He
said that it will build confidence among parents that "we can
provide this kind of education for our kids and permit them to go to
college."
Al-Amal
weaves together religious and academic teaching. Reading, math, science
and social studies are taught along with Arabic and the holy Qur’an.
Parents
and students come to religious private school for smaller class sizes
and a sense of discipline and unity in the religion.
Malik,
a senior at 16 who plans to attend the University of Minnesota, was
among the first group of Al-Amal students, starting as a fourth-grader.
The
school, he said, offers the chance to be around Muslims all the time and
brings together people of different races and ethnicities.
"We
all share one thing. We share Islam."
Al-Amal
has grown to 307 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
It's
one of about 200 full-time Islamic schools nationwide and the only one
operating in Minnesota, according to the Islamic Schools' League of
America.
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|
Amber
came to Al-Amal as an eighth-grader from a small town in North
Dakota
|
Most
of the Islamic schools in the country teach elementary grades and
roughly 25 percent graduate seniors, said Judi Amri, the group's
director, who estimates the nation is adding about five to 10 new
Islamic schools a year.
Finding
the resources to teach high school can be difficult for small schools.
Al-Amal
has made it work because the three graduating students are part of the
Post Secondary Enrollment Options Program, a state program that lets
Minnesota juniors and seniors take academic course work at the
University of Minnesota or other colleges without charge.
Sumaiya,
18, who has been at Al-Amal since ninth grade, has finished two years of
college work already.
Amber,
18, came to Al-Amal as an eighth-grader from a small town in North
Dakota.
The
principal sees reasons for hope. He has a small waiting list for
preschool, and his eighth and ninth grades have about 15 students each,
making it likely that this graduation ceremony won't be the last.
Other
Islamic schools in the U.S. and Canada welcomed the event.
In
her congratulatory message to Al-Amal School, Janet Nazif of
Noor-Ul-Iman School, whose school will graduate its first class of four
students next year, said, “We know it is not easy, and that your
success represents a lot of hard work. Insha'Allah your success will
inspire the rest of us to keep at it.”
