February 2010

“An Overview of the SACS Review!”

Dear Parents,

Before you know it, we will be hosting our five year Quality Assurance Review (QAR) from Advance-Ed, our accrediting agency. We have submitted our Standards Assessment Report (SAR) and we are very pleased with our results. On Wednesday, February 3, 2010, we will have a Pre-Visit with our chairperson for the QAR visiting team, Ms.Pat Summers. During this meeting we will discuss the logistics for the upcoming visit such as hotel accommodations, transportation, and meal arrangements, as well as the schedule of activities for the 2 days.

During the visit, the team will interview the Director/Principal, the school leadership team, teachers, students, parents, Consultative Board members, and members of the community. The team will also examine artifacts and practices that provide evidence of the seven standards:
1.) Vision and Purpose
2.) Governance and Leadership
3.) Teaching and Learning,
4.) Documenting and Using Results,
5.) Resource and Support Systems,
6.) Stakeholder Communications and Relationships, and
7.) Commitment to Continuous Improvement.

These are the standards that accredited schools are expected to meet, and, In-sha-Allah, our school is in compliance with these standards.

Parents are needed on the logistics committee to help ensure that the visiting team is treated to the highest quality of hospitality. If you are interested in serving on the committee, please call Sis. Edwina at (404)378-1042. If you are willing to be interviewed by the team, please let Sis. Edwina know as well. Those being interviewed will meet with the leadership team and will receive a list of topics the team will discuss.

On another note, we are enlisting the support of all our families for our “Day of Majesty” fundraiser. It is a critical part of fulfilling the financial obligations of the school! We are gearing up for a wonderful weekend during Moonlight Ball, but before we can move forward on that, we MUST fulfill our obligations towards the Day of Majesty. We are asking that each students 3K-8th grade raise AT LEAST $150 towards this fundraiser. Each High School student, we are asking that they bring in $30 for the month of February. Those $30 represent 30 years of uninterrupted Islamic Independent Education! It is a mighty accomplishment to celebrate, and we know that you feel the same. For all families that do not feel compelled to participate in the “Day of Majesty”, please remember your obligation through your Fundraising Contract-that all students are obligated to participate at the $150 level.

Thank you for all that you do on behalf of the Mohammed Schools! May Allah continue to bless us with 30+ more years of Islamic Independent Education!

As-Salaam Alaikum

Safiyyah Shahid

Our tuition is one of the lowest among private schools in the metro area. Tuition costs at some other private schools range from $13,000 to $20,000 on the high end.

While we are proud to say that our tuition did not go up this year, a fact that has helped many parents, the drop in enrollment along with family tuition assistance means that fewer dollars are available for staffing. Within the first weeks of school, we saw that we were headed for a monthly deficit of $12,000 based on current enrollment. To address this issue, we were forced to eliminate a full time position in the middle school and cover those classes with other instructional staff who held at minimum a bachelor’s degree in the field of science. In this way we are able to meet critical certification and education qualifications required by our accrediting agency.

In addition to middle school reassignments, modified budgetary allocations have been put in place for the early childhood department involving Pre-K 3, 1st and 2nd grades. At the high school level we have put in place credentialed staff in the Counselor’s Office, an AP teacher in the English department and a social studies teacher to fill a vacant social studies position.

Again, these decisions support our instructional priorities to utilize school resources more effectively. As we move into the future, we envision a school where all Muslim parents who desire to put their children in Mohammed Schools will be able to do so. Our goal is to increase our capacity to best use the resources we already have more strategically, including staff, time, and money.

We thank you for your support and encouragement as we reprioritize and reorganize to become the school we have envisioned for the success of our students!

Respectfully,

Safiyyah Shahid
Director/Principal