About Us

Our Story

Founded in 1986 by Dr. Urvashi Sahni, Study Hall School (SHS) is among the earliest progressive schools of Uttar Pradesh (UP). Started in response to a concern—the quality of education in “high-quality” private schools and their responsiveness to the needs and purposes of children—the school has grown in strength from 6 to 25 to 2000 happy students, with a network of over 11,000 successful alumni.

From the outset, we have been on a quest to seek answers to questions like:

  • How can we define “high quality” education?
  • How do you create a school where children and teachers are treated with respect and care, where children are taught with a child-responsive, interactive pedagogy which enables the development of their creativity, critical thinking skills and a social and political consciousness, and which empowers them with a voice and agency?
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Our mission, therefore, has been to make school education related to the lives and existential questions and problems of students—in other words, to teach them how to live.

The Evolution of a Caring School

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The first few years of SHS were spent in developing a child–centric pedagogy and curriculum, which emerged from daily interactions and consultations with teachers, who were part of the reflection and creation process.

In the years since, Study Hall’s pedagogy has remained true to its philosophy and the caring approach has been kept intact. Educators at Study Hall choose to foster collaboration and discourage competition in academics, believing that children should learn for the intrinsic value of learning, rather than being motivated by the idea of winning laurels.

This is also due to a general belief that collaboration is a better habit to foster than competitiveness. Teachers are given support and freedom to use their creativity and research to create their own lesson plans and curriculum.

In this free atmosphere, with access to support, mentoring and continuous training, our teachers also thrive.

Our constant focus has been on helping children gain confidence and develop strong voices. Study Hall has managed to sustain these methods and the free, caring educational environment in our school till this day. Each year, several students move to our school because they have ‘failed’ in other schools, or have been traumatized there by staff and students. They thrive here, and by finding their lost self-esteem and confidence, make sure academic progress.