  @rammani - check the KFI website 

The information about Class 11 entrance exams is on the school KFI website

Sathya

 Hi Srihamsa,

Much appreciate your inputs on the school. It should help many parents like me. 

From reading your posts, I am convinced that "The School" is the best school if you want your child to have a wholesome learning experience, to evolve naturally, discover his calling in life and pursue the same and in the process enjoy his life.

My only concern is if the school will be able to keep-up the standard for the years to come. Will the management be able to keep-up the focus and not derail from the chosen path? As many would agree it is not an easy task to run such a school. You need good teachers who are dedicated for the cause. It is not easy to retain the teachers or to find and train new ones. What if the management changes? will the new management be able to continue the good work?

It will be really helpful if you could share your views on these concerns. There are hardly any replacement for this school and I would not want my kid to be left stranded/confused few years down the line.

Other parents, especially Sathya, Lavanya and Shoba, please share your views on these concerns as well.

Regards,

Balaji.

I heard that KFI the school is going to be closed.

 @pprr: The School KFI will relocate to anoter urban campus in 2016. The School will not be closed.

@BalajiSP: 

1. Like in any school, there is teacher attrition as well as new recruitment in KFI too. However, potential recruits do go through rigorous questioning, testing, etc to check for attitude towards children. And since many don't come to this job for money (how can you explain IITians becoming teachers in KFI?), conversely they don't leave for money too. Typicaly, when they leave, it is to pursue other interests, to start a school, etc.

2. There is nothing like a management change in KFI. The Krishnamurti Foundation of India (KFI) which runs the school has been on for decades and will continue for sevral more. School principal changes. But no one is an unknown quantity.

3. KFI is not a 'Fill it, shut it, forget it" school. A lot of parental involvement is required but perhaps not of the academic / home-work help variety. What the school does exceedingly well is to maintain a sense of well-being in your child and carefully observe how he/she develops as an adolescent. It is NOT a school that challenges him/her in what he excels in. Such things require considerable parental inputs.

Thanks for the info

Thanks Srihamsa. 

If the new campus is decided, can you let us know where it is.

Hmm, one of the USP of The School is being close with Nature physically. With the real estate prices, spacious, campus with sprawling greenary might be a day dream.

They probably will move to OMR..

Hi Shoba,

Have you heard from KFI for your kids admission. Was wondering if they had sent out the list of selected students.

Thanks.

Hi,

Not yet.

Shobha.

Thanks for your quick reply. Do keep me posted when you receive the details.

Hi Shobha,

Do we know a date when KFI will respond on this year's admission - they mentioned a "end of the month" during the interview - but do you know when (a date) they would respond ? Some schools are beginning their new session on March 25th and it would help if we knew so that we could plan better..

Regards,

Oliver.

Hey Oliver,

End of the month is precisely that  - expect a mail by Mar 31. One thing for sure: it won't be April 1. You will get to hear before Mar 31 for sure.

Any query in this regard is not welcome. KFI sticks to its norms regardless of what parents are going through - dilemma to choose another school where admission is confirmed.

 Thanks Srihamsa :-) Your inputs are as insightful as ever.

On another note - I am keen to know what the TheSchoolKFI teaching methodology is and the success they had from it - I believe the Active Learning Methodology (ALM) is what they use  - was browsing through their website and the amazing work they have done with the Govt Schools in sharing it. Its constuctivisim at the core of it from what I understand. Is this what The School uses or are they evolving on that ? Also- How different is this from the montessorian approach ?

-Oliver

 Can you point out how is spoken english in KFI

thanks

sangeetha