Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) of the International School of Dakar is a voluntary service organization managed by the parents and teachers of ISD that works in support of the school. PTO is a great way to meet other parents and quickly become involved in your child’s school.

At a place like ISD, where students, teachers, and administrators are always on the move, we feel it is particularly important to create a strong sense of community among our families. Your participation with PTO not only allows you to learn more about your child’s school environment, it gives you an immediate way to make new friends and learn about the different cultures represented at ISD. 

What We Do

Fundraising: By coordinating events such as our Book Fairs and the December Santa Sale, the PTO raises money each year to support a variety of projects and requests at ISD. Our funding committee solicits grant applications from teachers and student groups, reviews them, and allocates funds available.

Over the years, PTO fundraising has paid for the visits of writers and musicians to the school, djembes and guitars for the music room, sports banners for the Athletic Department, pre-school playground equipment, field trips, a mascot costume for the ISD Jaguars, as well as other items.

Community-building Events: PTO organizes many evening events throughout the year. These include family potluck dinners and desserts, welcome-back receptions, and the Soiree Litteraire, an evening of book-themed dinner parties (hosted by community members in their homes) that ends with dancing and dessert at the school. This event is both community-building and fundraising. Last year’s event raised several thousand dollars to create a library for ISD’s sister school located in Pikine, a suburb of Dakar.

Our Membership

The PTO is made up of volunteer parents and teachers affiliated with ISD. Members of the ISD PTO can support activities without becoming officers or attending meetings on a full-time basis. We always need parents to help as volunteers with specific activities or events throughout the year, such as our Book Fairs, the December Santa Sale, the International Dinner, or the Soiree Litteraire. You can also join us simply by serving as a room parent, helping your child’s teacher as needed.

The Association is led by an elected Committee that includes: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, three voting sub-committee members and three Teacher Representatives. Members of the Committee are elected at the first PTO meeting of every academic year. The PTO Chairperson sits on the School Board as a non-voting member. PTO meetings are held once a month and are open to all parents and teachers. We hope to see you there!

PTO Officers

Magida Safaoui	CHAIRPERSON & EVENTS COORDINATOR
Grainne MacRae	VICE-CHAIR
Corine Lategan	TREASURER
Gina Chua	SECRETARY
Jenny Ellis	ROOM PARENTS CHAIR
Brad Bell	SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION REPRESENTATIVE
Vacant	FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE

PTO Committees

Major PTO activities at ISD are managed by volunteer sub-committees:

• Book Fair Committee: We hold several book fairs during the year, and in recent years, have coordinated the students ordering their own books from Scholastic flyers.
• Santa Sale Committee: Locally-made items are sold before the winter break so that kids can easily buy gifts for friends and family back home.
• International Dinner Committee: Everyone has a taste of the many countries represented at the school.