A Typical School Day
The students get up at 5 or 6 am (winters are later). They wash their faces, brush their teeth and dress in play clothes. Breakfast is at 7, and then they have free time until classes start at 9 AM. Most of the kids use this time for preparation of homework. Classes run 6 days a week, with Saturdays off. The first and third Sunday of each week is also off.
Assembly is held three times a week with all the girls, boys, monks, nuns and teachers present. Morning prayers are said and the Tibetan national anthem sung. (Dharma, not nationalism.) Students make announcements in English, Tibetan or Nepali. We encourage everyone to learn public speaking.
Karma Yangchen
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Working on a Class Project
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Sangmo Sherpa
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Instruction is given from 9 am until 3:30 (2:30 for the small ones). Cultural, art and sports activities are offered from 3:30 until 4:30. Early-morning and late-afternoon tuition (extra instruction) is offered for those who need extra help. The most difficult subjects are Tibetan and Nepali (depending on the child’s mother tongue) and Math. After dinner they must do their homework. Bedtime is by 8 or 9, depending on age.
Dormitory
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In the Science Lab
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Commuters
Peeking into our classrooms or dorms, you would be surprised to see how crowded we are. A child can only enter Shree Mangal Dvip when two conditions are met: when his or her name comes up on the Waiting List and when there is an empty bed. The average wait these days is +7 years.
We’ve rented four flats outside the school compound, three house the little kids and their ama-las (caregivers) and one is for our older students learning life skills. In the mornings and after classes, you can see all the little kids trooping back to “The Annex” supervised by older students acting as crossing guards, kitted out with flags and safety vests.
SMD Family
The hostels are divided into girls’ and boys. Same gender relatives stay together, which eases the strangeness of moving from a mountain village into the big city. When a younger relative arrives, older siblings and the other kids from the same village flock around to help, each acting as a guide or a mum. Everyone helps everyone else. Each room is ‘captained’ by an older kid. A sense of family permeates SMD School because we teach the children that we are all part of Thrangu Rinpoche’s family It is a successful system. We never see adjustment problems with newcomers.
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