Does UIS allow students to board?
While UIS is not a boarding school and accommodations are limited at times, the SIL-PNG Children’s Home Department exists to provide room and boarding accommodations for students attending Ukarumpa International School Secondary Campus (grades 6-12 only; Primary Campus students are not allowed to board.) Children’s homes are primarily for secondary students of SIL members that need to be away from Ukarumpa for work, but also (as space is available) for children of members of non-SIL missions and children of commercial families.  The accommodations are provided in large homes which can place up to 12 students in a family environment with a dedicated set of ‘hostel parents’ whose full-time job is the operation of the Children’s Home.  No more than two students share a room, and laundry, meals, on-center travel, homework help, computer access and personal attention are also provided. These homes are closed during the school breaks.

What ESL options are available at UIS?
Ukarumpa International School has a significant population of students whose first language is something other than English. Some of these students function very well in English-speaking classrooms without additional assistance. However, there are students who need additional support in order to be successful in the regular classroom. At any one time, about 15% of the school population is receiving English as a Second Language (ESL) assistance. These students have additional English language instruction via pull-out classes or in-class support.

What Mother Tongue Study options are available at UIS?
It is important for our expatriate students whose mother tongue is not English to have their own personal identity as a citizen of their passport country within the context of an international education. Our desire is that when a student returns to their home country, their mother tongue language skills and knowledge will be maintained at and/or developed to a proficiency level will enable them to successfully assimilate back into their home education system.

The MTS teacher’s goals are to improve the students’ skills in their mother tongue, and to teach content-based courses to facilitate this successful re-entry. MTS is an integral part of the school’s curriculum and is available for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. MTS is offered in cooperation with the Mother Tongue language group. In recent years, MTS classes have been offered as needed in Korean, German, Dutch, Japanese, and Finnish.

What programs are available for students with learning differences?
One of the school’s goals is to provide a successful learning experience for all students.  The Learning Assistance Department (LAD) aims to serve students with learning disabilities, emotional and behaviour difficulties, and speech/language disorders. LAD staff screen students and, to meet the identified needs of struggling students, LAD staff provide small-group instruction, in-class support, and/or tutorial assistance. They also meet with parents and teachers to give insights into various learning styles and successful teaching strategies. Students are supported as they are challenged to achieve their potential and thereby develop a sense of personal dignity. UIS has no one on staff who is qualified to perform Psycho-Educational testing, and we encourage students who have or are suspected to have this need to receive this service in their passport country before coming to PNG. Depending on staffing, our learning assistance options may be limited at times.

What youth ministry opportunities are available for students?
While not directly linked to the school, students have access to the Ukarumpa Youth Ministries department which serves to meet the spiritual needs of the students of UIS. The following is the mission statement for the youth ministries department:

The goal of the Youth Ministries Department is to support the work of the Bible translation that SIL-PNG and its partners are involved in through supporting the teenagers and their respective families in our community. Our desire is to see healthy and engaged teenagers growing in their faith, with opportunities to be involved in the work of SIL-PNG.

What professional development opportunities are available for teachers?
The staff is regularly involved in professional growth opportunities that include attending faculty meetings, teacher-to-teacher visits (to observe other teachers teaching), presenting or attending workshops, and reading professional journals.  A K-12 Professional Focus Weekend is held annually to build staff relationships between campuses and to provide an opportunity to collaborate on current educational issues. In addition, faculty may apply bi-annually for Study Funds to offset the cost of continuing education and higher degree programs.