The school compound, with classroom blocks around the painted flag stand.
Classroom blocks, the water tower and flagpoles, with bougainvillea in bloom.
The school garden: cabbages, onions and bananas.
Two members of staff in front of a classroom block, with learners behind them.
Our Work
Spectrum Secondary School
A Spectrum XLabs Alliance school in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, Kikuube District, western Uganda: 277 learners in Term One 2026.
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Refugee and host-community learners study together, S1 to S4, on Uganda's national curriculum.
From two learners to 277
The school opened in a church in 2020 with no external funding. After COVID-19 and a 2022 storm left two learners, SXLA rebuilt and JEP began that year. Today the school has 277 learners (Term One 2026), up from 102 in 2025.
A lesson at Spectrum Secondary School. Photo: SXLA
What the school stands for
The school's mission and vision
Mission
To create a learning environment where every learner develops the knowledge, character and agency to discover what is possible and create value.
Vision
A generation that understands reality, discovers what is possible, and acts to leave the world better than they found it.
Term One 2026
Our learners
277learnersTerm One 2026 (up from 102 in 2025)
154boarders, and 123 day learnersTerm One 2026
65%refugee learners (181)Term One 2026
41%girls (113)Term One 2026
40JEP ScholarsTerm One 2026
People
The school team
13 teachers teach the national curriculum and guide JEP projects, with a non-teaching team of bursar, secretary, cooks, cleaners and security staff.
Headteacher Kyasimiire Christine leads the school, with Achiro Stella, Director of Studies, and Turyakyira Silver, Operations Manager, who also serve on SXLA's board.
Each SXLA school awards scholarships to 10% of its learners: half to refugees and half to host-community youth, 80% of them girls, all from disadvantaged families and showing leadership. No scholarship holder is identified publicly without their and their parent's consent.
The campus
Facilities
What is in use today, what is being built and what is planned. About US$175,000 has been invested in the school since 2020 (as reported by SXLA, not audited). Of this, about US$12,800 (about 7%) went into JEP, including 10 laptops and connectivity since 2022.
In use
In use today
Classrooms
Girls' accommodation
Water
Kitchen
Security
The school laboratory
Library
JEP equipment: 10 laptops (5 working) and one portable Wi-Fi unit
Being built
Boys' dormitory
Construction began after funds arrived in August 2026. US$40,800 is still needed to finish the dormitory, a boys' latrine and beds for boys and girls.
In use: a rainwater tank beside a classroom block. Photo: SXLA
For parents and families
What JEP means for your child
Spectrum Secondary School teaches Uganda's national curriculum from S1 to S4, to refugee and host-community learners side by side. JEP is part of how the school teaches: learners take a real problem from home or school, such as food, water or energy, and use what they learn in class to study it, build something and improve it.
What it means in school
Your child still follows the national curriculum and prepares for national exams. JEP gives them a reason to use what they learn; it does not replace lessons or teachers.
Teachers guide every project. Learners take more of the lead as they move from S1 to S4.
JEP aims to build problem-solving, initiative and confidence. It does not promise a job, a business or an income.
We do not publish learners' full names online, and we use photographs only with written consent and the learner's assent.
What the school has today
Classrooms, girls' accommodation, water, a kitchen, security, a school laboratory and a library. For JEP, the school has 10 laptops, of which 5 work, and one portable Wi-Fi unit. A boys' dormitory is under construction. The Hybrid Edge JEP Studio described on this website is a specification; it is not yet installed. How scholarships are awarded
Questions or feedback
If your child is at Spectrum, you can ask the headteacher or the school staff. You can also contact SXLA directly.
To raise a safeguarding concern, write with "Safeguarding" in the subject line, or call the Uganda Child Helpline, Sauti 116, free of charge. Safeguarding
Planned, 2027 to 2028
Spectrum Complete
Spectrum Complete is the campaign to finish the school: the Standard Hybrid Edge JEP Studio (about US$60,000), which follows only after the 2027 review at Spectrum and eight readiness gates, and campus upgrades (about US$140,000), including a boys' dormitory, classroom capacity, library, laboratory, sports field and civil works. Target: US$200,000 for 2027 to 2028 (planning estimate).
The boys' dormitory, already under construction, is the first of these upgrades.
Ways to support the school
You can help finish the boys' dormitory, equip the Hybrid Edge JEP Studio or support Spectrum Complete. The Support Our Work page explains the ways to give and what each gift supports.
