School of Eminence: Chirec International School, Hyderabad

Spread across three contemporary campuses in Hi-tech City — Hyderabad’s IT and financial hub — contiguous to the scenic Botanical Gardens, CHIREC (Children’s Recreation Centre) International School (estb. 1989) has earned a national reputation for providing 21st-century holistic education to its 4,255 students mentored by 351 highly-qualified teachers. Committed to its motto — ‘Quality Education for Overall Excellence’ — CHIREC supplements its rigorous academic programme with a rich extra-curricular activities menu to enable all-round development of children.

Founded over three decades ago by Ratna Reddy, an early childhood education postgraduate of the University of Iowa (USA), CHIREC was promoted as a new age preschool offering contemporary US-inspired early childhood care and education. Since then, responding to pressing public demand, it metamorphosed into a fully-fledged internationally benchmarked K-12 school sited on a state-of-the-art six-acre campus in Kondapur. In 2019, CHIREC became a member of the UK-based Cognita group which has 100 schools with over 85,000 students worldwide.

Affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Delhi, Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE), UK and International Baccalaureate (IB), Geneva, CHIREC International School (CBSE) is ranked the #1 co-ed day school of Telangana and among the Top 20 countrywide, and CHIREC International (Cambridge and IB) India #7 and Telangana #1 in the international day schools category in the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2023-24. Moreover, the CHIREC Preschool, Jubilee Hills, is ranked Hyderabad’s #1 pre-primary in the recently published EW India Preschool Rankings 2023-24.

Teaching & Assessment A+

• The school’s interdisciplinary, integrated project-based experiential learning pedagogy encourages students to develop problem-solving, critical thinking, creative and communication skills.
• Teachers use the Flipped classroom methodology to prepare students with 21st century higher order thinking skills.
• CHIREC’s Innovation Hub promotes scientific temper within students providing them creative opportunities to apply their learning.
• An innovative Literacy Program for pre-primary children is enriched with story and activity books designed in-house by teachers to develop their reading skills.
• Continuous Professional Development is top priority with workshops conducted round the year for teachers in curriculum and pedagogy, educational leadership, counseling & human development, special education and human and organizational learning.
• All CHIREC teachers are encouraged to participate in CogCon, an online international professional development conference for teachers, organised annually by the Cognita group.
• CHIREC routinely organises educational and activity trips for students to encourage social bonding, collaboration, social outreach and community service.

Enabling Infrastructure A

• The state-of-the-art campus offers 220 spacious and well-lit classrooms fitted with smart Interactive Boards and projectors, three libraries and dedicated reading corners, 23 well-equipped science, computer and robotics, language, innovation, home science among other labs, and a 2000-seat auditorium.
• Sports infrastructure includes a well-maintained athletics track, cricket pitch, world-class basketball and tennis courts, volleyball and handball courts, and roller-skating rink.
• Four well-equipped infirmaries – two in Kondapur and one in Jubilee Hills and Gachibowli — provide first aid services to children.
• The Kondapur, Gachibowli and Jubilee Hills campuses house two spacious dining halls supported by a kitchen and bakery. CHIREC has partnered with Gurugram-based Compass to provide healthy meals.
• The pre-primary campuses in Jubilee Hills and Gachibowli are equipped with child-friendly age-appropriate furniture and play equipment to stimulate explorative learning.
• The campus hosts solar power, rainwater harvesting, ground water recharging, kitchen wastewater treatment and waste management plants.
• An inclusive school, CHIREC campuses provide elevators, wheelchairs, and ramps to ease access for students and teachers with physical disabilities.
• The school has a fleet of 100 air-conditioned buses equipped with GPS tracking.

Technology Integration A+

• The CHIREC management has invested liberally in latest digital education technologies to provide contemporary ICT-enabled K-12 education. All classrooms are equipped with interactive smartboards, projectors, computers and WiFi connectivity
• Pre-primary students are introduced to robotics and coding through age-appropriate enjoyable activities; Primary students experiment with robotics design, electronics, and programming, while secondary school students learn to experiment in robotics labs.
• Designed in consultation with industry experts, CHIREC’s computer science curriculum introduces middle school students to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science.
• CHIREC is a Microsoft showcase school and teachers use a range of digital tools such as Outlook, Teams etc to enhance the classroom experience.
• The school’s hi tech IT labs are equipped with 3D printing facilities and enable project and research-based teaching-learning
• My ClassBoard (MCB), a school management software, streamlines and integrates all school operations onto a single platform to facilitate easy and user-friendly communication between students, parents, teachers and admin.

