Madhavi Agrawal, founder of Cygnus World School developed her philosophies in pedagogy with courses in Child Psychology from the United Kingdom and Harvard University and honed her business skills with a Diploma in Business Finance from ICFAI. She has been a state level hockey player in the past and continues to play Badminton at the national level. A keen interest in debating, theatre, sports and adventure has helped her shape a multi-faceted school curriculum
1. Can you share a bit about your early life and the experiences that shaped your outlook on education?
Until the age of 10, I studied in Modern High School, Kolkata after which I moved with my family to Delhi. Foundational education in Kolkata places immense emphasis on core language proficiency. I realised the value of this when I moved to Delhi and found that my English reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar skills were higher than the class level in New Delhi. I performed better in all the subjects as compared to my peers. Hence, very early on I realised the importance of Language proficiency and its role in academic excellence.
Secondly, my parents took the family for vacations to the mountains every year. I grew up loving the outdoors, nature and sports. This became a core part of my personality and I firmly believe that every child must be exposed to the outdoors, experience some adventure and play at least one sport.
2. What inspired you to start a school, and how did the idea first come about?
From my early days I was very clear about what gave me happiness.
First was to be with children, play, read and explore science with them. Second was sports, be it recreational or competitive. Third I genuinely enjoyed learning and was fascinated by the teaching-learning process. Apart from this, I loved drama and public speaking.
My family has always placed a high importance on education and its power to change the nation. My grandfather provided the seed capital for the first Bhavan’s school in Kolkata and my father built a charitable trust with the purpose of using it for promoting education.
Once I got married into Vadodara, over a family dinner table conversation the idea of starting a school in Vadodara was discussed. After research , hard work and energy we have Cygnus in front of us.
3. What core values from your personal life have influenced the way you’ve built and run your school?
Core values that have come from my parents and family to me, include
Punctuality. It is practised to the ‘T’ at our school. If the annual function is supposed to start at 06 :30 pm it will, come what may. We give a lot of importance to cleanliness. The school is neat, clean, tidy and well maintained.
Our tagline is ‘Nurturing values, shaping futures.’ We do our very best to inculcate a strong value system in our students. The emphasis on reading is high. We run many inspiring and unique reading programmes at our school.
The importance of physical fitness is discussed by every stakeholder at our school and sports play an important role. We have introduced treks and hikes across grades for our students and staff.
Public speaking: Every student at our school is given ample opportunity to improve their oratory skills
4. What makes your school different from others in the region?
Our school focuses on the happiness quotient. We want to raise happy, confident, well groomed students at Cygnus. All our activities and plans are centered on this. We provide a true 360 experience to our students through an intricately planned and systematically executed curriculum. We provide a safe, clean thriving environment for our staff to work, provide continuous opportunities for their growth and development.
5. Tell us about the growth of the school?
We started in June 2011 with 22 students and 7 teachers. Cut to 2025: We have over 1650 students (we are at full capacity) and 150 teachers. We started as a new school a new school of thought. We have established ourselves as a premier school of Vadodara and Gujarat. We can proudly say that we have world class infrastructure and a world class curriculum in place. Our students, parents, teachers and staff are happy satisfied and proud to be associated with Cygnus.
We have worked closely with CBSE and are a Hub leader school; we are a part of their Carte Blanche project and have created more than 15 graphic novels for CBSE which are now uploaded on their Diksha app. The school has won many other awards of significance too.
6. How do you engage with parents and the community in your school’s ecosystem?
We organise parent enrichment sessions, grade wise, twice a year with carefully selected resource persons. We organise fun activities including Zumba sessions for parents along with sports matches. We also organise a special parent-child reading session for certain grades. Parents conduct sessions for children during book week and on Children’s Day.
The School Development Committee with selected parents from across grades addresses concerns and provides feedback. Parents are invited to school often for events, exhibitions and presentations. Parents can communicate with the teachers via the school app or email and suggestions are always welcome. Parents are involved in helping the school with interesting field trip options and internship options.
7. How do you see the role of technology in shaping the future of your school?
We are a Microsoft master trainer school and our teachers are technologically equipped. We use Microsoft teams for classes and for information. Every single classroom at Cygnus is a smart class with an interactive panel which is used extensively. Our robotics and STEM labs ensure future readiness. Children from grade 6 onwards carry a chrome book to school.
Teachers have AI up gradation workshops and learn to use AI to enhance their work We are a part of the CBSE carte clanche project which is blended learning for the future.
