The Millennium Family

The school was started by Dr. Sudheer Phatak - a visionary by all means. He started the school from nothing, and grew it slowly, but steadily. He oversaw and planned everything meticulously, so as to make learning fun, and at the same time provide convenience to parents. Dr. Phatak obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from New York, USA. He was a Professor of Physics at University of Rochester, New York and University of Mumbai. He was a leading educationist and was credited with new systems of learning in schools through modern technology.

Standing rock-solid by his side was his wife Vaidehi Phatak who was a co-ordinator in the school. She maintained the quality in academics and food. She oversaw and planned activities like the annual gathering. Above all, she brought lots of love and discipline into the school. Had it not been for her, we wouldn’t have had the bonding with our staff and students like we do now!

Arpita Karkare is the main director of the school. In her various capacities, she generates content for the worksheets, plans academics and activities, and looks after the multimedia requirements of the school, plus also is the person responsible for talking to parents, and generally making sure everything falls into place. She is the academic head of the school. Arpita holds a B.E in Computer Science and a M.S in Multimedia Technology from USA, and a B. Ed from the University of Pune. She was an Asst. Professor of Multimedia at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, before returning back to the school.

Nikhil Karkare is also a co-ordinator at the school. With over 10 years of experience, he looks after technology in the school. Nikhil is a major proponent of Open Source software, and actively uses it for everything in the school. He also looks over the administration of the school, which is mostly non-academic.In his spare time (which is rare), Nikhil is involved with the Computer Society of India, and organizes various conferences on computer science. He also guides various students for projects in Computer Science, and as a passion, wants to connect academia and the IT industry. He is also involved with the budding startup community in Pune.Nikhil holds a B.E in Computer Engineering and a M.S in Computer Science from UMass Lowell. Prior to joining the school, Nikhil was employed with EMC Corporation, USA in their Advanced Research team, and StorageTek in various capacities.

Anvit Phatak manages the software operations of the school. He develops new tools to enhance teaching and integrates it finely with the schooling system. He is the main guy behind myEshala, our very own out-of-the-box learning software. He holds a B.E in Computer Engineering and was employed with Texas Instruments, Bangalore before joining the school.

Anchita Bhosale is our legal consultant. She holds a B.S.L, L.L.B degree. She is actively involved in making content for myEshala, and also is the discipline in-charge of the school. Being the youngest in our group, she has a great rapport with the children.

Mrs. Smita Deshpande is our school head. She keeps tab on what children are learning, and whether teaching is happening as per plans. She is also responsible for discipline in the school, and is actively involved in all school activities – from the annual gathering to the fun fair and science fair. She is a great motivator, and is the person for parents to contact, in case of any academic concerns.

Mrs. Radhika Vaidya is our principal. She is in-charge of all the academics, and is part of the academic research team. Of course, she is behind planning all the school activities, and is hugely popular with students and teachers.

Mrs. Mrudula Modak, is our office in-charge. She has been with the school since its inception, and knows most of the parents and children in the school. In fact, we often think of replacing her with the search function in our students database! She is responsible for getting things done in the school, and also looks partly into the accounts.

Mr. Vinod Mahajan, is our administration in-charge. He is responsible for making sure everyone gets their paycheck on time. He also looks into the accounts of the school. He has been there with the school since its inception – and had worked with Dr. Phatak in his earlier schools too! He is the person to meet for admissions or any other non-academic concern.

The same applies to Mr. Harish Bait, our transport co-ordinator. He is our local GPS, and like Mrs. Modak, knows each and every child’s address. Unbelievable, but true! In his spare time, he also teaches children table-tennis and carom. In fact, we haven’t seen anyone better than him (other than our carom coach!) in carom!

And, of course, there are so many more with the school, that it would take a whole new website to talk about each one of them! Each one of our staff is multi-talented. Many who do administration, can also write software, or can also go and teach! But what stands out the most in our staff is a sense of ownership. Together, we make a huge and happy Millennium family, along with our loving children!