Ms. Shanthi Raghunath

Associate Director

Shilpi Nagpal

Head of Primary School

Gouri Kar

Head of Senior School

"I believe in an education that will create intrinsic motivation to all students by providing opportunities to stimulate their passion for learning. I should be able to provide students with a nurturing and enriching environment."

Ms. Gouri holds a Master’s degree in Geography and Bachelor’s degree of Arts specialised in Geography, English and Political Science from Lucknow University and was awarded certificate of merit for distinction in Geography. She has also completed Bachelor in Education from MES Teacher’s College, Bangalore University. Ms. Gouri last worked at Redbridge International Academy, Bangalore as ‘Academic Coordinator’. Before which she was with National Public School, HSR as Social Science Teacher, teaching higher grades. She also gained experience in IB teaching at Indus International School as a Geography Teacher. She was a lead teacher for grade 8 and was handling responsibilities of Areas of Interaction Coordinator for Middle Years Programme. Her early teaching years were with St. Francis Xavier Girls High School, Bangalore and St. Agnes Loreto High School, Lucknow as Geography Teacher. Ms Gouri joined Neev Academy in 2014.

Renu Siva Sankaran

Head of ICSE

"Education is not merely the acquisition of knowledge but igniting a passion for inquiry, to live, to explore and learn from others’ stories, equipping students to be lifelong learners and collaborators."

Having completed her Graduation in Sociology, from the Delhi University, and Bachelor of Education, Ms Renu Sankaran started her career in education after moving to Bangalore in 1999 and was associated with Ryan International School till 2004. She joined Gopalan International School, Hoodi in its infancy and contributed substantially towards the affiliation and development of the institution over the next fourteen years. After acquiring a Masters in English and trained by CISCE in the same subject, as a high school teacher, she largely focussed on teaching English for Grades 9 and 10 and strengthened the English Department. As a Senior Academic Coordinator, she managed the school operations, supervised the smooth functioning of the Middle School and the successful passing out of six batches of grade 10. Her loyalty and capabilities led her to become the Vice-Principal of the school. Beyond this, she has experienced ICSE Board evaluation and conducted the ICSE Examination as Supervising Examiner and Chief Supervising Examiner in the years 2015 and 2018 respectively.

Kalpita Jain

Head of Learning Continuum

Karthika Gopalakrishnan

Head of Reading

As author-illustrator Chris Riddell says, “Children’s books are engines for empathy. They allow us to see through the eyes of others. By transporting us to other worlds they help us to understand our own

"I believe in helping students discover the wealth of knowledge that lies in books. By reading, we expand our horizons, delve deep into different disciplines, and view the world from varied perspectives"

Karthika has worked with schools across south India to help students develop a love for reading in her position as a project manager with Multistory Learning. She has curated book lists, created content to use in the classroom, conducted storytelling, and teacher training sessions. Karthika has also written and edited children's books for Ms Moochie Books, Pratham Books' Storyweaver, and Pattam (an imprint that publishes high-quality children's books in Tamil).

Prior to this, she worked as a journalist with The Times of India and The New Indian Express in Chennai. Karthika holds a post-graduate diploma in New Media from the Asian College of Journalism and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Communication from MOP Vaishnav College for Women.

Parull Khanna

Associate Director - Student Advancement Cell (SAC)

"We believe all students reach their potential when offered the right combination of opportunities, support and services to help them develop in a positive way. Our mission is to ensure that all Neev students graduate - college, career and citizen ready."

Ms Parull has a background in college guidance and has worked in the EdTech space where she was involved in product development and brand building. She holds a degree in Mathematics from Delhi University. Having pursued actuarial science for a brief period before entering the education line, Parull holds a diverse skillset making her a versatile member of the team. As a consulting college counselor in New Delhi, she advised students on effective profile building, managed the university application process, and developed relationships with university admission offices.

She joined Neev Academy in April 2021 as the Associate Director of the Student Advancement Cell to bring together already functioning divisions in the school under one umbrella. Her previous experience in project management, team development and college counseling equip her to bring together the student advancement cell with its 4 main domains - Learning Enrichment & Support, Social Emotional Wellbeing, Student Life Opportunities and College Counseling with a small group of fantastic specialists ranging from special educators, psychologists, college counselors and experiential learning coordinator, stringing the journey's of our students from Grade 1 to Grade 12 and beyond.

Soumya Anil

PYP Coordinator

"As a facilitator, I see education being most effective when it is learner centric. It should be driven by the child’s own curiosity, where the child takes complete ownership for enriching one’s learning, understanding significant ideas, working towards individual goals and moulding themselves into resilient life long learners. It is upto us, to facilitate and equip them with the necessary tools of strong inquiry base and learning practices. We should focus, on what works best to help them master a range of skills, develop personal attitudes and most importantly, emerge as compassionate human beings."

Ms. Soumya holds a Master’s in Management Studies (Marketing) and a Bachelor’s in Life Sciences and Chemistry from Mumbai University. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Education degree from Al-Ameen College of Education, Bangalore University. After a brief corporate stint, Ms. Soumya began her teaching career by teaching the ICSE curriculum in the subjects of Biology, English and Social Studies to the high school students of Parikrama Humanity Foundation, Bangalore. She started at Neev Academy, teaching Maths, Novel Study and Units of Inquiry for Grade 5. She later moved to the MYP (Middle Years Program) to teach Individuals and Societies to Grades 6 and 7. At present, she handles the role of PYP coordinator and teaches Grade 5. She joined Neev Academy in 2013.

