Congratulations to Louisa Gibbs on becoming Chair of the Board of Trustees. She was elected by the trustees earlier this week. I look forward to continuing to serve as a trustee under Louisa’s leadership. I resigned as Chair this month due to my upcoming 3 month absence from Dakar for medical treatment.

The Board would like to express huge thanks and appreciation to Director Alan Knobloch for his tremendous contributions and leadership at ISD since his arrival in August 2014. He is currently in his third year at ISD. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Knobloch and the Board have agreed to a one-year contract extension. He will continue to lead ISD for at least the next two school years of 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.

The Board of Trustees has appointed parent Jennifer Davis to serve as a Trustee. She previously served on the Board at ASA in Madagascar for five years, and for three of those years as Board Chair. Jennifer has been serving as a parent volunteer on the Governance and Leadership Accreditation Committee team at ISD.

The October ISD Board of Trustees meeting was held on Tuesday, October 18. Below are some highlights from the meeting:
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Elementary Presentation
This month’s educational program update was a presentation by Elementary School Principal Kelly Chumrau on supporting elementary school students. Ms. Kelly described how the CORE values at ISD (creativity, open-mindedness, responsibility, and excellence) are embedded and emphasized in classroom learning and elementary activities. She also discussed school safety, communications with the community, the PTO, the Board, and her ​​collaboration with the elementary leadership team.

ISD Board Governance Agreement
Board members adopted and signed the 2016-2017 ISD Board Governance Agreement. The Board Governance Agreement encompasses the governance principles, norms and procedures ​that all ISD Board members commit to abide by. By signing the agreement, Board members signify their acceptance of the duties and norms therein and their agreement to comply with them.

Elementary Classroom Construction
The Board approved the scope of work for converting the existing gym to elementary classrooms. Construction will begin this December so that the classrooms are ready for the next school year.  The construction will help with the urgent need of additional classrooms to meet our current demands.

Dr. Knobloch will be hosting a parent coffee on October 27 at 8:30am to provide an update on​ all current construction projects. Board members will also give a brief presentation on ISD’s​ governing body - who we are and what we do. We hope you can attend!

The Board reviewed and discussed the financial reports on the last fiscal year 2015-2016. They then discussed the key assumptions, limits, and scenarios for the development of the 2017- ​2018 budget.

Full minutes of the October 18 Board meeting will be available to the ISD community following approval by the Board at the November 15 Board meeting. The September Board minutes are posted in the glass enclosed board by the front of the school and on the website. Please contact us at Boardbox@isd.sn to access the minutes online, as they are password protected.

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer Grant, ISD Board of Trustees