THE ELITE INDIAN SCHOOLS 2022

The Elite Indian Schools 2022

The Elite Indian Schools 2022

Blog Article



Pinegrove School a CBSE affiliated, co-educational, fully-residential, English medium school is nestled amidst the forest and woodlands in the verdant foothills of Shivalik hills with snowcapped Himalayas to the north and rolling plains to the south. The school has received widespread acclaim both nationally and internationally under the stewardship of its founder. Headmaster and Executive Director Capt AJ Singh in just three decades. Pinegrove is situated in two locations – Dharampur (Estd. 1991) and Subathu (Estd. 1998) both in District Solan, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.

The gentle gurgling brook with cascading waters, babbles through the campus thus heightening the serenity of the Subathu School which is situated at a height of about 3300 feet in exotic valley of Kuthar on the Subathu-Kuthar-Kasauli- State Highway, while the Dharampur branch is located on a plateau of 5000ft from the sea level on the Dharampur- Kasauli Road, 3 KM off the main Kalka-Shimla National Highway (NH-22).

The mystic ambience at both the locations is congenial for spiritual and academic nurturing of young souls. The divine beams pierce through the misty dawn of the school’s pristine and salubrious environs thereby illuminating the winding paths, the sharp and refreshing fragrance of the pine trees fills every infinitesimal part of the campus with boundless energy, cool breeze rustles through the pine needles and orchestrate the Grovian symphony while the avian species offer their rendition of veritable chirruping, as an accompaniment. The musical notes resonate in every nook and corner of the Pinegrove School’s 25 acres campus and the sheer joie-de–vivre leaves you asking for more.

Pinegrove is a prominent member of the IPSC (Indian Public Schools’ Conference), the Round Square (UK), BSAI (Boarding Schools’ Association of India), the BSA (UK), IAYP (International Awards for Young People) AFS (American Field Ambulance) and was awarded the International School Awards (ISA) from the British Council. The school encompasses NCC (National Cadet Corps), Nurtured Heart Approach (NHA) and holds the prestigious ISO 9001:2015 certification (BSI).

The Govt. of Sikkim in liaison with the Govt. of Himachal has identified and approved Pinegrove School for “The Hon’ble Chief Minister’s Scholarship Programme” and since 2010 the Sikkim Govt. has regularly sponsored bright and capable children of their State for education in the School.

Pillar of the Institution

Founder Headmaster and Executive Director Capt. AJ Singh is an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Sanawar, the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, Jawahar Lal Nehru (JNU) University, Punjab University (PU) Chandigarh, MDU Rohtak and The College of Material Management, Jabalpur. He was commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps but resigned prematurely in 1987 and has since then been working for the noble cause of education.

Entrepreneur, educationist and philanthropist, Former IPSC Chairman & Secretary IPSC and Member Board of Governor CBSE Capt. AJ Singh is a recipient of the prestigious IPSC Gaur Hari Singhania Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of his achievements in the field of School Education and Human Resource Development during the 82nd IPSC Principals Conclave held at The Doon School, Dehradun by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt of India, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.

The School lived up to its mission statement under his stewardship, “We Aspire to Inspire and believe in the creation of exalted lives by nurturing the body, mind, heart, and soul and aim to reach the stars of achievement through toil and determination. Hence we dream, plan, endeavour and pray … in that order… to achieve our mission.”

In the words of the Executive Director, “In the overall ambit of life, a person armed with a good education is bestowed with an advantage in the quest for success. Whether it is a girl or boy, a “worthwhile” education is the most valuable present a parent can gift a child. Compared to a day school, boarding schools are far luckier to have the time, inclination and infrastructure to do a lot more in the direction of all-round development. Children get ample opportunities to learn a lot more than just academics. A rigorous routine of physical training, sports, games, hobbies and other co-curricular activities keep students extremely occupied. This well-knit schedule of activities adds to the personality development and smartness of the child and undoubtedly brings them much closer to having acquired an exemplary education.”

Pinegrove School Milestones

The establishment of an extremely cheerful atmosphere, blended with the right mixture of a creative ambience whilst preserving the unbridled innocence and developing the innate natural curiosity of its students, has always remained Pinegrove’s strongest USP. An extremely large section of society has reposed complete and explicit faith in the school; reflecting their trust in the competence of the institution to deliver exemplary education, intermingled with the right amount of care and affection, executed with admirable devotion and dedication.

