Dorm Information
For more
information about the dorms check out the
Dalat Residence Life Handbook.
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Our Purpose
Dalat International School’s residence life program seeks to
provide Christ-centered parenting in a home-like community through the
following objectives:
Student Development: We want to help each student reach his/her
fullest potential (spiritually, emotionally, academically, and physically.)
We plan to accomplish this through focusing our effort on these four areas:
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Spiritual Growth – We want to model an authentic, godly
life that inspires students to become passionate followers of Christ.
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Biblical Parenting – We want to parent students, in
cooperation with their parents, according to Biblical values, providing
unconditional love, nurture, encouragement, guidance, training,
discipline and prayer.
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Family Life – We want to share our lives and families in
a generous and transparent way.
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Daily Care and Nurture – We want to provide for the
spiritual, emotional, physical and educational needs of boarders on a
daily basis, enabling them to develop life skills, respectful attitudes,
self discipline and personal responsibility.
Communication: We want to communicate effectively
with students, staff, parents and others to achieve mutual understanding and
cooperation.
Community: We want to love and support the members of our community,
seeking to live in unity, healthy interdependence and mutual respect.
Administration: We want to operate the residence life program in an
effective and efficient way.
Personnel: We want to provide ongoing, systematic screening,
training, development and evaluation of Residence Life personnel.
Facilities: We want to provide a safe, comfortable home environment
for boarders.
Finances: We want to follow a balanced and fair budget that provides
for the needs of the boarding students.
We strive to make the residential program as home-like as possible within
the limits of a large, close community. We want our dorms to become a “home
away from home” for Dalat’s boarding students. We are committed to making
their living environment caring, warm, friendly and comfortable. One of our
highest priorities is to work alongside parents to help meet the needs of
our students, so that they will grow physically, socially, emotionally,
academically and spiritually within our program.
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Our Values
Dalat International School has developed values and guidelines for community
living which provide both personal freedoms and responsibilities.
As a residence life staff team, we value:
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Christ-likeness and personal integrity, as we believe
that providing positive role models for our dorm students is best done
when we are continually growing in spiritual maturity and character.
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Healthy marriages and families, as these are the
foundation for providing a positive home environment for dorm students.
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Excellence in ministry, as we do our work unto God our
Master.
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Co-parenting with our dorm students’ parents, as we
believe that regular, loving and honest communication with parents is
essential to best serve the needs of their children.
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Team unity and community, as we believe that
interdependence and mutual support is essential to the success of our
team.
As residence life staff, we seek to mentor and inspire our
students to embrace these values:
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Spiritual growth: Each of our residence life staff
desire to see each boarding student grow in his or her understanding of
God’s love. Each dorm family will spend time reading the Bible and
praying together, as well as attending local church services. In
addition to these formal times of spiritual instruction, our staff
members will provide Biblical guidance and counsel to boarding students.
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Respect for Others: As we live in close quarters and a
small community, an extra measure of consideration needs to be shown to
one another. Students are expected to show respect for dorm-mates, dorm
parents, teachers, support staff, and those in our community.
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Personal responsibility and integrity: The boarding
program operates on a trust basis. We trust our students to follow the
guidelines of the school and of the boarding program. Realizing that
maturity comes through learning from one’s mistakes, we expect students
to be cooperative in accepting the consequences for misbehavior. This
process will help students mature and develop into people of integrity.
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Healthy relationships: Students will be encouraged to
develop and maintain healthy relationships that are marked by love,
consideration, purity and forgiveness. Students should seek to resolve
conflicts in appropriate ways.
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Reaching one’s fullest potential, academically and in
all areas of life: We will provide accountability for our students to
ensure they give their best effort to their studies.
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Positive attitude: A student’s attitude will determine
whether his or her dorm stay will be a negative or positive experience.
Staff and students will work together to foster an atmosphere of
gratefulness, helpfulness, and unity in dorm families. Negative
attitudes such as complaining, grumbling, and deception, a critical
spirit, divisiveness or disrespect for authority will be avoided.
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Personal health and safety: This includes maintaining
appropriate personal habits, eating well-balanced meals, using proper
manners, and adhering to school safety rules.
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Community service: We believe that our students’
boarding experience will be enhanced if they reach out to those in need
in our community. Dorm families will seek opportunities to serve
together in their communities.
We desire that our expectations and guidelines be value-driven, so that
our students do not merely comply with a list of rules, but learn the
importance of making careful choices in their behavior based on Biblical
principles. We hope that our dorm students become known for embracing
these values, as they study at DIS and continue on wherever God leads
them.
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Our Staff
Our dorm staff team consists of enthusiastic and nurturing Christian men and
women who are committed to residence life ministry. We have fivedorm parent
couples, one dorm assistant, a nurse and a Residence Supervisor couple on
the staff team who are dedicated to making each student’s stay at Dalat a
positive and enriching experience.
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Our Dorm
Families
Our boarding program is currently home to 73 dorm students from a wide
variety of backgrounds and diverse cultures and languages. Each of the dorms
has a blend of younger and older students who learn to live together in
unity and harmony.
We transitioned to family-style dorms several years ago
which means that siblings are placed together in the same dorm and students
usually remain with the same dorm family for the duration of their stay at
Dalat. Each co-ed dorm family is a blend of younger and older students,
creating a family atmosphere. In family-style dorms, students become like
“brothers” and “sisters” to each other. Each of the dorms may have children
from first through twelfth grade. Each dorm family enjoys a wide variety of
activities together, such as going shopping, attending church services,
enjoying family outings and meals out together.
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Our Facilities
Dalat International School has six dormitories, five on
campus and one located about fifteen minutes away. Our on-campus dorms are
named after famous missionaries: Chandler, Jaffray, Jackson and
Ziemer. The off-campus facility is referred to as Eckman-Smith dorm. Each dorm
building is different and unique. Our staff work hard to make each one feel
homey, secure and comfortable for our students.
