APV began in 2003 on the Anjanisain campus of Shree Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA). Cyril Raphael, the Secretary of SBMA, Marc Alongi, an American India Foundation (AIF) Clinton Fellow, and Mohan Panwar, a long-time SBMA employee, asked Anand Dwivedi to help develop a progressive school on the campus.
Anandji was given the freedom to implement his progressive ideas about holistic and mindful education founded on the principle from the Shree Vishnu Purana, “sa vidya ya vimukyaye,” or “knowledge is that which liberates.” From this founding philosophy, APV has grown into a community of 120 students and 10 staff members who share a singular mission: to grow and learn through mindfulness.