City Montessori School

General information about the school, accreditation and affiliation

City Montessori School (CMS) is a co-ed K-12 day school running on 18 campuses across the city of Lucknow, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 1959 by Drs Jagdish and Bharti Gandhi with the motto Jai Jagat (‘victory to the world’) based on the ancient wisdom of Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam (the whole earth is my family) and inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and social reformer Sant Vinobha Bhave. Jai Jagat has been the school's greeting from the beginning.

The school is affiliated to the Delhi-based Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) which offers the ICSE (class 10) and ISC (class 12) qualifications and is also affiliated with the Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) UK, which offers the IGCSE (class 10) and A-Level (class 12) qualifications. Of the 18 campuses of CMS, five campuses go up to grade 8 and are recognized by the Basic Education Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

The school has a strong academic reputation, producing large cohorts of high-scoring students in the school-leaving board exams: four CMS campuses are ranked in the Top 10 schools of India for graduating the largest cohorts of class XII ISC students with an aggregate mark of 90 percent or more. The school places emphasis on children's all-round development through art, music, dance, drama, sport, debating, MUNs, international exchange with students abroad, the Junior Youth Empowerment Programme, etc.

CMS offers uniquely progressive 21st-century schooling with special emphasis on nurturing human values, character development, and peace education. In 2002, CMS was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, the only school worldwide to have been conferred this accolade for “promoting values of education for peace and tolerance”. In 2013, the Guinness Book of Records certified CMS as the world’s largest school in a city.

CMS Society is an NGO associated with the United Nations (UNDPI) for promoting the UN ideals.

Curriculum

- Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)
- Indian School Certificate (ISC)
- International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE)
- Advanced Level (A-Level)