Teachers

ENGLISH TEACHER

Lodi Pertovt

Lodi Pertovt is the English Teacher for Grades 6 to 9. He is Australian and has been teaching in different schools in Australia for the past 6 years.

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

Raija Perttunen

Raija Perttunen is from Finland. With 40 years of experience in education, Raija has been recruited as elementary principal for PreK4 to Grade 5.

DRAMA ARTS TEACHER

Chris Kelly

Chris Kelly is the Drama Arts Teacher for Grade 1 to 9. He is from Australia and has 25 years’ experience teaching at schools in Australia, Egypt, and Brazil.

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER

John Ariail

John Ariail is the Social Studies Teacher for Grades 6 to 9. He is American and has over 24 years of experience teaching in the USA, as well as in China and Indonesia.

MAKERSPACE TEACHER

Benjamin Newton

Benjamin Newton is the Makerspace Teacher for Grades 6 to 9. He is from the United States and has 22 years’ experience teaching in the United States, South Korea, and China.

FRENCH LANGUAGE TEACHER

Adam Benabbès

Adam Benabbès is a French Language Teacher for Grade 1 to 9. He is from Morocco and has been teaching at different schools here for the past 10 years.

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Alex Maros

Alex Maros is the teacher for Grade 4. He is from the US and has been teaching at different schools in the USA for the past 6 years.

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Satu Labigne

Satu Labigne is Finnish and has over 15 years of experience teaching children from PreK4 to Grade 4, having worked in Finland and China. We have recruited her as an elementary teacher.

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Annie Almekinder

Annie Almekinder is an American who was hired as our director of educational technology. She brings more than 25 years of experience, having worked primarily in the United States and later in Bangladesh.

ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHER (EAL)

Alisha Brizicky

Alisha Brizicky teaches English as an Additional Language for Grades 6 to 9. She is an American with over 12 years of experience at schools in the United States, China and South Korea.

VOCAL MUSIC AND CHOIR TEACHER

Christopher Borges

Christopher Borges is the Vocal Music and Choir Teacher for Grade PreK4 to 9. He is an American citizen and has been teaching for over 25 years in the United States and Brazil.

VISUAL ARTS TEACHER

Léo Lefort

Léo Lefort is the Visual Arts Teacher for Grades 1 to 9. He is French and has spent the past 14 years teaching at international schools in Ethiopia, Dubai, and London, prior to which he was an art director and graphic designer.

ATHLETICS AND CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR

Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson is Athletics and Co-Curricular Activities Director for all grades. He is from the United Kingdom and for the past 12 years taught in China and the United Kingdom.

SCIENCE TEACHER

Ingrid Kopke Donado

Ingrid Kopke Donado is the Science Teacher for Grades 6 to 9. She is from Colombia and has over 17 years of experience in education, having worked in Colombia, Germany and most recently Panama.

SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

Heather Purcell

Heather Purcell is the Librarian for the entire school. She is originally from the United States. Her international experience spans 23 years, including the United States, South Korea, Egypt, and Brazil.

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Michelina McPherson

Michelina McPherson teaches Grade 5 at DAS. She is American and has over 24 years’ experience teaching at schools in Japan, USA, China and Vietnam.

FRENCH COORDINATOR ET TEACHER

Elisabeth Lefort

Elisabeth Lefort is our French Coordinator and Teacher. She is French and has 21 years of international experience having taught in Ethiopia, Dubai and London.

MATH TEACHER

Gavin Hopwood

Gavin Hopwood is the Math Teacher for Grades 6 to 9. He is from the United Kingdom, and came to DAS from Panama after more than 26 years teaching in Russia, Colombia, Qatar, Hong Kong, and Germany.

PREK TEACHER

Shalin Guillen

Shalin Guillen teaches students in PreKindergarten at our school. She is from the United States and for the past 5 years has taught at schools in France, Morocco and the USA.

LIFE X-PERIENCE TEACHER

Sanna Aman

Sanna Aman is the Life X-perience Teacher. She is a Finnish citizen and came to us after 6 years teaching this subject in Finland.

LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER

Tinja Heimo

Tinja Heimo is the Learning Support Teacher for PreK through Grade 9. She is originally from Finland and has been a classroom and special education teacher for 7 years now.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Zineb Benmakhlouf

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Chantal Butzbach

Chantal Butzbach is our Kindergarten Teacher. She is from the United States and has over 19 years of experience teaching in Morocco, Congo, and China.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR

Lyubov Borisova Waters

Lyubov Borisova Waters is our Elementary School Counselor. She is an American citizen with over 27 years of experience working as a school counselor and principal.

ARABIC TEACHER

Mohammed Omari

Mohammed Omari teaches Arabic Language to Grades 1 to 9. He is Moroccan and has been teaching Arabic at various schools in Morocco for the past 6 years.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Meriem Bellamine

Meriem Bellamine is a Moroccan multilingual teaching assistant at DAS. She is a former student of the Casablanca American School, where she also worked for 5 years. She is passionate, loving and caring person who also loves new experiences and challenges. She lived in Switzerland and Spain and loves sharing and learning about different cultures.

ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHER (EAL)

Kim Ariail

Kim Ariail teaches English as an Additional Language (EAL) for Grades 1 to 5. She comes from the United States, but has over 20 years’ experience teaching overseas in China and Indonesia.

LIBRARY ASSISTANT

Bouchra Slaoui

ARABIC TEACHER

Adil El Megaless

Adil El Megaless teaches Arabic Language to Grades 1 to 9. He is from Morocco and has been teaching at different schools in Morocco for the past 16 years.

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Jaana Errajia

Jaana Errajia teaches Grade 3 at DAS. She is from Finland, where she has spent the past 17 years teaching.

TEACHING ASSISTANT

Diaritza Diaz

Diaritza is an American, originally from New York City. She is a multilingual teaching assistant at DAS, who has experience working with children for over 10 years in the U.S.A, Jordan, and Morocco. Being multilingual enables her to understand students from different backgrounds and tailor to their individual educational and emotional needs. Her objective is to help students be aware and understand the wider world and their place in it. To promote compassion, creativity, curiosity and encourage a passion for learning.

ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Megan Skaggs

Megan Skaggs teaches Grade 1 at DAS. She is from the United States and has spent the last 10 years at different schools in the USA, Egypt, Albania, and China.

COLLEGE COUNSELOR

William Watter

William Watter is the school’s College Counselor. He is from the United States and has 12 years of experience in the USA, China, and South Korea.

Health and Physical Education Teacher

Ali Bougrine

Ali Bougrine is a Wellness Teacher for Grade PreK4 to Grade 5. He is from Morocco and has taught at international schools in Morocco and Indonesia for the past 7 years.

WELLNESS (PE) TEACHER

Laurent Labigne

Laurent Labigne teaches Wellness to Grades 6 to 9 at DAS. Originally, from France, he has spent the past 10 years working in France and Finland.