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Islamic School To Open In Las Vegas
by Ayub Khan
WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - Las Vegas is best known around the world for all the wrong reasons. It is famous, or infamous, for its prized gambling dens, drive-thru marriage license services, prostitution and virtually nil state tax.
What it is not known for, is that it also home to three mosques and more than 8,000 Muslims who are striving to make their presence felt in the community and make Islam a living reality.
The Omar Haikal Islamic Academy, which is slated to open in August, will be the first of its kind in the city. The 28,000 square-foot, $4 million school located near Warm Springs Road and Interstate 215 is funded entirely by the Las Vegas Muslim Community.
Osama Haikal, president of the school and leading gastrointerologist - the school is named in the memory of his father - told the Las Vegas Sun "This has taken years of work. As a community, we are very proud of this."
The school is expected to ultimately enroll 250 kindergarten through eighth grade children. Forty students have already enrolled in the school.
The school sits on a five-acre site and has 12 classrooms and computer and science labs. It will also house a 5,600 square foot multipurpose hall that will be used for basketball games as well as for daily prayer.
Children will be taught the Holy Qur'an, Arabic and Islamic History, along with the regular state mandated curriculum of math, science and English. The school hopes to maintain a student-teacher ratio of under 17 to 1.
As a not-for-profit entity, the school is open to non-Muslims as well. Tuition is $2,500 per year for kindergartners and $3,500 per year for 1st- through 8th-graders.
Haikal, who has three children who are all enrolled in the new school, told the Las Vegas newspaper, "If there is one reason I consented to do this project, it is the science lab. As a physician, I know that you not only need to learn from books, but you need hands-on experience. I do not believe the public schools here are strong enough in math and science."
Haikal also said, "We intend to be competitive for teachers. We have begun recruiting for teachers nationwide. We will offer a very competitive salary and benefits package to teachers, because we want the best."
Shaban Kaboud, a construction foreman told the newspaper, "The problem is that it is really difficult to practice your religion in a public school. It's nearly impossible. And we believe it is very important for our children to be educated in an Islamic atmosphere."
Elaine Fareed, a trustee for the school said, "It is that important to us. The fact that the Muslim community was building an Islamic school here - a place for our children to learn their faith and receive a quality education - was the major appeal for us to stay [in the area]. It is a milestone for our community."
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