On February 5, 2024, John Paul Secondary School opened its doors to our students who were eagerly waiting to get back to their studies and to see their friends again after their 2-month end-of-year break. They were warmly greeted by Fr John Chrysostom, Director, Moses Bwayo, Headteacher, and all the teachers. When our students return to school after a long break, it’s much like moving back into a college dorm. They must bring all their

Year 2023 saw the culmination of two essential and large projects, the Multipurpose building supported with a, large modern kitchen, and our big water project. Giddy from the success of these two projects we have even more ambitious plans for 2024 which are well underway. With the school now approaching 700 students with a staff of 50 we need more of everything – beds, classrooms, books, land and the list goes on. Our plan addresses

UCE – Uganda Certificate of EducationTaken by all S.4. students across the country Quoting our JPSS Director Fr. John, we are “over the moon” with excitement over our S4 students’ just-released 2023 UCE testing results!  They once again ranked #1 in the Pallisa District and, based on their average scores, the school is now in the top 20% in the whole country in UCE results!   Many thanks and congratulations to our wonderful teachers and

Hi, I’m Kim Dwyer, Financial Advisor at Thrivent and huge fan of Friends of John Paul Secondary School. One of the many reasons I love my job is that I help families every single day live and leave a legacy in their faith, family, and finances. I work with people just like you to help them organize their finances, align their goals to their values, and create a clear financial strategy. One of the most

A core part of the Friends of John Paul School mission is that all development efforts for the school include a positive impact for the local Chelekura and broader Pallisa communities. We hope to accomplish this by utilizing local labor workers for construction and campus development, employing locals for non-teaching staff and where qualified, as teachers, assisting with local business development, purchasing locally as much as possible, and by the inclusion of the community in

We are very excited to announce that the JPSS water project is now complete! Access to clean water has been an ongoing journey since the beginning of John Paul Secondary School in 2007. Initially our students and teachers would walk long distances to reach the community well in order to fill their Jerry cans of water needed for drinking and bathing. After several attempts, we were successful in digging a functioning well on campus in

The 9th Annual Wine Tasting Fundraiser, benefitting the students at John Paul Secondary School, held October 5th at the chic Silver Spoon Ristorante was attended again this year by a SOLD-OUT crowd! In addition to our many loyal returning guests, we were pleased to welcome 25 new guests for the first time! This year’s event was also very profitable, raising an amazing $34,500! Once again, the Silver Spoon provided five delicious small plates which were

What is Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is a global initiative that encourages people and organizations to donate their time and money to charitable causes on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States.  It was created in 2012 and has grown every year. Once again this year, Friends of John Paul School will be reaching out to all of our wonderful donors on Giving Tuesday. Our campus is bursting at the seams and your donations

Upon our arrival, the Berrigan Activity center was packed with enthusiastic school leaders, teachers, parents and students. Gratitude was in the air and expressed through prayer, singing and beautiful smiles. Our campus tour included a discussion with the water project manager, whose passion for the project was evident as he explained their progress. The new Comerford Family Kitchen is another accomplishment all orchestrated by Vincent Mutyaba, our engineer. Our students are proud of their dorms,

You, our amazing donors, responded to our call to be able to bring supplies and gear for each of our students, teachers and staff (over 700 people!).  Charity wish list orders of sports bras, socks, and drawstring bags poured into Paul and Nancy’s house, and gently used ties were donated by, in some cases, the hundreds!  All were carefully packed into 16 large duffle bags that were divided up between the board members traveling to