Owner

Owners of Sprindales school

The Springdales Education Society

Springdales is owned and run by the Springdales Education Society, a Charitable and Educational Trust registered in May 1956. It is the legal entity for the school and is responsible for its financial stability and the building of its assets as well as its ethos and philosophy.
Its present Chairperson is the founder Principal of the school, Mrs Rajni Kumar, who is ably assisted by the Honorary Secretary Mrs P Loomba, and the members of the Governing body.

Board of Governors

A twenty-one member Board of Governors in each school oversees the administration of both full-fledged units at Pusa Road and Dhaula Kuan, and the Junior School at Kirti Nagar. 

The present Chairperson at Pusa Road is Maj Gen Narinder Singh (retd) former Director General, Sports Authority of India. The Manager is Mrs Kitty Menon, retired Reader in Economics, Delhi University.

The Chairperson at Dhaula Kuan is Prof Yashpal,  one of India's outstanding scientists, educationists and thinkers. The Manager is Mrs P Loomba, retired educationist and activist of the Women's Movement.

The Board members include well-known academicians and public figures, distinguished in their own fields, as well as representatives of parents, teachers and old students.

Details on Springdales Education Society

Mr Gowardhandas, father of Shri Y Kumar and a well-known patriot and freedom fighter of Punjab in the days of Martial Law became the first Chairperson of the Patel Education Society, now renamed as Springdales Education Society and Shri Yudister Kumar its Secretary. After the death of Shri Gowardhandas in 1966 Mrs Rajni Kumar took over as Chairperson.  Mr Kumar's contribution to the life of the school was phenomenal, and his untimely death on February 9th 1976 was a great blow to the institution. Mrs Parvati Krishan took over as manager till 1988.

Some of the prominent Chairpersons were:

Dr B D Bhatia	Eminent child psychologist.
Dr K G Saiyaddain	Retired secretary of Education, Government of India.
Dr V S Jha	Educationist and Philosopher.
Mr R B Seth	Retired Principal, Government College, Lyalpur.
Dr Rais Ahmed and Dr Shiv Mitra	Directors, NCERT.
Admiral R Pereira and Admiral Ramdas	Former Indian Navy Chiefs.
Lt Gen Candeth	Indian Army.
Prof Raisuddin Khan	Political Scientist, JNU.
Mr Soli Sorabjee	Former Attorney General of India

At present, Members of the Managing Boards of Springdales School are:

At Pusa Road:
Chairperson:	Maj Gen Narinder Singh	Former Director General, Sports Authority of India.
Vice Chairperson:	Dr. D P Sethi	Former Director, National Institute of National Co-op and Child Development.
Manager:	Mrs. Kitty Menon	Former Reader in Economics, Delhi University.
Members:	Mrs. Rajni Kumar, Mrs. P Loomba, Mrs. Jyoti Bose,Dr. Dinesh Singh, Mr. Nirmalya Samanta, Mr.Rajinder Dhawan, Miss Anita Ghai, Rev. (Dr.) Valsan Thampu, Maj. Gen Arvind Mahajan, Mr Feizal Alrazi, Mrs. Promila Dua, Mrs. I. chopra, Prof. S. Amin, Mr. V.K. Sharma, Mrs. Renu Marwal

At Dhaula Kuan:
Chairperson:	Prof Yash Pal	Eminent Scientist and Academician.
Vice Chairperson:	Prof Andre Beteille	Retired Professor, Delhi School of Economics.
Manager:	Mrs P Loomba	Retired Vice Principal, Delhi Public School.
Members:	Mrs Rajni Kumar, Mrs Kitty Menon, Mrs Ameeta Mulla Wattal,Dr Sarla Dutt Kumar, Dr Kiran Datar, Mrs Asha Singh, Mr Niranjan Ajwani, Maj Maroof Raza, Dr Neerja Sharma, Dr TCA Anant, Mrs Mandakini Arora, Mrs Shergill, Mr V. K. Sharma, Mr V B Bhatnagar Prof Moolchand Sharma.