 We are always trying to improve our facilities. We recently
installed air conditioners in all of the dorm bedrooms which are now greatly
appreciated by our boarding students. Our dorm study rooms are also air
conditioned. Three of our five dorms have new furniture in all of the
bedrooms and the remaining two dorms will receive their new furniture within
the next year. Each dorm also has a lounge and kitchen area for students to
gather to socialize, do homework, or make snacks. Each dorm bedroom is home
to between 2 and 4 boarders. Students are provided with beds, dressers,
wardrobes, end tables and desks in each room. Our on-campus dorms surround
the outer perimeter of our campus, so that students have a short walk to
school from whichever dorm they live in.
Chandler Dorm
Jackson Dorm can be found in between our school gym
and the middle school building. The dorm layout includes a girls’ wing, a
boys’ wing (each with bathrooms at the end of each hallway) with the dorm
parents’ apartment, the dorm lounge, kitchen and study room in between.
Uncle Scott and Aunt Debbie Cairncross are the dorm parents in Jackson Dorm.
Jaffray Dorm has a great ocean view and breeze, easy
access to the rest of the campus, and is a favorite hang out place after
school and on weekends. It is located past Ziemer dorm and right before the
stairs leading down to the cafeteria. The layout includes a girls’ wing and
a boys’ wing (each room has a private bathroom), and large lounge with
kitchen, two study rooms and the dorm parents’ apartment. Uncle Tim and Aunt
Vi Steinert care for the Jaffray dorm family.
Ziemer Dorm is located on upper campus between the
clinic and Jaffray Dorm, right beside our school fountain. Uncle David and
Aunt Suzette Boshoff are the current dorm parents. Currently, there are 3
boys’ rooms and 3 girls’ rooms in Ziemer dorm; each room has a private
bathroom. At the center of the dorm is the lounge, kitchen and study room.
Eckman-Smith Dorm is the only dorm located off of Dalat
International School grounds. It is a home away from home for several
students who attend DIS. The facility can house up to fourteen students and
has a spacious living room, a study area, kitchen and dorm parent apartment.
Uncle Larry and Aunt Kathy Bieling live in Smith and enjoy taking care of
their dorm family.
Our Dorm Schedule
Each school day morning begins with a home-made breakfast
prepared by the dorm parents in each dorm home. Before students head off for
school, they are responsible to take and pick up their laundry and tidy
their rooms. School starts at 8:20 am. School lunch is served in the
cafeteria. After school, students return home to their dorms for a snack and
to re-connect with their dorm parents. Each afternoon is filled with a
variety of activities including sports, drama, clubs, tutoring and homework
sessions. Supper is served family-style in the cafeteria at 5:40 pm each
evening. Free time after supper allows students to enjoy our campus
facilities: basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pool, soccer field,
playgrounds and many benches and swings for socializing. Evening study hall
is required from 7:30 – 9:00 pm in the computer lab, library or dorms. At
the end of study hall time, students gather in their dorms either for family
devotions, a weekly dorm meeting with a special treat or free time with
their dorm brothers and sisters. Before-bed-snacking is popular, so our dorm
kitchens are stocked with basic foods like bread, cheese, fruit and noodles.
Bedtime for younger students is between 8:30 and 9:30 pm. High school
students head for bed by 10 pm.
Weekend bedtimes for older students are midnight on Fridays
and 11 pm on Saturdays. Weekend activities include trips to the mall, or the
tourist strip of Batu Feringi, or going to the movies with friends. Penang
is famous for delicious local food stalls which Dalat students enjoy on a
regular basis. Weekends are also the time to work ahead on school projects.
The computer lab is opened Saturday afternoons for students to work on their
weekend homework.
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Residence
Supervisors
Brian and Valerie Weidemann, alumni of Dalat from the class
of 1986, have served as the residence supervisors since May of 2004. They
ministered at Dalat in the role as dorm parents for their first four years
at Dalat and now supervise and support the boarding staff team and program.
Brian represents the boarding program on several standing committees such as
the School Leadership Team, School Management Team, Special Services Team
and National Staff Supervisors Team. The dorm staff team meets weekly as a
group to discuss boarding issues and plan special events for dorm students.
Each dorm staff member also meets with the RS on a weekly or bi-weekly
schedule for ongoing support and accountability.
The Residence Supervisor oversees the support services of
the boarding program such as the cafeteria, the guest house, security, and
the laundry/housekeeping departments.
The Residence Supervisors also meet with the Dorm Council
which is a group of student representatives who meet monthly to discuss
current issues, ideas and suggestions for improving the boarding program.
If you are interested in a staff position on the residence
life team, please contact Brian and Valerie at . They are
responsible for the screening and hiring of dorm staff. Check out the
school’s web site for potential openings for the next school year.
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Guest House
Our residence life program offers guest rooms for
visiting parents of our boarders and other visitors to DIS. We currently
have two guest rooms on campus and an additional two off campus, within
walking distance of our school. If you would like to make a reservation for
our guest house, please contact the Guest House Supervisor at
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Short Stay
Program
Our residence life program also offers a short stay
opportunity for DIS day students who need short-term housing. The fee for a
short stay in the boarding program is RM 100 per day per student which is
charged to the parents’ account. Short stays are not scheduled during the
first or last week of each semester. We accommodate as many requests as
possible, on a first come, first serve basis. The fee includes lodging and
all meals; towels and linens are also provided. If you would like to request
a short stay for your child, please fill out the
short stay request form (Microsoft Word
document) and
send it to . Requests will be processed by the short stay coordinator when
the completed forms are received.
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