“We learn as we grow and we grow as we learn”- so aptly befits the 22 years journey which SAPS has rolled on the wheels of success. The brief of the major milestones crossed is summarized in a chorological order.
The foundation stone of the school was laid on 7th April, 1996 by Sh Ratan Chand Oswal (Founder of Vardhman Group of Companies) accompanied by Padma Bhushan awardee Sh SP Oswal and Mrs Shakun Oswal. The school was established with a vision to provide holistic education based on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo to the children of Vardhman employees living in Baddi. It was established by the Banaraso Devi Public Charitable Trust. It is based on the CBSE curriculum and is a co-educational, English medium school. The School was constructed on the building with 4.77 acres of land. It made a humble beginning on 9thApril, 1996 with the First Academic Session (1996-1997) which commenced with the Kindergarten wing with a total strength of 62 children studying in standards Nursery, K.G. and I with one section each. The building had 3 floors with 20 classrooms, 7 washrooms, a small room with 8 computers used as the computer lab. The library was a makeshift arrangement whereby an enclosed verandah was converted into a room. The Admin office was housed in one of the classroom. The terrain of the school consisted of four levels of terraces with boulders strewn here and there. There was a temporary school gate. In the year 1998-1999, the school was upgraded to Class V. The upgrading of the school was done each year by gradually adding a class of one section. After four years, during the session 2003-2004, the school had 319 students studying upto Class VIII. Initial work of the development of the school was entrusted to Mr Vijay Kumar Arora- Member Secretary and Manager of the school. He was the man who planned and initiated the startup to gear the school to action. He obtained the NOC by State Governement for running a CBSE affiliated school upto Class VIII which was further extended vide no. EDN/SLN-1-11/12.Mrs Kobita Das Mandal joined as the first Principal of the institution. She is credited for laying a strong foundation of quality academics which was carried forward by her successors. The school got Affiliation in the year 2004 for class X. The first batch of 8 students appeared for the CBSE Board exam in the year 2006.
In the year 2008, the founder Principal, Mrs. Mandal resigned. The management of Vardhman has always given top priority to quality, merit and growth. The legacy was thus inherited by the Director - Col P S Choudhry who brought in a new Principal & Dr Parminder Duggal. She joined in as a Vice Principal and later on she was promoted as the Principal. Col Choudhry with a rich instructional experience in the Army helped in developing a disciplined environment to foster children’s growth and enhance the infrastructural facilities. He is credited with giving a serious thought to raising the school to a Senior Secondary level. A new Block was added to the existing infrastructure in the year 2009 which was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister- Himachal Pradesh -Mr P.K. Dhumal. This new block housed 15 Classrooms , Laboratories- Physics, Chemistry, a new spacious Library, a makeshift computer lab and 12 washrooms for boys and girls. The school was further upgraded to Senior Secondary level– Commerce in 2010 and to Science stream in 2011. The first batch of 13 students of Class XII Commerce appeared in the year 2012, Science students in the year 2013 with 17 students. As the school started functioning at the senior secondary level, it was necessary to give identity to the school. The Director Col s Choudhry chose the Senior Coordinator Mrs Surbhi Thakur to design the School Logo and compose the School Song. He being an exserviceman could very well understand the importance of marching together, synchronization brings in unity, togetherness and a feeling of team spirit. His inspiration led to the School Band. The training for the School band was first given to Mr Gurnaam (Music Teacher and Mr Happy Kanwar (PTI) at Ludhiana who further trained the tunes and the formations to the students. The School Song and the School Band were officially presented to the Chairman and the parents at the School Annual Function which was applauded by one and all. Dr Parminder Duggal’s experience in Chandigarh as a teacher helped the school to raise the standard of all round development by adding Abacus, School cinema and Smart Classes.
The school became the centre for CBSE Board Exams in the year 2012. Around 500 students from CBSE affiliated schools in Nalagarh and Baddiappear for the Board exams in the school every year.
SIP Abacus and Brain Gym Programme- an ISO 9001-2008 certified programme with a unique advantage of enhancing the Arithmetic skills and improving concentration span was introduced. Visualizing the digitization era, Smart Classes were introduced in ten classes to pave the way for better learning and understanding.School Cinema an innovative concept of using films for education—from life skills, values, and attitudes relevant for today's children to become better helped to understand the psychology of a child and mapping values with the school curriculum.