In the CBSE Boards Examinations over the last ten years in both 10 th and 12 th classes, 100% children have passed out with First Division. The class averages in the year 2020-21 were an astounding 87.14% and 93.37% for classes 10 th and 12 th respectively. Our aim is not just improving the scholastic and co-scholastic performance of our students but also to sensitize them towards community service through various Programmes under the School’s Social Service Project “AASMAN”. Apart from this, the School has taken the initiative of enrolling two bright girls from the Govt. Schools of Solan District of H.P. on 100% Scholarship every year since 2016.

List of Awards (2020-2022):-

i). Pinegrove school was felicitated by the HP State Government on 26 th January, 2020 for Waste Management
ii) The school was awarded the Green School Certificate by the Centre for Science and Environment on 6 th Feb, 2020 for its environmental initiatives.
iii) Pinegrove School, Solan has been ranked as the No.1 Co-Ed Boarding School in Himachal Pradesh and the 4th Best Boarding School in the country by the Education Today.
iv) Pinegrove School, Solan has been ranked as the 4th Best Boarding School in the country by the Education World.
v) Wipro Foundation organised a national level competition The Earthian Programme 2021- India’s Largest Sustainability Education Programme for Schools and Colleges to encourage sustainable living practices. The programme was managed and supported by HIMCOSTE and DDEE Solan. Pinegrove School Subathu, Solan was shortlisted amongst the Top 40 submissions out of 1342 total submissions from across the country.
vi) Pinegrove School U-19 Girls’ Basketball Team lifted the 17 th Lady Honoria Lawrence Inter School Basketball Tournament 2022, organised by The Lawrence School, Sanawar, in which 6 elite teams of the top schools of the country participated.
vii) Pinegrove School Boys’ U-19 Cricket Team emerged winners in the 19th Major R. K. Von Goldstein Cricket Tournament 2022 held at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla in April 2022.
viii)Pinegrove Boys U-19 also won The Dodransbicentennial Cricket League Tournament 2022 in which Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and the host The Lawrence School Sanawar, participated.
Campus Infrastructure

Pinegrove is reputed for its high standards in academic progress, value education, excellent work-ethics, teacher development, personality development and discipline, whilst maintaining the highest standards of academic and sporting excellence. The school is an architectural marvel on the topographically challenging terrain with its characteristic blue colour-coding of all the rooftops, state-of-the-art wi-fi enabled campuses, smart-classrooms with hybrid capability, well-equipped Science Laboratories and Fine Art Department, tastefully designed dormitories, multi-sport Indoor Sports Complex, multiple floodlit playfields, oval shaped Cricket Stadium ‘The Arena’, and a state -of-the-art auditorium ‘The Colosseum’, just to name a few.

The school has championed multiple sustainable initiatives to become a Zero-Waste School for the last four years by teaching children to coexist with nature via experiential-based learning activities, which includes segregation of waste at the source, organically composting kitchen waste, dairy farming, agriculture, treating sewage water and using it for gardening purposes and has taken steps to manage the other non-recyclable waste as well, so that not a kilogram of waste produced by the school goes to the municipality dump yards.

The school has installed solar panels for generation of a total of 100 KW of electricity apart from having about 16 Lakh litres of Rain-water harvesting tanks, the school has made serious efforts in recharging of groundwater as well.

With an increasingly complex, rapidly changing and unpredictable world it has been our constant endeavour to rethink and formulate different methodologies in order to adapt, adopt and redefine the learning methodologies to impart knowledge and enhance creativity amongst students.

Pinegrove School has devised an effective way to enhance student engagement by weaving the nine C into the curriculum which means increasing the ‘Content’ level by enhancing their knowledge by incorporating strong academic programme on the lines of NEP 2020, then has taken steps to boost their ‘Confidence’ by giving them ample opportunities to hone their ‘Communication’ skills by organizing Intra Class/ Inter Class/ Inter House/ Inter School Competitions, all the while ensuring that high degree of Pastoral ‘Care’ is maintained and ‘Compassion’ for fellow human beings is instilled by inculcating right values like forgiveness, sensitivity, empathy, through various Social Service programs run by the school under the Aasman project simultaneously developing their aesthetic skills and senses by building their ‘Creativity’ by promoting Innovation (Jodo-Todo workshops/Start-up Ideas), Imagination and risking taking ability and develop the ‘Courage’ to face the consequences of their actions. Our in- house Affirmative Measures programme has been conceived to build the strength of ‘Character’ of children by encouraging them to practice self-discipline, integrity, honesty, loyalty, obedience, and above all exercise moral courage at all times. Finally, the acquisition of all the C lead to development of ‘Common-Sense’ that further leads to the ability of Problem Solving by weighing the pros and cons, which is a sign of a self-assured and mature individuals.

