The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Chennai

One of three schools promoted by the Hindu Educational Organis-ation, THSSS (I) has acquired an excellent reputation for providing a balanced mix of high-quality academic and co-curricular educationPromoted by the Hindu Educational Organisation (estb.1907), currently headed by retired IAS officer B.S. Raghavan, the CBSE (Central Board for Secondary Education) -affiliated The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Indira Nagar, Chennai (THSSS (I), estb. 1978), has acquired a good reputation for combining academic excellence with culturally-rooted, value-based K-12 education. One of three schools — the other two being the state government-aided Hindu Higher Secondary School, Triplicane (estb. 1852) and CBSE-affiliated The Hindu Higher Secondary School, Triplicane (estb.1974) — promoted by the Hindu Educational Organisation, THSSS (I) has 2,100 students instructed by 60 teachers on its muster roll. We believe in providing secular, holistic education that follows a child-oriented approach and focuses on the overall development of children. Our emphasis is on developing every childs reading, writing and communication skills. We also give high importance to value-based education to mould the personalities and character of children. Moreover our co-curricular and other programmes are designed for optimum intellectual growth and to inculcate leadership qualities, says Padmini Sriraman, an alumna of Madurai Kamaraj, Kanpur and Madras universities who has 24 years of teaching experience in schools in north and south India, and has been serving as principal of THSSS (I) for the past decade. Testimony of the school manage-ments commitment to co-curricular education is provided by THSSS (I) having nurtured some of the citys best music groups, which have bagged medals and trophies in several state and national competitions. Under the expert guidance of music teacher Uma Balasubramanian, its top ten-member music group has performed in numerous concerts in the city, and was recently awarded Rs.50,000 by the government of Uttarkhand for winning first place in the national-level Sanskrit patriotic and folk song competitions held in Roorkee. The school is justifiably proud of its musically gifted alumni who include famous Tamil playback singers Chinmayi and Madhumita. Other distinguished alumni include successful edupreneur Isari Ganesh, founder of the Vels group of institutions and Chennai police commissioner R. Natraj. Its reputation for dispensing excellent co-curricular education apart, THSSS (I) is highly favoured by discerning middle class parents for providing high-quality academic education. In the year 2008-09, 83 of its 128 students passed the pan-India CBSE secondary class X exam with distin-ction, while the rest passed in the first division. In the class XII school leaving exam, 57 out of 81 students passed with distinction and the rest were placed in the first division. Unsurprisingly every year a large contingent of THSSS (I) students secure admission into prestigious engineering and medical colleges countrywide. Moreover, in the recently concluded academic year, two students bagged cash prizes in the International Mathematical Olympiad; eight students won medals and certificates in the 8th National Cyber Olympiad conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation; and five students were awarded certificates of excellence in the Third National Aerospace Olympiad held in Nagpur. The schools management ascribes…