Within the small minority of glamorous wholly residential international schools, the vintage Woodstock, Mussoorie, Good Shepherd International, Ooty and Kodaikanal International School continue to dominate the EWISR league table.
Within the small minority of glamorous international wholly residential schools, the Woodstock School, Mussoorie enjoys exalted status. Constructed in 1854 by American missionaries on a scenic 250-acre campus in the Himalayan foothills offering breathtaking vistas, Woodstock has won golden opinions as India’s oldest wholly residential international school for setting globally comparable benchmarks for delivery of Western curriculums, pedagogies, pastoral care and excellent co-curricular and sports education. Little wonder that this 165-year-old institution has been consistently ranked India’s #1 international residential school in the annual EW India School Rankings (EWISR) since 2015. This year too, the 4,000-plus sample respondents in north India interviewed by field reps of the Delhi-based market research and polling company C fore have voted Woodstock the country’s #1 international residential school. More significantly, the knowledgeable sample respondents have ranked the IB-affiliated Woodstock #1 across all categories of international schools (day, day-cum-boarding and residential) on four parameters of K-12 education excellence — co-curricular education, infrastructure provision, internationalism and pastoral care.
“It’s an honour to be once again recognised for our academic excellence and holistic approach. At Woodstock, education is balanced, as evidenced by our wide array of co-curricular and extra-curricular programmes on a campus surrounded by natural forest. In the past year, Woodstock has had a major makeover and we are now a full IB (Geneva) school. This will enable us to better prepare our students for entry into the best universities worldwide. In recent years, we have also introduced our Scholars for Peace programme to diversify our campus culture by recruiting students from strife-torn nations around the world. We will continue to upgrade facilities and innovate pedagogies to equip students to deal with the complex problem-solving skills required in the 21st century,” says Dr. Craig Cook, the newly-appointed principal of Woodstock. An alumnus of Biola University, California (intercultural studies and theology) and Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines (Ph D in sociology), Dr. Cook brings with him over 30 years of teaching and admin experience in schools and community development projects in the US, Philippines and Indonesia.
“We are pleased that GSIS has retained its national ranking, and that we are top-ranked on the vitally important parameters of infrastructure provision, co-curricular education and safety and hygiene. The top-score for co-curricular education is especially satisfying because GSIS provides the most extensive music and performing arts curriculum of any school in India. Highly-qualified teachers and coaches train students in 17 musical instruments and a wide range of sports and games,” says Dr. P.C. Thomas, promoter-principal of GSIS.
Ranked #4 among India’s elite international residential schools is the Plus Two (IB Diploma)-only Mahindra United World College, Pune followed by the vintage Hebron School, Ooty, #5. Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala, #6 and SCAD World School, Coimbatore #7 have exchanged their 2018-19 ranks, while MIT Pune’s Vishwashanti Gurukul has retained its #8 ranking.
