Ranya Aljabari, a Brooklyn Park mother, frequently told her Inver Grove Heights friends they were lucky to be able to send their kids to the city’s Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy - a school “way too far away” from her north metro home.
Now, she has stopped saying that.
The public charter school, which focuses on Arabic language and culture, is opening a Blaine campus this fall, a move that has excited Aljabari and other immigrant parents in the north suburbs.
“When we heard about it, we jumped right in and signed up,” said Mohammad Aljabari, Ranya’s husband.
The Palestinian couple and their children came to the U.S. about two years ago. Since then, they’ve been wishing for an affordable nearby school where their children could enjoy a more culturally comfortable environment and learn Arabic without compromising on other school subjects.
“With what’s going on in the Mideast and politics, it’s good for Americans to know Arabic so they can help narrow the gap between those societies,” said Sameh Shabaneh, whose children have been attending the original academy for two years.
Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy tries to meet the needs of immigrant children. The school’s innovative ESL program and Arabic language classes make it attractive to parents from East Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Its students hail from Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, the U.S. and Mexico.
The Inver Grove Heights school has a waiting list of about 1,500 students.
Talk of expanding to Blaine began this summer, Mohammad Aljabari said.
“Parents in the north suburbs have been watching our progress over the last four years and suggested that we come to their neighborhood,” said Asad Zaman, the school’s executive director.
“Most of our students are first- or second-generation immigrants. English is not the native language for most of them, yet we get really good grades that outperform many suburban districts,” Zaman said. “I think we’ve already established a high reputation for a rigorous academic program catered to immigrant populations.”
The school follows a seemingly stern disciplinary system, which is meant to help students keep their ethnic identity, said Mahroos Kandil, the Arabic curriculum coordinator who also will be principal of the Blaine campus.
“We don’t allow anything outside the boundaries of the culture,” he said.
Shabaneh loves the school’s atmosphere.
“The whole environment there, I haven’t seen it in a traditional public school,” he said. “I feel like it’s a family-oriented atmosphere. It has character, and it’s safe. I have no worries about sending my kids.”
The four-year-old Inver Grove Heights school has grown every year and now serves 375 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The Blaine location will serve kindergarten through fourth grade and will add a higher grade each year.
The campus opens Sept. 4 with room for 75 students. So far, 65 seats have been filled. Students will take classes at a temporary site in Columbia Heights while the permanent building is remodeled at 12175 Aberdeen St. in Blaine.
The Inver Grove Heights campus will become the district headquarters, and the Blaine school will run on the same program, rules and curriculum.
From what the Aljabaris have seen and heard, it’s going to be a life-changing experience for their children.
“I think the students are going to be closer to their culture; the children will feel more comfortable,” Mohammad Aljabari said. “It’s a wish more than anything else right now, but we hope it will be true.”
Liala Helal can be reached at lhelal@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-2173.
To Apply
Applications for the Blaine campus are available online at www.tizacademy.com. There are 10 open seats remaining for the 2007-08 academic year.
For more information, call Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy at 651-457-7072.
