If old Miss Carrie, adorned with powered lens, a cane in one hand and a book in another, and her student Chintu, with a 10-kg school bag, were to appear at any of the international schools in Hyderabad, they would have felt strangely out of place. Because, in Hyderabad’s new-age schools, life goes far beyond the structured world of classroom and textbooks!

A trendy mix of ICSE / CBSE syllabus and the IB, the courses offered at these schools give the students a taste of the best of both worlds. One can sign up for a Senior Cambridge course with optionals like Yoga, Hindi and Sanskrit. State-of-the-art classrooms, equipped with projectors, computers, internet, and a 1:25 teacher-student ratio are what you could expect.

These schools typically aim for the holistic development of the child and hence games, hobbies, community work are serious business. A SWOT (Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat) analysis of every student is carried out, which means the Dhoni or Khushwant Singh or Sabeer Bhatia in your child gets due opportunity to show up and get groomed accordingly. And all these for a yearly fee of some Rs 1.5 lakh - Rs 2 lakh (in dollars)!

International School of Hyderabad at Banjara Hills, follows the British National Curriculum, and feels like any such school anywhere in the world with its multi-nationality faculty and students. Nestled amidst serene environs near Manneguda village, some 60 km west of Hyderabad, Parkwood School International , is affiliated to CBSE and the Cambridge-University accredited curriculum. It is a residential school with classes upto XII and offers a choice of French, Hindi, Telegu and Urdu, as a second language.

At Oakridge International School (CBSE and IB syllabi) students from Class VIII onwards can avail of the boarding facility. DRS International School (CBSE and IB syllabi) has classes till X and boarding facility from Class IV onwards. Hindi is compulsory and students can choose between French and Spanish as a third language. Teachers make a visit to the student’s residence twice a year to gain a proper perspective on her performance.

Sreenidhi International School (ICSE and IB syllabi) at Jubilee Hills has upto Class IX (as on 2008) and plans to add higher secondary courses soon. They have day-scholars, Friday-boarding (your child comes back home every Friday) and full-boarding from Class IV onwards.

So, if you are school-hunting for your tiny tot you now know where to head to.