About Us – ISA – DJIBOUTI

The ISA Logo and Our Values

LION:

The lion face reflects the African culture; it also has a symbolic meaning of wisdom, power and royalty. ISA aims to build wisdom and power in its young learners.

SHIELD:

The shield represents the power of knowledge and how it gives protection if used well. The sharp edges of the armor represent strength and stability; ISA will guide their students in attaining knowledge and provide for its students the stability to learn to use it wisely.

PEN:

The pen is a symbol of education and intelligence. It is used to represent the power of knowledge and how it can be used: as a tool for peace or a weapon for war. ISA strives to teach students to be productive and compassionate members of society by developing awareness and the mindset of a positive global citizen.

A Message from the Head of School

Tricia Rock, M.Ed., Ed.S

Greetings and welcome to the International School of Africa (ISA), the home of the Lions! I am thrilled that you have decided to view our school’s website in order to learn more about the wonderful students, staff, and programs we have to offer.

ISA has a reputation of excellence and we continuously strive to raise the rigor and overall expectations for ourselves as adult learners as well as for our students and families. As we continue to meet the goals outlined in our guiding statements, the ethos of our school's operations. We seek to connect with various stakeholders that will continue to enhance our learning journey as we prepare our students for intercultural learning opportunities that would propel them to be life-long Global Citizens.

Our school community is dedicated to providing our students with a well-rounded educational experience. Both in and outside the classroom. We engage in various community service learning expeditions, build active student voice through Student Council, Model United Nations (MUN), Debate Club, French Club, Arabic Club and a host of other student-led activities including After-School programs.

As a diverse learning community we are committed to providing cultural linguistic and differentiated innovative lessons to our students, while incorporating technology to meet the needs of our 21^st century learners.

While the core curriculum is provided for all students, we believe it is also essential to incorporate character education and implement ISTE standards, in order to prepare our students to be competitive as global citizens.

We encourage you to visit our beautiful campus and see that we are a school committed to children, with a college and career focus. We are a ColllegeBoard school and administer the digital international PSATs and SATs annually. You will find that this is a vibrant and engaging community of teachers, learners and parents.

To our parents, we believe that your involvement is an essential component to the academic success of your child. I encourage you to visit our website often, meet your child’s teacher and to get engaged in all that our mission and vision has to offer. Your participation in our school is greatly appreciated!

I look forward to partnering with you on behalf of our future leaders as we focus on our imprinted philosophy of supporting “Every Child, Every Chance, Every Day.”

Enthusiastically,

Tricia M. Rock

Head of School

Board of Advisors

As an international school, ISA is honored to have an experienced Board of Advisors (BOA) to advise and guide us in our growth and development. Four times each year, the Board of Advisors come to the school and meet with the Leadership Team, staff and families. These men are experienced international educators that invest their time and combined knowledge to help ISA develop its Strategic Plan. They confer on matters that relate to designing programs that support the vision and mission of the school, as well as analysis of data gathered for future planning and development.

To learn more about the Board of Advisors

ISA Staff

ISA Staff is composed of licensed, English speaking educators from over 14 different nationalities. Teachers are experienced in working with English Language Learners whose past educational experiences may not have utilized English. Our program is based on the California Common Core State Standards and prepares students for university study at international programs.

Campus & Facilities

ISA is located in the Nagad City area of Djibouti, behind the Italian Military Base. The campus itself offers an autonomous brick and mortar school, combined with shaded areas for families to visit, a spacious green field for football/soccer, a computer lab, a library, a health suite with a full-time health clinician, a multi-purpose room that serves a functionality for on campus as well as off campus guest events, and a cafeteria where we prepare fresh on site meals each day. All of our classroom are equipped with smart board technology, including computer access with WiFi capabilities.

Health & Safety at ISA

ISA considers the health and safety in addition, to the well-being of our students, staff and families of the highest importance. Our security and health procedures work to ensure that our community is safe and secure while on campus.

ISA employs full time security staff to patrol the school site during school and off hours.
All visitors to the ISA campus are required to sign in with security before entry onto campus. Security provides Visitor Badges to all campus visitors.
Parents, drivers and/or guardians are registered and approved prior to pick up of students from campus.
ISA employs a full time licensed nurse to attend to non-emergency needs of students and staff while at school. He also dispense medications, at the approval of parents/guardians, to students while at school.
ISA requires all families to submit a Student Health Form as part of the Admissions Process when students enroll in school. We ask that parents/guardians update this form yearly, to maintain current health information on file at the school.
ISA Staff are trained annually in health and safety methods that are necessary to care for any special needs of students on campus or bus transport.
ISA has a comprehensive Child Protection Policy that is implemented in accordance to the standards of the United Nations Conventions of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
Emergency Drills are practiced with staff and students annually. Our Emergency Evacuation Policy and Procedures are written and communicated to outline practices that will be followed in the event of an emergency during school hours.

ISA Child Protection Policy

International schools have a moral as well as legal duty to safeguard the welfare of our students, as well as those children using our facilities or involved with our programs and activities. ISA has a clear policy and procedures concerning child abuse and protection. The school’s Child Protection Policy outlines steps to minimize the threat of child abuse at any level in our school. In addition, to outlining how the Child Protection Officer and Child Protection Team comprised of the School Resource Officer, School Nurse, Head of School and a designated teacher is expected to respond promptly and effectively should abuse be observed, suspected, or disclosed. And that any staff member who discloses any such action is protected under our whistleblowing policy.

History

The School, City, and the Republic of Djibouti Community

The International School of Africa (ISA) was established in 2015 with the desire to become the international school of choice for East Africa. ISA was founded by Sahara Global Education to meet a growing demand for an international English-curriculum education in Djibouti. With a 5% growth rate for the last two decades, Djibouti has attracted investors, companies, non-governmental organizations and military bases. Unfortunately, during the early days of growth, there was no accredited English-curriculum school with a high quality program available to families moving to Djibouti. As a result, Sahara Global Education purchased extensive property around Djibouti and launched a building project for ISA facilities in 2016; this project helped to fulfil the Djiboutian authorities’ 2035 Vision. In addition, it has facilitated the settlement of English speaking families in Djibouti.

Learn more about the history of ISA