Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram


Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram is a co-educational day and boarding private school educating pupils from the 6th to 12th grades, located in the South Delhi district of New Delhi, India. In addition, two separate campuses in Vasant Vihar and East of Kailash comprise the Junior or Elementary School Branch for pupils from Nursery through the 5th grade.
DPS R.K. Puram regularly features at the top of various rankings for academic excellence. DPS R.K.Puram is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, the country's largest educational board, and is recognized by the Department of Education, Govt. of NCT Delhi and the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. It is also a member of the Indian Public Schools' Conference and the National Progressive Schools' Conference.

History

Founded in 1972 in New Delhi, DPS R.K. Puram is a private institution run by the not-for-profit Delhi Public School Society. Ms. Lathashishtha served as its first Headmistress. It was the second school founded by the Delhi Public School Society, the first being the Delhi Public School at Mathura Road, and today serves as the Society's flagship school.
In 1978, Mr. R. S. Lugani was appointed as the school's first Principal. He served as Principal until 1992, and is credited with pioneering the "DPS R.K. Puram" system, which utilizes a combination of innovative teaching methods and a result oriented curriculum and evaluation system in order to maintain consistently high academic standards. In 1992, Mr. Lugani was awarded the Government of India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri award, by then-President of India, R. Venkataraman for his contributions in the fields of Education and Literature.
Mr. Lugani was succeeded by then-Vice Principal, Dr. Shayama Chona–an internationally renowned educationist and disability rights activist–who served as the school's Principal from 1992 until her retirement in August 2009. Under her leadership, the school stewarded the establishment of the Tamana Special School, a school for the education of children with special needs. During her tenure, the school also began admitting students with visual and other impairments. Dr. Chona was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1999, and subsequently with the Government of India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan award in 2008–making her the only educationist to receive two of the country's four highest civilian honors. In 2002, the school was felicitated at the "Computer Literacy Excellence Awards for Schools" by then-President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam as the "Best School at the State Level" and the second runner-up for the entire country. After Dr. Chona's retirement from the position of Principal in the year 2009, Dr. D.R. Saini served as Principal till March 2015, when he was succeeded by Ms. Vanita Sehgal. Ms. Sehgal was succeeded by Ms. Padma Shrinivasan in April 2020.
Since its founding, DPS R.K. Puram has maintained its standing as one of the most exclusive selective schools in India. In 2014, for example, 2,800 applications were received for 140 Nursery school spots this year, yielding an admissions rate of only 5 percent, which–as The New York Times noted–rivals that of top universities in the United States.

Current administration

Principal - Ms. Padma Srinivasan
Headmistress - Ms. Rashmi Malhotra
Headmistress - Ms. Niva Chhonkar

Campus

The school is a day and boarding school with 9,500 students on its rolls. Although situated in the heart of the upscale South Delhi urban area, DPS R.K. Puram has a sprawling campus of over 12 acres, along with a separate sports campus spread over 6 acres.
Hostel accommodation is also provided to more than 400 boarders from across the country, with separate hostel facilities for boys and girls. Competition for a place in one of the hostels is intense and is awarded on a merit-only basis.

Recent recognition and student accolades

In May 2017, a team of 2 students from the school was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2017 NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest.
In December 2016, DPS R.K. Puram was recognized as "India's Best School for 2016-17" by Education Today, based on various parameters including Academic Reputation, Co-Curricular Education, Sports Education, Holistic Development, Individual Attention, Leadership Quality, Infrastructure, Special Needs Education, Innovative Teaching and Value for Money.
In 2016, a team of 12 students from the school was felicitated by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi for their outstanding achievements in the field of aerospace research—including by winning the 2015-16 Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition, and emerging as International Runners-Up in the finals of the International Space Settlement Design Competition held in July 2016 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
In 2016, the school's Vice-Principal and Head of the Biology Department, Mrs. Anita Singh, was conferred with the prestigious State Award for Teachers for the year 2015-16 by the Directorate of Education.

Select list of notable alumni

Academia