Mt. Zaagkam International School operates for the expatriate employees of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) and its associated contractors and is the only jobsite school option for expatriate, English speaking children.  It offers an internationally-based curriculum (IBO Primary Years Program) to students from pre-school through grade 8

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The school has two sites, both of which are within the Freeport Mining concession, 3 degrees south of the equator in West Papua. Despite the fact that West Papua houses only 0.01% of the world’s population, it is home to 15% of the world’s languages, is incredibly mineral rich, has one of the few equatorial glaciers left in the world, and has a vibrant tribal hunter-gatherer/farming society which, in many areas, hasn’t significantly changed its way of life for 40,000 years.

The highlands campus, Tembagapura, is located at almost 2000 meters and is connected to its lowland site by a single gravel road, traversable only by four-wheel drive vehicles. Literally everything is brought up from the port on big tractor trailers.  The Tembagapura site (Tembagapura means “Copper Town” in Indonesian) is usually sunny in the morning, by noon it is cloud-covered and chilly.  The area receives an annual rainfall of about 6 meters hence opportunities for recreation can be limited.

The very unique Tembagapura site has limited space which has been fully maximized. The school is between two buildings occupied by the local Indonesian school, YPJ. While there are sporting facilities near the school in Tembagapura, playground space contiguous to the school facility is minimal.

Facilities at the Tembagapura township consist of a community centre housing a coffee shop, Hero Grocery Store (a well known Asian grocery store chain), Guardian Pharmacy, Hero Department Store, a hairdresser, a very well equipped state of the art gymnasium, a community library and a hall facility. The Lupa Lelah Club is a multi purpose facility with an excellent restaurant, a bar facility and various function rooms. This forms a focal point for the expatriate community. There are also squash and tennis court facilities, an outside artificial turf area and a golf driving range. A hospital, the school, a swimming pool and the PTFI administrative offices for the Highlands are all found in the Tembagapura area.