Mrs Rajni Kumar, the Founder of the School, became the school's first Principal on Sept 1st 1955 and kept that post until she retired in 1988. With her passion for education and love for children coupled with her fore-sightedness, vision and progressive thinking she laid the foundations on which the school could grow and blossom.After retirement to date she has been working in a voluntary capacity as Coordinator/Hon. Adviser to the Delhi Schools Literacy Project and as Chairperson of the School Socity. She was honoured by the President of South Africa in 2004 and by the women's League of ANC in 2006 for her pionering solidarity work for the abolition of apartheid In 2005 an Honorary Doctorate was conferred on her by the Middlesex University London, for her life long service to education. She was also nominated as one of the 1000 peace woman for a collective Nobel peace prize.

Principals

Springdales Dhaula Kuan took birth in 1983 under the dynamic leadership of Mrs Jyoti Bose (nee Kiron Jyoti Kumar). A founder student of Springdales, she went on to do her Graduation and Post graduation in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics and an M.Phil in the Sociology of Education from Delhi University. In 1978 she headed the Junior School at Pusa Road. When the second campus opened at Dhaula Kuan she was the obvious choice for the post and has worked there as Headmistress of the Middle School and Secondary School and took over in 1988 as Principal. Over the years the school has flowered and bloomed under her dynamic leadership and her flair for art and culture and eye for perfection. As a social scientist and enlightened educationist she seeks to create in her pupils a social consciousness and the need to build a world society based on peaceful coexistence. Widely traveled she has actively participated in global conferences on Education and the Rights of the Child. Dynamic, creative and forward looking, and a perfectionist by nature she motivates her pupils to strive for excellence in whatever they do. She has been honoured with both the Delhi State and National Teachers Awards for her rich contribution to Education. Currently she is the President of the National Progressive Schools Conference.She is a former Chairperson of the National Progressive Schools Conference and currently Managing trustee of the Sarvodaya international Trust Delhi chapter. In 2005 an Honorary Ph D was conferred upon her by the London Metropolitan university UK for her work in Education and international understanding. she was also nominated as a fellow of the society for the Arts UK.

Mrs. Ameeta Mulla Wattal is the Principal of Springdales School.She has worked in the sphere of Education, Creative Arts and Peace Studies for over three decades. She has held several posts in India and abroad, at both school and university level. A multi-talented educator, who has worked in the area of special needs education, Communicative English, creative arts, street theatre and women's education. Her work at the International Study Group in China (a collaborative venture of the United Nations) helped in bringing inclusive education in many schools in China & North Korea. Her papers on education and women's developmental issues have been published in several journals all over the world.She is a recipient of the prestigious National Teachers Award 2005 from the President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam on teachers day along with many others. She has recently received ‘Order of the Star of the Italian Solidarity’ Award for her work in the area of Renaissance art of Italy by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister. Her work in the field of interfaith and peace education has placed her on the steering committee of the World Council of Churches in Geneva. She is a member of the panel of experts at the Oslo Coalition, at the Nobel Institute. She is on the UNESCO committee in Geneva for education of peace and human rights.She is the recipient of the Endeavour Award 2009 – 10, an initiative of the Australian Government for reform in their national curriculum.She has produced the material for the new education initiative of the CBSE for Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation(CCE). She has also written the teachers manual and created the trainer presentation for Principals across the country for CBSE Schools.She is on the Managing Boards of several schools through out the country .She is involved with innumerable initiatives in education with the UK, Europe and SAARC Nations.Mrs. Wattal is the Resource Person for the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), which are both national educational institutions of government of India for policy making.She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in “Gandhian Symbolism : A Vehicle for Education for Peace” under the guidance of Prof. Mushirul Hasan –Historian - Jamia Milia Islamia.

Principals At Pusa Road

Name	Year
Mrs. Rajni Kumar	1955 - 1988
Mr. N. Tangri	1988 - 1994
Mrs. K. Ramdas	1994 - 1997
Mrs. S. Kanwar	1997 - 2001
Mrs. A. M. Wattal	2001 - till date

