Royal Academy School

Royal Academy School is over in Virar West, out in the Palghar area. It’s a bit of a trek for some, but for the families living around here, it’s just part of the local landscape. The air is a little different here than in the middle of the city. We have a fairly simple setup. The classrooms are filled with wooden benches that have seen better days, and the blackboards usually have a bit of chalk dust sitting on the ledge. Every morning, you see the kids walking in from the nearby lanes, some of them still finishing their breakfast. We don’t have a massive campus with fountains, just a practical space where the students can sit and learn. The staff here are mostly locals who know the parents by name. Sometimes we have to deal with the rain making the ground muddy, so we tell the kids to be careful not to slip. The windows stay open to let in the breeze, and you can hear the birds chirping in the trees nearby. It’s a straightforward environment. We follow the calendar, have our sports days, and deal with the usual school chaos. There’s always a bit of chatter in the halls between classes. It feels like a small community inside these walls. We aren't trying to be anything other than a place for the neighborhood kids to come and get their schooling done without any fuss. The school day ends, the gates close, and we do it all again tomorrow.