In the year 2013, Mrs Anila Nair took over the reins to relieve Dr Parminder Duggal . A lady of values, with an immense desire to create a culture of learning and growth, developed an environment of competition and zest to excel in the children. Coordinators were appointed to smoothen the working and increase the efficiency of the school. Ms Anita Kaul was serving as a Coordinator was promoted to the level of Chief Coordinator. Ms Surbhi Thakur promoted to the level of Senior Coordinator from Coordinator. Ms Harpreet Thakur, Ms Nidhi and Mr Surendar were promoted to the post of Coordinator. The students were encouraged to participate in competitions at the school and interschool level. To encourage the competitive spirit, at the school level, the competitions are organized at the interhouse level. The houses Bhagat, Sarojini, Subhash and Tilak all were named after freedom fighters. The colours of the tricolor - Orange, White, Green and Blue were used to represent house colours to instill in children a spirit of patriotism. The motivation to excel continued at the state, national and international levels. A child, Arpita Panigrahi of Class II was internationally felicitated for speedy calculations by SIP Abacus. She solved a sum in a record of 4 seconds and stood first. The students of SAPS started making their mark in the Olympiads securing ranks at state and national levels. They outstood others in interschool competitions –MUN, Scrabble, Declamations, poem recitation to name a few.
SIP Abacus programme, which began with strength of 20 students sprang to a total of 110 students in the year 2016. Smart Classes were further extended from 10 to 17 to provide the students a better understanding of concepts. KOOH sports which provides researched curriculum for improving skills of children in sports which is not available in other traditional schools. It was introduced in K.G. Section and further extended upto class III. This helped in enhancing the child’s interest in sports and developing his psychomotor skills. The film based education mode via School Cinema extended to classes VI and VIII, introducing workbooks with films to add on to the learning and stress on values.
The land issue pertaining to land on lease by Government of Himachal Pradesh was being raised now and then. Problem pertaining to lease were solved at the High Court by the continuous efforts of the management especially Mr IMJS Sidhu (Director- Vardhman- Baddi units), his team and the Director- Col P S Choudhry. After a long struggle, the Court passed the order in favour of the school and it led to the construction of the new block , completed in the year 2016, containing state of the art Computer lab with 1:1 computer child ratio and facility of networking provided in all the Blocks , 3 classrooms, Biology lab, Multimedia room and Admin Block. Aquaguard pure drinking water, 24 hour power backup is an additional add-on to the existing resources. The ground has been leveled to a plain field in two levels. The concrete path leading to the school with beautiful lawns, leveled playgrounds have added to the scenic beauty of the school building which now comprises of 4 Blocks. The Security of the school has been catered by construction of the permanent School Gate. The playgrounds will be used for enhancing the sports facilities for Kho-Kho, Badminton, Volleyball and Athletics. Running Track of about 160 meters has been created to promote running short distances. Facilities for playing of indoor games like Chess, Carrom, Scrabble and Table tennis have been provided in a separate room. The School buses conform to the guidelines provided by CBSE and related authorities. Ms Anita Kaul (Chief Coordinator) has been performing the role of a Grievance Redressal Officer. A Grievance Redressal Committee has been formed comprising of representatives- Ms. Harpreet , Ms Nidhi. Anti Sexual Harrasment Committee comprising of Ms Anita Kaul,Ms Shashi Verma, Mr Satish Pathaniahelps in providing a healthy and safe environment to all female students and staff.
It will be worthy to mention that our students have excelled in sports along with academics with each successive year. Not only have our CBSE results been 100%, but results have shown improvement in each successive year. The year 2015-16 has been an year of extraordinary achievement as the students have achieved ranks at state and higher levels. Our science projects made by Anirudh Sharma and Madhurdeep students of class XI Science for the Regional level CBSE Science Exhibit have reached the national level. Devanshi and Aditi Angra have won accolades at the state level by winning science Quiz. Devanshi, a student of class VII had been honoured by the Honourable Minister of IT as a winner for the Digital quiz from Himachal Pradesh. At the same time one of our students Shiv Banth had reached the national level in Long Jump. Sh S P Oswal visited the school and met the students who had attained outstanding positions in inter school –competitions. He appreciated their achievements and assured that resources will never be a constraint for the learning of children.
The motivation provided by the top management and the zeal of the Director to foster holistic growth resulted in the initiatives in the form of providing regular counselors throughout the year, nurses for the mental and physical development of the child. Professionals and career counsellors have been brought in to help the child improve his focus. The dedicated teachers in SAPS have helped the students discover their inherent talent. The teachers’ knowledge and skills are continuously upgraded by training them by in-house workshops by subject experts from Oxford as well as giving them a unique opportunity of interacting and learning at the workshops held at ITI Delhi, CBSE Panchkula, Himachal Sahodya conferences to name a few. The Principal, Mrs Anila Nair has been felicitated with the honour of Best Principal in HP and J&K zone by SOF Olympiad Organisation. Similar honours have been conferred upon teachers for Best District Teacher for their subject – Ms Manjeet and Ms Meenu Sharma (Maths), Ms Nidhi Thakur (English). The incessant efforts of the school team and support of the management, has brought the school to a height where it is rated as the Best School in the BBNDA region. It is the most sought after school for getting admissions, for the benchmarks the school has laid for strengthening the child’s base, gives it its unique identity. The journey towards perfection is never ending and school shall continue to raise the standards it has set for itself.