 Principals At Dhaula Kuan

Name	Year
Mrs. Jyoti Bose	Headmistress 1983-88
	Principal 1988 - till date

Opening

Opening of Springdales school

It all started in Delhi, at ½ East Patel Nagar on September 1st, 1955, when a small nursery and kindergarten wastarted in the home of Mrs Rajni Kumar and her husband the late Mr Yudister Kumar, Barrister at Law and Senior  advocate of the Supreme Court of India. Many years prior to this, while Mrs Rajni Kumar was a student at the London School of Economics, she had been attracted by the progressive education movement in Britain particularly Beaconsfield founded by Bertrand Russell, Badley's co-educational school Bedales, and A. S. Neill's Summerhill. So, when planning to open her own school in Delhi, she struck on the name ' Springdales', symbolic of the freshness of Spring and inspired by the progressiveness of Bedales. The school was born soon after India attained her independence. It was in the context of Nehruvian politics, International peace and brotherhood, and the Non-aligned movement that Springdales took shape and burst upon the educational scenario with vibrancy and freshness, dovetailing much of the ethos and culture of the new India, into its education programmes and philosophy Springdales attracted the local community from the very start and it grew rapidly. In 1959 it obtained recognition from the Educational Authorities of the state and from that date onwards was affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination. Later it sought affiliation from the Central Board of Secondary Education. Up to 1979 it prepared its students for both the Indian School Certificate Examination and the Higher Secondary Examination of the Central Board of Secondary Education. Since 1979 it prepares students for the All India Secondary Examination of the Central Board of Secondary Education at the end of Standard X and for the All India Senior Secondary Examination at the end of Std XII.

The Birth of Springdales Education Society

In 1956 the Kumars set up the Patel Education Society, a registered Charitable and Educational Society to run the school. Ever since the original building at Patel Nagar became non-existent, the name of the Society has been changed to Springdales Education Society.

Pillars of Support

When first establishing the school, Mrs Rajni Kumar was ably assisted by a group of very committed and dedicated like-minded people such as Ms Parvati Krishnan Member of Parliament, political leader and trade Unionist;; Mr Prem Sagar Gupta, Mr O.P.Gupta, Mrs Sheila Sandhu, Mr P.N.S Bedi, Mr Satish Khullar, Mr Rajender Dhawan, Mrs P.Loomba and Mrs Chetan Basra. Other early associates were Dr and Mrs Yudh vir Singh, well known freedom fighters; Dr Gyan Chand economist and his wife Anusiya Gyan Chand, a well respected women's leader; Prof Mohinder Singh, Dean of Delhi University; Dr Baldev Bhatia Child Psychologist, Mr R.B Seth, Retd College Principal; Mr Niamat Rai, educational administrator and Dr Savitri Verma, the school's first medical doctor.

They were later joined by renowned educationists such as Dr K.D.Saiyidain, former Secretary of Education to the Govt of India and a liberal thinker Dr V.S.Jha, philosopher and Educational Consultant to the Ministry of Education Mr K.P.S. Menon, man of letters and India's first Foreign Secretary;. Prof Nurul Hassan. Others connected with the school were well known economists, political scientists and jurists of the country such as Dr Rais Ahmed, Prof Moonis Raza Dr Shib Mitra, Mrs Muriel Wasi, Prof. Rashidudeen Khan, Dr P.N.Srivastava, Justice Mrs Leela Seth, former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh and the present Attorney General of India Mr Soli Sorabjee who served the school as its Chairperson for six years. A number of Service Chiefs have also been associated with the school as Chairmen or members of the Board such as the late Gen P.P. Kumaramangalam, Chief of the Army Staff; the late Admiral Pereira, Admiral Ramdas and Lt General Candeth. (Retd)

Consolidation and Expansion

Milestones in the growth of the physical plant of Springdales came along in quick succession.

1962 : premises at 1/2 East Patel Nagar, 13 West Patel Nagar, A/12 East Patel Nagar, A-44 and A-45 Kirti Nagar.

Allotment of land at Pusa by the Union Ministry of Works and Housing. Initially Mr Y Kumar built the temporary wing. The first and main wing of the building was designed by the well known architect Mr Jhabwala.

1968 : Inauguration of Pusa building by Dr Zakir Hussain, the President of India in a very colourful ceremony. The President's meaningful words "Be proud of your building but let the building be proud of you" are still remembered by those present on the historic occasion.

1974 : Addition of playfields, stage and stadium steps along one side of the field.

1980 :Laying of the Foundation stone in Dhaula Kuan by Admiral Pereira, the Chief of the Navy and Chairperson of the School Governing Body, along with the school children, and dedication to Shri Y Kumar the founder Manager.
1983 : completion of the first wing of the new building, with students from Standards 2-7.

1988 : emergence of the branch at Dhaula Kuan as a full-fledged Senior Secondary School under the dynamic leadership of its Principal Mrs Jyoti Bose, an Old Springdalian herself. Retirement at Pusa Road of Mrs Rajni Kumar, the Founder Principal after 32 years of educational leadership.