Our Journey

In 2023, we selected our first cohort: seven 10th-grade girls, chosen from 102 applicants. Soon we realised a few things: the two hours they spent with us each week weren't enough to close the gaps they came in with, and grade 10 was too late for us to begin. In the first year, we focused on building critical literacy skills, career exposure, and SAT prep.

In 2024, learning from year one, we recruited 11 students from 260 applications. Instead of 10th graders, we selected 9th graders, and began working with them two hours a day. From that year on, Adira's curriculum included Math, Science, English, and Critical Thinking & Dialogue. The extra time allowed us to accelerate their learning. One student began her studies at UWC Changshu, China, on a full scholarship. Two students went to the United States on an exchange program sponsored by the US Department of State.

2025 marked a phase of unexpected growth. Cohort 1's experience in mainstream schools during 11th grade made us realise those schools wouldn't set our students up for success, especially since they weren't getting the time they needed for college readiness. We wanted them focused on Adira instead. Students struggled with the school culture, academics, and felt they weren't gaining a lot. The students decided to pull out of their schools and join Adira Academy as full-time students, creating what would become Adira's Upper School. The same year, we secured a partnership with Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Pune Region. Increasing our admission pool from 260 to 517, we decided to take a leap of faith and selected 30 students, one year ahead of schedule. One student was accepted to UWC Atlantic in Wales on a full scholarship.

In our fourth year (2026), we decided to go back to the drawing board to evaluate our program. We formalised our work into the school design we follow today, built around the Adira Strong framework. We welcomed 32 students in our newest cohort. Our Cohort 2 students completed grade 10: of the nine students, seven scored above 90% and the remaining two scored above 85%. One student ranked 9th in her state and 1st in her district, with a score of 96.33%. One student from our Cohort 1 graduated from UWC Changshu and received four full-ride college offers. She is attending Luther College in Iowa, USA.

Now that we have students in grades 8 through 12 (a complete virtual high school), we're ready to expand further and create even more opportunities for students and their communities.