Vineet Singh

MYP Coordinator

"Currently, at the junction at which we (at Neev) are, there are limitless possibilities that we have to ace to truly become the excellence in reimagining education in a changing India. We have to stay hungry and stay foolish as an ecology of learners, with a big craving for new learning journeys, sound, and sustainable practice. For me, the role of MYPC at Neev is of a practitioner, who should truly be a connector or an umbilical cord between teaching and learning practices of PYP and DP, with the celebration of interdisciplinary and international mindedness."

A mechanical engineer by qualification and currently pursuing his MA in Education (M.Ed) from Bath University, Mr. Vineet has developed a logical mind with his indulgence in science and mathematics during his school education and engineering degree, but at the same time, also cherishes the free limitless thoughts and diverse perspectives of humanities, arts, and literature. In the last 15 years of his career, he has adapted multiple times, starting as mechanical engineering, to a software programmer, further on to become a full-time social entrepreneur in art education sector, to a drama teacher, to the HOD for performing arts, and finally to be the MYP Coordinator at Neev. He has always been eager towards learning the ways of doing the job most effectively and efficiently as his strength lies in deep inquiry, research, documentation, operations, and solution design.

A scientific thinker and a creative facilitator at heart, he is a learner who appreciates the depth and width of knowledge and skill-based inquiry, which are designed to be rigorous and sustainable in practice. He believes in making students informed and capable of taking ownership of their learning and constantly reflecting on how they are changing and evolving to lead an impactful life with blissful nourishment at every moment. He loves the transdisciplinary approach of PYP and is constantly seeking all inspiration and appetite for the depth from DP, it's structured and meaningfully planned rigor, which truly prepares students for a challenging and constantly changing future.

Also, to truly sustain these two programs of IB, he as the MYP coordinator believes in the need for the right balance of curriculum design, assessments, pedagogical practices, pastoral care, and understanding of our learners in an international-minded context through MYP. The right balance of nurture and challenge, of care and push, of wondering and deep thinking, reading and experiencing, of focus and perspectives.

Colin Leslie Kelman

DP Coordinator

"I believe strongly in the primacy of the ethical dimension of education; we shape human beings and our shared culture by the decisions we make about the knowledge and attitudes we develop in our students"

Colin has been a teacher in the middle school, high school, in pre-university programmes and undergraduate programmes where he has taught English language, literature, theory of knowledge, literary criticism and phonetics. His experience beyond that of a DP coordinator includes work as a Head of Department, IGCSE coordinator and examiner in Theory of Knowledge and English with the IB. His education at various levels includes studying English literature, psychology and linguistics. After earning his post-graduate degree in English, inclusive of linguistics and literature, his work on the editing of prose writings of the English renaissance led to a research degree in English. Above all else, Colin loves to read and teach the love of reading, especially close reading. He is particularly partial to poetry, travel writing.

Aparna Singh

Head of Admissions

"Our teaching philosophy aims at helping students deal with rigour and learning to collaborate, discovering a lifelong love of learning. This innovative program is grounded in contemporary educational research, through individualized education enabling academic excellence and confidence in students. Our leaders of tomorrow deserve to be on an equal footing in the global sphere. The role also allows me to use my people skills to understand the feedback, concerns and suggestions of parents and help build the trust to strengthen their belief and trust in the philosophy of the institution"

Ms. Aparna Singh holds a degree in Early Childhood Education and Family Studies from MSU (Vadodara). She has also done her graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication. She started her career with teaching the primary grades in an international school in Singapore. Moving back to India, she continued teaching in another IB school. For a few years where she co-founded a company with a friend and ran it successfully for over 6 years managing the operations of the company. She found her calling back in the field of education but this time around it was in an administrative role as ‘Head of Administration’ in an international school. She joined Neev in 2015 where she now Heads the Admission and Student Support team utilizing her experience in teaching, administration and native linguistic skills to communicate the vision, mission and philosophy of the organization in the process of student enrolment and engagement with the community.

Hari Krishna Paidi Lakshmaiah

Head of Administration

"As a School Administrator I am committed to maintaining a clean and green environment in the School Campus to bring in social consciousness that promote healthy and safety of students, teachers and the whole school community"

Mr. Hari Krishna Paidi Lakshmaiah has been with Teamlease Services for the past 16 years in the capacity of the Sr General Manager - Facilities and Administration

Build over the past 26 years - his expertise is in planning, setting up corporate and retail offices across India while also maintaining and looking after day to day administration. Logistics, crisis management, Corporate Social Responsibility and working closely with the public sector to get work done has been a large part of his responsibilities till now and he would extend his support to us in those areas.He has also played a key role in setting up community training centres and TeamLease Skills University in Gujarat.Mr. Hari speaks Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and English fluently and holds B.A - Economics, History, and Political Science and B. Ed degrees. In his free time, he teaches children yoga and is fond of travelling.

Gilbert Sunil Pinto

Head of IT

"To master a new technology, you have to play with it."

Gilbert holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology with 25 years of work experience in Information Technology and operations in Corporate and the Education domain. He has strong experience in techno-management and organizational leadership in the planning, implementation, delivery and monitoring of technical solutions. Experienced in delivering high performance technology services to support business, creating strategies, optimize cost and improve efficiency, he is committed to helping the team and organizations he has been associated with his passion for innovation and creativity in providing user-centric solutions.

He believes that professional dreams come true when an individual tries to create an environment that sparks innovation!