Consistently ranked among India’s Top 50 day schools by EducationWorld, Utpal Shanghvi Global School has earned a well-deserved reputation for providing contemporary ICT-enabled preschool to class X academics supplemented with co-curricular and sports education – PAROMITA SENGUPTA Sited on a compact two-acre campus in Mumbai’s suburb of Juhu within walking distance of Pratiksha, the palatial home of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, and next door to the state-of-the-art Bhartiya Arogya Nidhi Hospital, the low-profile Utpal Shanghvi Global School (formerly Utpal Shanghvi School) has earned a well-deserved reputation within Mumbai and beyond, for providing contemporary ICT-enabled (preschool-class X) globally benchmarked academics supplemented with co-curricular and sports education. Promoted in 1982 by the Juhu Parle Education Society (JPES), this co-ed day school began its innings as a Maharashtra state board-affiliated English-medium class I-X school. In 2005, it sought and received affiliation with the UK-based Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) for its early and primary years, Checkpoint and IGCSE programmes. Consistently ranked among India’s Top 50 co-ed day schools in the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings, in 2016-17 Utpal Shanghvi Global School (USGS) is ranked #14 in Mumbai and #17 in Maharashtra. Currently, USGS has 2,992 students and 190 teachers on its muster rolls. “The prime objective behind the promotion of USGS was to establish a day school offering English-medium primary-secondary education in the under-served western suburbs of Mumbai, since most English-medium schools were concentrated in south Mumbai. But over the past 11 years after our affiliation with CIE (UK), we have transformed into an international school offering the best curriculums and global teaching practices. Our goal is to develop open-minded and outward looking global citizens grounded in Indian traditions and values,” says Jayesh P. Choksi, president of JPES. Since then, the USGS management has invested heavily in infrastructure upgradation, professional teacher training and development and in co-curricular and sports education. The school’s wi-fi enabled campus — which is under 24×7 CCTV surveillance — hosts a self-contained four-storeyed building with spacious air conditioned classrooms equipped with Smart boards and projectors, two well-stocked libraries with 25,000 volumes and 18 journal subscriptions, three state-of-the-art computer labs, three science labs, an exclusive floor devoted to early years education, an auditorium and cafeteria. Moreover, USGS hosts its own high-tech recording and audio-visual studio which doubles up as a short film production centre for students. “We take pride that since it was started with modest ambitions 35 years ago, USGS has evolved into a world-class institution offering excellent academic and co-curricular education with strong emphasis on values and life skills development. This is why our students have not only fared well in board examinations but also won laurels in sports and extra-curricular activities. In the global IGCSE class X examinations, USGS has produced 18 world toppers and 61 India toppers in various subjects over the past nine years. Moreover in 2008, JPES promoted our affiliated Prabhavati Padamshi Soni International Junior College which offers the CIE higher secondary ‘A’ level curriculum. About 40 percent of our class X school-leavers enter our…
