Islamic Academy Back to School

Like schools everywhere, Al-Noor Academy has started its first trimester of the new school year. More than 60 students, in grades six through 12, arrive at the Academy's 20 Church Street facility every morning, some from as far away as south of Providence, and inner-city Boston.

While the school does not discriminate on any basis other than an academic entrance exam, all of its pupils this year adhere to the Muslim faith. Al-Noor, which means "The Light" in Arabic, has classes in Islamic religion, Holy Quran, and Arabic. However, it maintains rigid academic standards in every aspect of the Massachusetts Education Frameworks. The faculty is heavily Arabic, but its entire English faculty is comprised of native English speakers.

The students are required to wear uniforms: dark blue or black for boys, with polo shirts or button-downs, and jeans are prohibited. Girls wear black or blue hijab (head covering, which does not cover the face) and abaya (a loose-fitting body garment). As opposed to common thought, Muslim women are not required to wear the hijab, and if they do, dark colors are not demanded. However, at Al-Noor the uniform code is strictly enforced.

Both genders change for physical education, enhanced significantly this year by creating an all-sports blacktop adjacent to the school and hiring a professional trainer affiliated with the New England Patriots to teach boys' physical education. The girls' PE teacher returned.

Starting last year and running through the summer, the school received a massive refitting, the culmination of which will be the unveiling of a new science lab, expected within the month. The faculty was expanded, adding Art, Photography, Journalism, and Advanced Writing electives.

A unique aspect of Al-Noor which has enjoyed great success in recent years is its Dual Enrollment program. Juniors and Seniors of high academic standing (ANA grades on a 4.5 GPA scale) attend area colleges as regular students three days a week, returning to Mansfield Tuesdays and Thursdays for their core Muslim studies, and extracurricular requirements. Among those requirements is community service, without which a student cannot earn an ANA diploma.

In the 13 years since the school was founded in Quincy, and continuing through its time in Mansfield, the college acceptance percentage is 100: no student has ever graduated and not been accepted to at least a four-year institution, many of them prestigious (Ivy League, Seven Sisters, BC, BU, Tufts, to name but a very few), they have also been accepted in four-plus year programs such as Mass College of Pharmacy and Allied Health.

The school welcomes inquiries about its program, and you can expect to read about its achievements and milestones this year in this blog.