[1] The school is located in Mvara, Mvara Parish, Arua Hill Sub-county, within the city of Arua, the largest urban centre in the West Nile sub-region, in northwestern Uganda.

The school campus is approximately 3.5 kilometres (2 mi), by road, southeast of the central business district of Arua.

[3] Mvara Secondary School was established in 1960 by the Church Missionary Society.

The strikes were particularly worrisome as they were of a violent nature and involved destruction of school property.

[7] Some of the prominent alumni of the school include: (a) Peace Proscovia Drajole Agondua, a professional Ugandan netball player and the current captain of the Uganda national netball team, who also plays for the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Australian Super Netball League.