From 1913 to 1938 the school occupied a building on Gorée originally built before 1800 for the pirate slave traders Jean and Pierre Lafitte. After 1938 the school occupied a former military garrison in Sébikotane, about 40 kilometres from Dakar, and a village called Sébi-Ponty sprang up to house the school's indigenous African personnel. In 1965 the school moved to Thiès, 70 kilometres east of Dakar, and a portion of the Sebikotane building was turned into a prison. During the government of Senegalese Prime Minister Léopold Senghor, repairs to the building at Sébikotane were neglected, and its occupation by squatters was tolerated. In 1984 the school moved to Kolda.