Santa Ursula School and a New Hope on the Edge of Borneo
20/08/2025
Monday, 14 July started new school year 2025-2026 in Indonesia. Ursulines started new mission in East Kalimantan: kindergarten, primary school and junior high school.
Tiny footsteps danced joyfully into the courtyard of Santa Ursula School in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, on Monday, July 14, 2025. Kindergarteners in white-and-green checkered uniforms, primary students in red and white, and junior high students in blue and white uniforms beamed with joy, exchanging cheerful smiles. Optimism carried them into the new academic year of 2025–2026. In their eyes gleamed one shared hope: to pursue an education that would lead them to their dreams.
These children are the 30 new students of Santa Ursula. Twelve are enrolled in kindergarten, twelve in elementary school, and six in junior high school. 
During the orientation week, they were introduced to their new teachers, classmates, and an entirely new environment.
This first day of the school year was not only a milestone for the students but also a historic moment for the Ursuline Sisters. In this Jubilee Year 2025, the Sisters, through the Satya Bhakti Foundation, made a bold move: they officially opened the Santa Ursula Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High School in Penajam. It was not an easy decision to establish a school in Penajam—a remote area on the eastern edge of Kalimantan.
The presence of Santa Ursula School is not the work of a single entity. It was built through the collaboration of many helping hands. The school received strong support from the community, the Church, and the local government.
St. Angela Merici, once said that a good beginning is not enough without perseverance. That is why this school invites parents, educators, the community, and the Church to unite in prayer and support so that Santa Ursula Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High School may continue to flourish in Penajam.
Santa Ursula Penajam is envisioned as a safe and joyful space to grow. Not merely a place for children to learn reading and math, it is a place to learn how to become whole human beings—humans who care for the earth, for one another, and who live in hope.
Sr Moekti Gondosasmito OSU