Birla Open Minds International School is the brainchild of the DSR Group in partnership with Birla EduTech Ltd. Together, they have been working towards providing a world-class education to create happy, open, and inspiring minds. The group also owns a chain of 6 pre-schools known as Globe Tot’ers, which has now merged with Birla Open Minds International School.
Open Minds focuses on five core values – Lead, Grow, Deliver, Sustain, and Protect. All children are taught keeping these values in mind, molding them into complete, responsible individuals who will take on the competitive world in the years to come. Let’s take a closer look at this wonderful school.
The school started in 2013 with just 50 students and 12 teachers. Today, it has 1500 students and 120+ teachers who work towards the mission of empowering post-millenials through holistic development.
The Founder and Chairman, Mr. D. Sudhakar Reddy, has put in 30 years of his experience to build a platform that enables children to explore their creativity and use their energy to look into the future. He played a massive role in designing a campus with an open environment so that no child feels restricted. The entire school is one large classroom.
Birla Open Minds comes under the DSR Educational Society, which is the educational wing of DSR Group. The Group has its roots in the construction business and is one of the most renowned names in that space. The chairman used this expertise while designing the campus to make it a life-changing space.
Ms. Sharmila Reddy, Mr. D. Sudhakar Reddy’s daughter, is the director of the school, actively working towards executing the chairman’s vision.
The school fee structure of Birla Open Minds School is as follows:
| Class | Board | Total Yearly Cost | School Fees | Other Expenses |
| Nursery | ||||
| LKG | N/A | ₹1,95,000 | ₹1,65,000 | ₹30,000 |
| UKG | N/A | ₹1,95,000 | ₹1,65,000 | ₹30,000 |
| First | CBSE | ₹2,15,000 | ₹1,85,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Second | CBSE | ₹2,15,000 | ₹1,85,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Third | CBSE | ₹2,15,000 | ₹1,85,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Fourth | CBSE | ₹2,15,000 | ₹1,85,000 | ₹30,000 |
Birla Open Minds International School is an 8-acre marvel located in Kollur, near Financial District. The drive to the school is peaceful and landscaped, giving children the opportunity to get in touch with nature each day.
Birla Open Minds International School is a CBSE-cum-Cambridge school, giving children the choice to pick either curriculum.
The school offers CBSE from kindergarten to 12th grade, focusing on student-centric learning through project-based and technologically-driven education.
The pre-primary curriculum is a blend of Montessori, Waldorf, Froebel, and Reggio Emilia education philosophies. Learning spaces are thoughtfully designed to make children look forward to school every day. There are separate centers for reading, dramatics, arts, and exploration, which allow children to work in smaller groups. Children also get the opportunity to practice what they learned by stepping out into their surroundings. For example, they learn the concepts of measurement by using ribbons to measure tree trunks. The teachers maintain anecdotal records of all the observations.
The primary curriculum is designed for learning to flow seamlessly academically and through co-curricular activities. For instance, children explore and explain their ideas through diagrams in math classes. This gets extended into the arts class as well where they learn about animals using circles and other shapes, and finally drawing them. Learning the concept of area in crafts using origami and about endangered animals through theater are a few other examples.
Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) is a well-organized curriculum that gives equal importance to academics and extra-curricular activities. Open Minds offers the Cambridge Curriculum for middle years. Classrooms for students opting for Cambridge Curriculum are separate because of the significant difference in the approach and teaching methodologies.
Learning goes beyond the textbook and delves into the application here. The curriculum sets global standards and is renowned by employers and universities across the world. The school uses tools such as LEAN and 6 Sigma for research and analysis. In fact, it builds a few tools in-situ as well. A unique aspect of learning at Birla Open Minds International School is the DIBS (Define, Interpret, Brainstorm, and Screen) methodology that has proven to be very effective.
The school recently introduced 11th and 12th grades, and follows the CBSE curriculum for the same. 11th and 12th grade students can choose from Science, Commerce, and Humanities.
When you visit Birla Open Minds International School, you will understand just what we mean by “phenomenal”. The school seems to have been built keeping children as well as the environment in mind, making it a great, comfortable place for learning. This is also one of the main reasons why it is one of the best CBSE schools in Hyderabad today.
