"Education fails," says Norman Cousins, "unless the three R's at one end of the school spectrum lead ultimately to the four P's at the other - Preparation for Earning, Preparation for Living, Preparation for Understanding, and Preparation for Participation in the problems involved in the making of a better world."

Our hope is that while your child is with us, he/she will develop into a mature, happy, responsible young adult who is prepared to face the future with confidence. Children these days are much more sensitive; they possess very high self-esteem and believe in independent thinking. Therefore, we ensure that the approach to motivating and getting the best out of the children is based on the positive reinforcement of good work and good behavior. Our educational philosophy is centered on praise, encouragement, enthusiasm and affection, rather than criticism, fear, and punishment. We constantly work to develop a sense of discipline and good moral character, where all students are expected to conform to high disciplinary standards and to develop values of tolerance, fair play, compassion, integrity, and fortitude. We are very fortunate to have a truly dedicated teaching staff who work tirelessly to provide excellence in the education of our students. The same holds true to all our non-teaching staff as well, who are the pillars of our institution. I thank them for their warmth, goodness and willingness to perform any task.

I would like to thank our Founder-Manager, Dr Jagdish Gandhi and Founder-Director, Dr Bharti Gandhi for their invaluable support and guidance. I extend my heartfelt gratitude towards our Chief Operating Officer, Prof Geeta Kingdon, the Head of Quality Assurance and Innovations Department, Mrs Susmita Basu and all the members of the Management for helping us in all our endeavours. I am grateful to the parents of our students for always having bestowed their faith and confidence in us. Last, but not the least, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Editorial Board. Yet again, they have successfully prepared this event-filled magazine that chronicles another wonderful year at the City Montessori School.
The Duke of Wellington, who was educated at Eton, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Towards the end of his life, he visited his alma mater and kissed the walls of the school, saying, "The battle of Waterloo has been won here." This is my prayer for each one of you that may there be a day when you could come back to the same campus and say, "Yes, my battle of Waterloo has been won here."

Thank you and God bless each one of you!