All the efforts are directed towards developing Physical Quotient, Intelligence Quotient,
Emotional Quotient and Spiritual Quotient of the child so that we continue to maintain our USPs of being a Bully-free, Smoke-Free, Cash-free, Mobile-free, Drug-Free, Shout-Free, Punishment Free and Anger-free institution where children feel safe and secure and blossom into confident individuals.

Maintaining a high happiness quotient and inculcating the habit of self-learning in students is challenging. The school has started programs like Nurtured Heart Approach (NHA) and awarding of Affirmative Measures, both of which are designed to handle varying degrees of intensity amongst children. The school adopts appreciation in place of negativism and operates through “Standard Affirmative Measures” thus enabling inculcation of self- realization and self-discipline. Over the years, the school has succeeded in grooming morally responsible individuals, which is no mean feat in the present scenario.

Teaching and learning at Pinegrove is a wholesome affair that promotes cognitive growth because when the young minds are engaged in purposeful learning, they blossom into vivacious, exuberant and confident leaders of tomorrow.

Sports & Co-Curricular facilities:

In recent years to generate awareness about global warming and its drastic effects on the environment and give exposure to its pupils various adventure sports expeditions have been organized for the students over the years, wherein the groups have summited the highest mountain peak of the African continent: Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; Mt. Yunum, Friendship Peak, and Mt. DeoTibba in here Manali; completed a Cycling Expedition to Khardungla in Leh-Ladhak and completed a 100 KM White-Water Rafting Expedition on the Ganges; undertook a Road Trip in cars from Pinegrove (HP) to KanyaKumari (TN) and the back covering over 10000 KM in 40 days and attended Scuba Diving Camps and Deep-sea Diving Courses in the Arabian Sea and became certified divers.

The biggest mainstay for an institution’s growth is its infrastructural growth as it allows
congenial environment for the budding minds to bloom in the garden of education. Apart from having a world class Indoor Multi-Sports Complex, the state-of-the-art auditorium. “The Colosseum” and oval shaped floodlit cricket field “The Arena”, the school also has state-of-the-art dance & music departments and art & sculpture studios to nurture and hone students’ performing arts and craft intelligences.

The school has introduced vibrant and focused sports programmes as we believe that sports is vital for building the self-confidence, sportsmanship and leadership qualities amongst the students and make them mentally robust apart from building esprit-de-corps with a world beyond. School offers world class facilities for Basketball, Badminton, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, Shooting, Gym, Yoga, Pool/Billiards Room, Lawn Tennis, Cricket and Soccer under the supervision of coaches.

Management Team:
Samiksha Singh, Director Administration
“Pinegrove is a truly special, unique and transformative place to live and work, for both
students and teachers. We have continuously strived to maintain the happiness level of all the stakeholders and with the grace of almighty both branches have grown from strength to strength over the years. Administrator’s role is more of a juggler as there are so many balls those need to be kept moving without losing track of anyone with flexibility plus a tinge of humour so that the teaching and learning pedagogy does not get affected. We believe great leaders make great institutions and strong leadership is critical to building strong institutions.

Shriya Dua, Member Trustee and Special Educator

“Every child is a gift of God and each child has a latent talent and special potential. The positives of every child can be harnessed and developed through identification, planning, implementation of good practices and hard work which has been done at Pinegrove School since its inception apart from ensuring emotional wellbeing of students, conducive learning environment, rigorous selection procedure of staff and robust policies all of which have added to Pinegrove’s success.”

Capt Renu Sharma, Head Operations and Administration

“Having spent more than a decade in the esteemed institution like Pinegrove after a brief yet fulfilling stint with the olive green, life couldn have been more click here rewarding and gratifying. Nothing can be and shall be check here more satisfying than seeing young Turks brimming with energy being moulded into fine gentlemen and ladies as they are guided through the path of self- exploration with the light of knowledge. Apart from providing an enriching and wholesome experience for academic growth and pursuing one passion through activities and sports, emphasis is laid on turning them into a morally upright individuals who meander through their own greatness by imbibing the School motto, By Toil to Stars in their lives in letter and spirit.”

