The Reliance Group on Wednesday announced a new International Baccalaureate (IB) school next to its Dhirubhai Ambani International School (DAIS) at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).
Called the Nita Mukesh Ambani Junior School (NMAJS), it will offer the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum. On Wednesday, a Vaastu Puja was held at the premises in the presence of Nita Ambani, founder and chairperson of the institute.
While DAIS also offers an IB curriculum, it’s limited to classes 11, 12. The school runs the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) and Cambridge curriculum for lower classes.
In a statement, the new school said that its campus has flexible learning spaces and provision for students to collaborate and work in small or large groups, and to facilitate personalised instruction.
Cathedral and John Connon School To Shift Classes
Meanwhile, one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the city, the Cathedral and John Connon School in Fort, has decided to move its Classes 11, 12 across educational boards within a month to the nearby Kodak House, an iconic building at DN Road that was bought by the school in 2017.
The 162-year-old institute had earlier planned to move its IB section to Kodak House, as it was facing a paucity of space. However, it later decided to shift the junior college sections of both the CISCE and IB schools to ensure that students aren’t separated from their peers.
School principal Sonal Parmar said, “It’s all about giving the best we have to all our students. They have grown up together on the campus since the age of 3 or 5, and hence they should be able to leave it together. The opportunities have to be equitable.”
Kodak House Restored And Converted To School Building
After acquiring the heritage building of Kodak House, which was previously owned by Deutsche Bank, the school got it restored and converted from an office space to an educational institute. The restoration was done by the city-based Somaya & Kalappa Consultants, which is run by architect motherdaughter duo Brinda Somaya and Nandini Somaya Sampat, both former students of the school.
The refurbished building has around 26 rooms, which will be utilised as classrooms, laboratories, reading rooms and libraries. It will accommodate around 300 out of 2,000 students enrolled by the school.
Parmar said they opted to acquire a heritage building, despite the limited scope for alteration, as it aligns with the historic school’s values. “A heritage structure is essentially about history, legacy, tradition and the continuum of the past into the future. This is what Cathedral School is all about,” she said
