MCC School

This is a classroom for 4-5 year olds at the MCC School.

In 2009, the Muslim Community Center of Minnesota expanded, purchasing the adjacent building, a former Chinese restaurant, and converting the building into a school. The school offers an Islamic education for boys and girls ages 5 to 15 from all backgrounds, all faiths, and all ethnicities, learning Islamic principles and disciplines though learning to read the Holy Quran. As Shahid Aziz, the administrative of the MCC School, explained, “The objective of this school is to teach our children the principles and values of the Islamic faith.”¹ Thus, the curriculum includes instruction in the Arabic Language, Qur’an and Islamic studies, including iman and ibadat, adab and ikhlaq, hadith, seerah and stories from the Qur’an. Meeting Friday from 6:15 – 9pm and Saturday from 11am -2pm, the students are placed in groups based on their ages and their proficiency in the subject areas, reorganized mid-year based on evaluations. A Beginner’s Arabic class is also offered for older students still building their Arabic abilities. Special additional classes or tutoring are also available for students who fall well below or far above their age peers. ²

Students take a break from their classes, eat lunch, play outside, and attend midday prayer.

Prayers are posted along the hallways and inside the classrooms of the MCC School.

The school also offers an Early Childhood Islamic Education (ECIE) program for younger children, offering separate classes for toddler ages two to three, preschoolers ages three to four, and kindergarten ages four to five. The preschool classes, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am – 1 pm, help students expand their English and Arabic alphabet, in adddtiion to beginning math concepts, science, arts and crafts, and Islamic studies. The junior kindergarten classes, meeting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, also from 10am – 1pm, the curriculum, in addition to practicing both English and Math, includes “Quran recitation of short surahs, … seerah of the prophets, stories of the Quran, Islamic manners, basic introduction to the Five Pillars, science activities, arts & crafts, fine and gross motor skills, and classroom routines.” The ECIE Program “helps to develop and learn Islamic values early on as it is essential for a child’s identity.” Professionally trained, experienced teachers teach these classes in a safe, comfortable, Montessori-style, hands-on learning environment. In addition to stressing the importance of play, the program also focuses on “Literacy, mathematical and observational skills while building Islamic knowledge in Arabic, Qur’an, Islamic manners, Dua and prayers.”¹

With 100-120 children attending, the MCC School was founded by and run by parents and members of the community, volunteering their time to teach their children. The parent association, meeting every month, helps with the administration of the school, conducts various fundraisers, hosts school community potlucks every first Friday of the month, and organizes activities for special Islamic occasions. As the Shahid expressed, “As parents, our main concern is to make sure our kids, as they grow, follow the same teachings of Islam and the same practices that we were brought up with.”