Mr. Sanjay Chauhan, Head Teacher (Dharampur)

“A residential School brings out the best in a child. There is time for almost everything that a child needs to equip for his or her life challenges. Every day is vast learning experience whether it be academics, activities or sports. Although the Education Policies define curriculum, residential schools ensure that children get much more than what polices talk about. Being a residential school product, I am a firm believer that every individual should experience life in a residential school at least once in their lifetime. Truly, it is a ‘Home away from Home’ and adds immense value to the lives of pupils.”

Dr Kiran Attri, Head Teacher (Elementary)

Dr. Mrs Kiran Attri, Head Teacher (Elementary) has been awarded the National Award for Teachers, by the Human Resource Ministry Govt. of India on the recommendations of the CBSE, for her singular commitment towards the cause of education in 2017. She said, “Hailing from a quaint hamlet to becoming the Head Teacher (Elementary) of a
premier institution like Pinegrove School, has indeed been quite an eventful journey and a huge learning experience. Over the years we have worked tirelessly as a team to bring unison and harmony amongst children and staff and have created a happy and thriving family atmosphere in this wonderful boarding school where children need teachers far more than in day schools as we are their foster parents too.”

Mr. Pankaj Sharma, Head Teacher (Subathu)

“Every journey leaves memories to cherish for times to come and yet remain exciting with many more milestones to achieve! This fifteen-year long journey has meant plodding and striding through a labyrinth of challenges with lifelong lessons. What is intriguing about Pinegrove is its read more irresistible ability to embrace both the known and the unknown with open arms of warmth, care and a strong feeling of camaraderie. Many a teacher have contributed towards the rich legacy for the coming generations to learn from and emulate. At Pinegrove, every child is a unique entity who banks upon the institution driving motto of “Good, Great and Godly”. The institution aspires to touch and ultimately transform a child heart and soul to raise him to the unprecedented heights.”

Mr. Manmohan Singh, Head Finance

“Education is a social-charitable-service and all excess of income over expenditure is
incidental in nature. Pinegrove doesn’t aim for profit rather all incidental excesses are used for further development of the institution so that the students benefit from the policies of the management. The key to our success and growth has been prudent management of finance, honesty and intelligent budgeting of the remnant excess over expenditure.”

Lt Cdr (IN)) Abhishek Rana (Retd), Head Administration

“Transformation from the “Armed Forces” into a civil world couldn’t have been an easy task if the next organization did not have similar ethos as that of an Officer of the Indian Armed Forces i.e. “We Aspire to Inspire”. Pinegrove excels in grooming the future leaders of India as it gives various opportunities for the young prodigies to showcase their talents in various activities being conducted at school as a part of their curriculum eventually transforming the personality of every single individual of Pinegrove including the students and staff as well. As an administrator it is quiet challenging and gratifying at the same time, to provide a hassle free educationally conducive residential environment and to keep up with the evolving pace of infrastructure development for the students at Pinegrove. “

Vishal Gauri, Head Cultural Affairs

“The wide and diverse range of scintillating events and competitions bespeckled with enthralling excursions and camps, conducted at Pinegrove showcase enhanced development of the personality and soft skills amongst the students without which any academic achievement would be incomplete. Upholding the School philosophy, “We Aspire To Inspire”, our young fledglings have taken countless awestruck flights, their wings adorned with a sacred triumph thus leaving us privileged to see their ineffable metamorphosis.”

Surinder Mehta, Head Sports

“Sport is a powerful tool for developing essential life skills, understanding value of health and physical fitness at school level, which has helped our students to not only secure seats in best colleges across the country but also live a healthy life with positivity. A two decade long journey has been full of give and take. It is immensely gratifying to see our students utilizing world class sporting facilities and basking in the glory of their success, while learning to cope with failure too. They learn this most important characteristic, as stated by Alexander Pope ‘Honour and shame from no condition rise. Act well your part: there all the honour lies’.”

Gurpreet Singh, Head IT and Activities

“I am a firm believer that Information Technology holds the power to revolutionise the education industry and at Pinegrove funds to integrate technology with the educational
process have always been readily available. We have always been proactive in procuring world-class IT infrastructure. As a result, the School is reaping the rich harvestof the seeds which have been carefully sown. Students are able to understand concepts better and performances have improved check here significantly.”

Sunil Verma, Head Pastoral Care and NCC

“Having worked closely with young scholars and Training Academies to assist students by equipping them with the skills and mindset to thrive in academics, career and life all the while formulating and implementing an in-house pastoral care program that provides emotional help to learners whilst ensuring their physical well-being, by nurturing environments of psychological safety that ensures every individual to feel supported to realize their potential gives one a sense of accomplishment.”

Report this page