Despite the Covid-19 pandemic having forced closure of this greenfield enterprise within six months of admitting its first batch, this tech-savvy IB candidate school has got off to a good start because of excellent word-of-mouth publicity received from satisfied parents and students- Autar Nehru Despite the mint-fresh Prometheus School, Noida (PSN, estb.2019) having experienced early turbulence because of the Covid-19 pandemic, its promoter-trustee Mukesh Sharma believes this K-12 co-ed day school has got off to a good start. Because of widespread word-of-mouth publicity received from satisfied students and parents since it admitted its first batch of 30 students in September 2019, its enrolment for the academic year 2021-22 starting in July has risen to 196. Unfortunately, six months after the school admitted its first batch, the Central government ordered closure of all education institutions including preschools, schools, colleges and universities to check the spread of the virulent virus. Thus far, this co-ed day school has been providing online education to its K-12 students, although as we go to press, it has reopened for class X-XII students on an optional basis. “The switch to online learning that this new greenfield school has experienced was quick and seamless because Prometheus was conceptualised and established from the start as a tech-savvy school to provide engaging learning experiences rooted in inquiry-based and experiential learning pedagogies. As soon as schools are permitted to reopen we will go full throttle to empower our students to bloom into technologically adept, intellectually equipped, caring young people capable of fulfilling their dreams and aspirations in academia, diverse professions, and business,” says Sharma. An alumnus of BITS-Pilani and University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, Sharma began his career with DCM Data Systems followed by stints with IBM Corporation, Quark Inc, Gale Group and Adobe Systems. In 2003, he went solo with the promotion of QA Infotech Pvt. Ltd and since then has bootstrapped several companies including QAIT DevLabs, Perseverance IT Solutions, Affidabile Solutions and WeBuildLearning. In 2019, he decided to cross the line from being a “dissatisfied parent and IT entrepreneur to edupreneur,” and leverage his “digital acumen in education with passion to reimagine teaching and learning” to establish PSN. Spread across a 7.5 acre campus in Noida’s green Jaypee Wishful Township, PSN is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes and is pursuing authorisation as a full continuum IB World School. It also offers students the option of Cambridge IGCSE and A levels in classes IX-XII. This co-ed day school’s ultra-modern four-storeyed main building houses ICT-enabled classrooms, STEM lab facilities, auditorium, studios for the performing and visual arts, separate junior and senior school libraries, a medical clinic and dining halls. Sports facilities include a sports centre for indoor games including shooting range, squash, yoga, and table tennis, badminton and tennis courts, in addition to a horse riding academy, Olympic size swimming pool and open playground for field games such as soccer, cricket and athletics. The school’s campus also hosts a unique Prometheus…