The temperature within the campus is around 2 degrees cooler than the outside. This ensures that even in the scorching heat, children are content. The school is also certified to be “green” with multiple initiatives in place such as waste management, sewage treatment, and solar panels.
Another very important point about the infrastructure – The entire campus is wheelchair friendly.
Vibrant and roomy, the classrooms at Birla Open Minds are a testimony to how happy students are. Everything from the door to the walls is decorated with their artwork.
Each class has a computer, a whiteboard, and the regular green board. Not more than 25 children are admitted per class and in lower grades, two teachers are present in the class at all times. The overall student-teacher ratio at Birla Open Minds is 16:1.
However, learning is not restricted to the classrooms. Children sometimes learn in the amphitheater, the garden, or the playground depending on the type of lesson they are learning.
The school’s laboratories are impressive and world-class. They have chemistry, physics, biology, math, computer, and language labs. The biology lab extends into an amazing garden where children can interact with plants and learn botany the way it should be learnt – in nature! In the language labs, children learn Spanish, French, Hindi, and Telugu.
The Integrated Learning Studio (ILS) is possibly the most attractive feature when it comes to laboratories. This lab brings learning outside the classroom. Children from grades I to VII walk into the lab without any textbook or notebooks and yet, walk out learning more than they could imagine! Children apply whatever they learn in the classroom through discussions, art, clay modelling, treasure hunt, skits, puzzles, and other such activities.
Peaceful and interactive at the same time, children love going to the library at Birla Open Minds and spending quality time there. The library is two-storeyed, with ample books. It is also a digital library with a plethora of digital books that children can explore. There are cubicles with computers within the library as well.
The school has a separate library for primary children, stocked with age-appropriate books.
Birla Open Minds provides a separate play area for pre-primary and primary children. For the older kids, it has an extensive sporting facility to offer with a basketball court, tennis court, football field, skating rink, and a racing track.
The focus here is the life cycle management of an early-stage athlete. Coaches have the responsibility to do the following:
In other words, coaches nurture students to a level where they take up sports as career paths and become true athletes.
Music, dance, drawing, art, and drama are a few co-curricular activities that the school offers. They are integrated with the curriculum itself, making it mandatory for all children to participate.
The amphitheater hosts events and intra-house competitions throughout the year. Drama and other classes are also taken here. The expansive assembly hall oversees the start of the day with prayers. Sports Day, Annual Day, and other such events are conducted here.
The school has a sick bay with an in-house nurse and an ambulance that stays on the campus for any and all emergencies.
The school’s fleet of buses travels across the city to pick and drop children. The buses are safe and handled only by certified professionals.
Two separate dining halls with plenty of space can be seen on the campus. A separate building, as well as an entire floor, is dedicated to dining so that everyone is accommodated together without cramming. Breakfast and lunch are served every day, following a pre-set, nutritious menu.
Interactive and experience-based, learning at Birla Open Minds is quite fun. Children are happy about coming to school and exploring various concepts. The school and the faculty have done a brilliant job in providing such a wholesome environment.
The school integrated play and activity-based learning, and students are never restricted to their textbooks. Moreover, co-curricular activities and life skills form a major part of the curriculum. There is a separate Life Skills Studio where students come in to sharpen their interpersonal skills, boost their confidence, and learn to express their feelings. These skills will help them throughout their lives!
Through various programs such as Language Application Program, Math Application Program, and Science Application Program, learning is further broken down into digestible chunks so that children do not fear these subjects. The school also makes learning fun to ease the pressure of mainstream education.
To ensure that teachers are aware of the various updates and trends in education, teacher training workshops are conducted regularly. These workshops look into the challenges teachers usually face and help tackle them.
Promising to offer 360-degree support to all its students, the faculty interacts with parents and involves them in the growth of the children at school.
With such amazing infrastructure, faculty, and vision to create happy, open minds, we are really not surprised that Birla Open Minds is among the best international schools in Hyderabad.
Short description: Birla Open Minds is an 8-acre spectacle where children learn within the classroom and beyond. The entire school is, in fact, a large classroom! The school offers CBSE and Cambridge curricula and accepts admissions from pre-k to 11th grades.
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