Our Story
The founding of Heritage International School (HIS) was initiated by a group of mothers from a Bible study group at a family picnic in the late 80s. While discussing the costs and core values within different schools in Kampala at that time, they raised the question, “Why can’t we have it all: good school, solid Christian values, and a reasonable price?”
HIS opened on the 9th of September 1994, and was sponsored by five different Christian missions: Baptist Mission Mission (US) , FIDA International (Finland), Kinderhilfswerk (KIDS) (Uganda), Church of God Mission (Uganda), and Mission Aviation Fellowship (UK). These mission agencies signed a Memorandum of Agreement to combine their efforts to set up a mission school. Their aim was to provide a Christ-centered education for missionary children, but at the same time welcoming all children regardless of their religious, social or economic background. In 2006 the Baptist Mission of Uganda withdrew as a member agency and in 2011 World Gospel Mission (WGM) joined as a member agency bringing the number of member agencies back to five.
HIS started with an enrollment of 32 students in a residential house where even the garage was used for classes. The school ran from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6, and since there were very few students, some grades were combined and taught as split classes. A few years later, the premises became too small for the growing student population and the search for land to build a campus was initiated. A custom-built campus was constructed and the school moved to its present site on August 27, 2001. From then on, the school added a new grade every year to allow students to continue their education at the school, culminating in the first HIS graduation ceremony in 2004.
The President of Uganda, his excellence Yoweri Museveni, visited the campus and officially opened the campus on September 26, 2005. For a number of years, growth was limited, with the school having one stream in each grade until 2010 when student numbers almost tripled in size. Since then, the school has steadily grown over the years, providing a much-needed service for missionary families and internationally mobile families. HIS was assessed and inspected by the Ministry of Education for Uganda and in 2001 was recognized as a mixed day primary school and in 2012 was formally granted equivalency to ‘O’ (Ordinary) and ‘A’ (Advanced) levels (a secondary school equivalency). The school was two years later accredited by ACSI and MSA in 2014 for K-12.