Overview
Chettinad Vidyashram is a private, coeducational day school founded by the Kumara Rani of Chettinad, Dr Meena Muthiah in 1986. It finds its place among the biggest schools in Chennai, with about 800 faculty members and around 10,000 students. The school enrolls children from kindergarten to high school and is affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. The medium of instruction is English.
The mission of Chettinad Vidyashram is, “To strengthen the emotional, psychological and spiritual growth of its wards by weaning them away from the ills that are clouding our society and threatening to weaken the nation and to help children learn and build self confidence and imbibe in them the value of service before self”.
Campus
The school hosts separate laboratories for physics, chemistry, biology, biotechnology, mathematics and computer science, two language labs for primary and secondary classes equipped with state of the art audio equipments to enhance the listening and speaking skills of the children.
Chettinad Vidyashram's auditorium called the Kumara Rajah Muthaiah Auditorium is one of the biggest auditoriums in the city and can seat 1200 people. The school houses a spacious and well stocked library with a collection of about 10,000 books that include reference books, journals, fiction and nonfiction, magazines and all daily newspapers. The library can accommodate 100 students at a time. The school canteen serves wholesome and nutritious breakfast; lunch and snacks to students and the well ventilated dining hall can seat 250 students.
The school in association with the Apollo Hospitals conducts a yearly health checkup for its students based on which a medical inspection report is sent to parents and follow-up is reported to the school.
Academics
At the preprimary level, learning involves sensory stimulation, problem-solving games, storytelling and play-based activities to engage the body and mind. Teachers select activities to encourage curiosity and build self-confidence in the preschoolers through art, science exploration, play and more. Importance is also given to social and emotional skills, self awareness and communication with peers. The learning labs at Chettinad Vishyashram help students’ understand important mathematical concepts, develop scientific knowledge and writing/reading skills.
Academics are in the form of formative and summative assessment of child and innovative ideas are encouraged in each subject at all levels to help build a strong bond between faculty and students. The school hosts seminars, symposiums, discussions, publications, dramatics, public speaking and other activities to enhance students’ concentration and improve classroom learning to enable overall intellectual, psychological and social growth amongst students.
Chettinad Vidyashram believes in the three language formula, with English being the first language and compulsory for all classes. Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit, French and Telugu are offered as second and third languages.
The school promotes various clubs and associations such as the quiz club, an astronomy club equipped with powerful telescopes, papyrus club which is an ambitious initiative by Deccan Chronicle and Net link Technologies. The school’s eco club works towards environmental awareness, water conservation, minimum waste generation and source separation of waste and waste disposal to the nearest storage point, sensitivity towards usage of plastic bags, tree plantation programs, awareness programs through quiz, essay, painting competitions, rallys, etc.
The school encourages sports such as basketball, volleyball, cricket, tennis, table tennis, football, swimming, yoga and chess. Adequate coaching is offered for the various sports and the school teams are encouraged to participate in several state and national level tournaments.
Admission
Admission forms are available at the school office from the last week of October till November first week.
Age Eligibility
For admission to pre-kindergarten, the child has to be 2+ years as on March 31 of the year of admission. .
For admission to lower kindergarten child has to be 3+ years as on March 31 of the year of admission.
For admission to Montessori I child has to be minimum 2 ½ years as on March 31 of the year of admission.
Achievements
The school promotes various clubs and associations such as the quiz club, an astronomy club equipped with powerful telescopes, papyrus club which is an ambitious initiative by Deccan Chronicle and Net link Technologies. The school’s eco club works towards environmental awareness, water conservation, minimum waste generation and source separation of waste and waste disposal to the nearest storage point, sensitivity towards usage of plastic bags, tree plantation programs, awareness programs through quiz, essay, painting competitions, rallys, etc.
Chettinad Vidyashram was ranked No.9 among schools in Chennai by Education World India School Rankings 2012 survey carried out by the market research company, C-fore.