‘Apeejay was among the first schools in Mumbai to commence online classes’

Deepti Kumar is a homemaker while her husband Birender Kumar is an Electrical Engineer working in Saudi Arabia. They are proud parents of Prachi Kumar and Aditya Kumar. The former is in class 6 while the latter is in class 2 of Apeejay School – Kharghar. In an informal chat, Deepti explains how the teachers made online learning more interactive. Edited excerpts:

What made you pick Apeejay?

In 2020, we shifted from Dubai to Mumbai. Initially, we were a little apprehensive as to how our kids will cope in a new environment, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. Prachi and Aditya studied in Dubai till class 3 and Nursery, respectively. Being a Mumbaikar, I was quite familiar with Apeejay and after settling down, I did a thorough research, and found out Apeejay is consistently ranked among the top 10 schools in the region by various publications. I also talked to my friends and relatives and they too had positive things to say about the school. My sister-in-law, who is a teacher at Apeejay, strongly advised us to go with Apeejay. Therefore, we had no hesitation in picking Apeejay for both our kids.

How has your experience been till now?

I would like to thank the teachers for ensuring that my kids had seamless experience in adapting to the new environment and getting accustomed to online classes. I would like to put on record that Apeejay was among the first schools in Mumbai to commence online classes. However, to begin with, they had trouble adjusting to the online teaching. Both of them required my help to set up classes and a lot of my time was spent in ensuring that Aditya sits and focuses on the class. Thankfully, after a couple of months my kids became more independent. The efforts put in by the teachers to make the classes engaging deserves a huge round of applause. For instance, teaching phonics during online classes is easier said than done, and as a result, Aditya’s ability to read words has improved significantly. Prachi already had excellent speaking skills, but while writing she used to make spelling mistakes. I am glad that with the support of teachers her writing skills have improved tremendously. The school also left no stone unturned in supporting the emotional and mental well-being of students.

Tell us how?

Due to pandemic children’s lives were confined to the four walls. At that time, the school went the extra mile to ensure that the focus was not just on academics, but on Yoga, Music, Dance and other cultural activities to keep kids in a good mental space. The teachers made the class engaging by allowing every student in the class to speak. They were also available 24×7 to clear the doubts of students and parents.

Share with us your most memorable moment.

Aditya was in KG when he won a dance competition on Independence Day. He danced to ‘Nanha Munna Rahi Hoon’. During the preparations he seemed a bit casual, but on the day of performance he took me by surprise by performing every move with perfection. I felt so proud. Prachi too participates in every extracurricular activity and seeing her perform every time is a matter of immense pride for me.