What is Vidyarambh
Vidyarambh is the only Indian Cultural Immersion Preschool and After-school center in the Bay Area! We opened our first campus in Santa Clara in August 2019. It offers a superior educational environment with bright, airy classrooms; beautiful playgrounds and activity centers. The indoor and outdoor areas are furnished according to the NAEYC standards.
Having opened our doors to the first batch in 2015, with only five students at a small facility in West San Jose, we have over the years been humbled by the encouraging feedback on our innovative teaching methods and the growing demand for our unique, all-encompassing learning experience. Parents appreciate the strong connect that children develop with their roots and their ability to identify themselves with the intricate culture of India. Our preschool and after-school programs have helped nurture students into happy, responsible and curious individuals who are ready to explore and give back to the world around them.
Founder and Executive Director: Sujatha Namboodiri
Sujatha Namboodiri is an alumna (1998) of IIT Kanpur with a Masters in Civil Engineering. She left her promising engineering profession and started Vidyarambh in early 2015 for her then three-year-old son. She hired a fully qualified teacher and worked alongside with her in the classroom. This gave her an opportunity to realize her passion and calling. She joined De Anza College as a part time student and started learning Child Development. Currently, she has a Site Supervisor Permit and Program Director Permit in Early Childhood Education. She is certified in WestEd’s Teaching Pyramid, which is a systematic approach that promotes social and emotional development in children. She is also trained in ‘SEEDS of early literacy’, a program that scaffolds the language development of young children.
Program Advisor:
Jayanti Tambe Roy
Jayanti Tambe is a Professor of Early Child Education at De Anza College. Previously, she was the Executive Director of UCLA Early Care and Education. Jayanti has also served as the Interim Executive Director for Pacific Oaks Children’s School (POCS). She has also served as the director of the Rainbow School and Pepper Tree School at Stanford University. Jayanti has conducted workshops on Supporting Dual language Learners, Multicultural Storytelling, Stress in Young Children and Anti-Bias Curriculum at the NAEYC, PACE Conference, SECA Conference, University of Wisconsin and at Stanford University.
Ajanta Das- Center Director of Vidyarambh, Santa Clara
Ms.Ajanta Das loved teaching ever since she was in high school. She pursued her education likewise and has a double bachelor’s degree. She pursued her Bachelor’s in Education (B.Ed) from Calcutta University & Bachelor’s in Humanities (BA) from Jadavpur University. She has taught students across all age groups from Pre-K to high school. She had been a trainer for professionals seeking to clear IELTS exams & go abroad. She has also taught in teacher training colleges in India.
Ms.Ajanta was a teacher at Delhi Public school in India, before her move to the USA in 2015. After moving to the USA she worked in Kindercare in Cincinnati, Ohio & San Jose, California as a teacher. She had also worked as an Assistant Director for Building Kidz, before joining Vidyarambh, Santa Clara as a director in April 2021.
Latha Kalimani – Center Director of Vidyarambh, Cupertino
Ms Latha is a person who changed her profession from ECE (Electronics and Communication Engineering) to ECE (Early Childhood Education)! 🙂 She has more than 20 years of experience with IT and Management, most of which is with WIPRO India. Leaving her white collar corporate jobs in 2015, she followed her passion for social service and children by taking lead roles in some NGO’s in India. She moved to the Bay Area in 2018 with her husband and two daughters. She worked with special needs children in Cupertino and Sunnyvale school districts while taking child development classes from Foothill College. Ms. Latha worked as a preschool teacher at Ventana Preschool, Los Altos, and Mulberry school , Los Gatos before joining as the Assistant Director at our Santa Clara center in June 2022. She got promoted as the Center Director and moved to Cupertino center in January 2023.