External Linkages A+

• Since 2019 when CHIREC became a member of the global community of 100+ Cognita Schools in 16 countries, the school’s students and teachers routinely collaborate with peers in Singapore, the UK, Brazil and Chile, to share best practices and promote inter-cultural understanding.
• CHIREC has signed agreements with Thayer Academy, Braintree, Massachusetts (USA), C.E Primary School, Heddington (UK), and Labourdonnais College, Mauritius for student exchange programmes.
• In 2021, CHIREC students hosted the first-ever two-day virtual Parliamentary Debate for 20 global student teams including India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines, Nepal, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
• Since 2012, CHIREC has been organising its annual Model United Nations (MUN) to promote a culture of global citizenship.
• The school has a robust community development programme. CHIREC students spearhead awareness campaigns, donation drives and fundraising events to address issues of poverty, healthcare, education and climate change.
• CHIREC students are encouraged to participate in annual field trips, national (IIIT Hyderabad, Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Dr Reddy’s Labs, ISRO) and international learning excursions (International College of Liberal Arts, Japan and CERN, Switzerland).

Sports & Co-curricular Education A+

• The curriculum integrates co-curricular and sports education to enable all-round development of children.
• CHIREC offers state-of-the-art facilities for a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports including athletics, cricket, basketball and tennis, volleyball and handball, roller skating, aerobics, gymnastics, archery and table tennis
• Pre-primary students are introduced to age-appropriate physical exercise and games. Class III-V students have the option of eight different sports while class VI-XII students can choose one sport for specialised training.
• CHIREC has partnered with EduSports, a well-reputed sports education provider, to implement a customised sports curriculum, which develops children’s physical fitness and promotes sportsmanship.
• The school provides its students numerous opportunities to learn-by-doing and develop leadership skills and global outlook through exchange programmes, community service and annual student-led initiatives such as CHIREC MUN and TEDx.
• Students are encouraged to participate in a wide range of co-curricular activities including art and craft, pottery, embroidery, 3-D construction, fashion design & textiles, Carnatic & Hindustani Music, guitar, keyboard, violin, tabla and Kuchipudi dance.

Facts File

Estb. 1989
Board: CBSE, Cambridge International and IB
Co-ed, K-12
Campus size – 6 acres
Students: 4,255
Teachers: 351
Teacher-student ratio
Pre-primary – 1:14
Primary onwards – 1:30
Special needs education: Yes
Admission deadline: September
Admission age: 2.6 Years +
Registration process: Online
Seats-applications ratio: 1:3
Annual tuition fee range: Rs. Rs.2,42,160 – Rs.6,76,219
Fee payment schedule: Quarterly
Transport: Yes
Medical care center: Yes
School meals: Yes

Encomiums

1. IB student Rochan Lakkamraju, initiated Project Sapient, raising $700 to empower visually impaired students in Hyderabad. The project enhances language and public speaking skills, and impacted over 300 students at Devnar School for the Blind. Rochan’s outstanding efforts were showcased in a UN presentation.
2. IB students Rohan Seelamsetty and Karthik Palakodeti reached the finals of the Asian Worlds Schools Debating Championship at the Anglo Singapore School in Bangkok.
3. IB student Shreekaa Prabhuram awarded the Ruskin Bond Literary Award in the Budding Writers category (under 18) for her work titled Femininity — The Subtle Art of Living
4. CHIREC was awarded ‘Eat Right Campus’ 5-star rating under the ‘Eat Right Campus’ initiative by the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India), Government of India. This initiative is aimed at promoting safe, healthy, and sustainable food.
5. IB student Ananya Polsani’s project, ‘Stories on Wheels’ selected for IB Global Youth Action Fund

CHIREC SCHOOL LEADER

Dr. Peter McLaughlin
CEO

An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Dr. Peter McLaughlin is a well-respected academician, historian, author, and educationist. He has over four decades  of teaching and leadership experience in schools in the UK, Africa, the Middle East, and India including an eight-year.  stint as Headmaster of the top ranked The Doon School,  Dehradun (2009-2016). 

In 2019, Dr. McLaughlin joined the Cognita Group and was appointed CEO of CHIREC   International School when it became a member of its global community of Cognita schools.

Since taking charge at CHIREC, Dr. McLaughlin has launched several initiatives to build on the 34-year-old school’s strengths. Among them: master planning and construction of a new campus in Gachibowli; programmes focusing on students social-emotional and physical well-being to ensure more effective learning; and safeguarding, child protection and health & safety regimes enhancing CHIREC’s culture of care. 

Dr. McLaughlin has been conferred several awards, including ‘Education Icon of the Year 2021’.