11-12-2021
Assalamu Alaikum Dear Parents,
The Islamic Academy for Peace is hosting its first NEASC committee on Wednesday November 17th, 2021. NEASC stands for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. According to their website, their mission is “Improving Schools. Empowering Students. Promoting Excellence”.
NEASC website (https://www.neasc.org/home) states that, “NEASC is an independent, voluntary, nonprofit membership organization which connects and serves over 1500 public, independent, and international schools in the US and worldwide. Founded in 1885, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has been working to establish and maintain high standards for all levels of education longer than any other accreditation agency in the United States.
A globally recognized standard of excellence, NEASC Accreditation attests to a school’s high quality and integrity.
NEASC is an advocate of educational quality and its ongoing improvement; its purposes are
exclusively educational. It serves the public interest, the educational community, and the
students within the educational system by:
establishing and maintaining high standards of educational excellence
providing a framework for institutional self-reflection and objective peer review
serving as a resource and support for ongoing, meaningful whole-school improvement and growth.”
The accreditation takes place every 10 years with an interim report at the 5 years mark. TIA has
been first accredited in 2011 and is now due for the second accreditation for the 2021-2022
academic year. It is a one-year process that will end in May.
The agency looks at all the aspects of a school: board, school committee, finance, technology, curriculum, teachers’ instruction, teachers’ evaluations and observations, parent involvement, alumni involvement, community involvement, and much more.
The NEASC committee looks also at the school policies, parents’ and teachers’ handbooks, crisis
management plan, school improvement plan, 5-year strategic plan, 3 to 5 year financial plan,
budget, tuition, salaries, marketing plan, parents’ contracts, teachers’ contracts and much
more.
By the end of May 2022, TIA will be informed whether NEASC will be renewing its accreditation
for another 10 years. InshaAllah it will be the case. This will give the parents the peace of mind
that their children are in a school that abides by all the state requirements and by the
Massachusetts education department.
We will inshaAllah reach out to you for help when the time comes. Meanwhile we request your support through out the process and you Duas.
Jazakum Allah Khair
Nadjette Lazzouni
NEASC Accreditation Foundational visit
NEASC is a global organization that handles accreditation for international, public, and independent (sometimes called private) schools. Wednesday, November 17th will be the foundational visit by the NEASC committee that covers Standard 1 to Standard 5. The team is made up of Katherin Sniffin - Committee chairperson and Principal in New Haven CT, Nur’Izzah Khalil - Committee assistant chairperson and Principal Al-Noor Academy Sharon campus, and Beth Hamilton Associate Director for Accreditation.
They will spend the whole day at TIA by observing the drop-off procedure in the morning, meeting with board members, School Committee members, Finance department, Technology Committee, new teachers, Amanda Cudmore (accreditation coordinator), and the principal.
Middle-school Jummah
Students are being trained to lead Friday Jumma prayers along with giving Khutbah. Last Friday, November 5th middle school students prayed Jumma in the TIA prayer room.
Ahmed Hamad gave Khutbah and led the prayer for the group, Masha Allah!
Fall Door Decorating Contest
The Fall Door Decorating Contest is underway at school. Students and teachers tirelessly worked with gratification towards the decoration of their doors.
Even our PreK and KG children enthusiastically decorated their doors to show their participation.
Our wonderful team of the Arabic and Islamic Studies department also stepped in to show their passion for decorating their room door.
Many thanks to our Home Room Mothers for helping their child's grades by showing extensive involvement and dedication towards this fun contest. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Sr. Nilofer, the HRM coordinator for the successful coordination of the event. Finally, a big thanks to our teachers who invested additional time to decorate their classroom doors.
Lockdown practice
We had a lockdown practice this morning, and Alhamdulillah everyone followed the right procedures and the practice went on well. Students are now aware how to react in case of such situations. In sha allah we will never have to do it in real life.
Progress Reports
The teachers are working towards finishing and updating the grades for the Quarter. Progress reports will be available online for review on Thursday, November 18th.
Parent/Teacher Conference Sign-up
The Parent / Teacher Conference Day will be on Wednesday, November 24th. The conferences this year will be remote. A sign-up sheet will be sent next week for parents to sign-up for their session. The details about the conferences with the sign-up sheet will be sent next week through Jupiter. There will be no school for the students on that day.
Islamic Studies Project
The annual Islamic Studies Project day will be on Wednesday, December 22nd and Thursday, December 23rd, 2021. The topics of this year's project are as follows:
Pre-K: Dua’a – Developed by the teacher and students
KG: I love Allah, I do my Salah (Making a Prayer Rug)
G1: The pillars of Islam
G2: Masajid Around the World
G3: The Muslims’ Manners
G4: Muslim Countries
G5: The Food or Animals in the Quran and their Benefits
G6: The Scientific Miracles in the Quran
G7: The Prophets and their Miracles
G8: The Believing Men and Women and their Roles in Islam
For any questions, please contact Islamic Studies department.
Support through Online shopping
Parents, their friends and families can now support our school through Online shopping. Whenever you want to shop at a particular store (Walmart, Kohls, Macys, JcPenney, Childrens’ Place, Sam’s Club, Gap, Old Navy, Best Buy, Office Depot and many more), please click the link below and select the store you wanted to shop.
You do not have to donate but share the link with your friends and families and pass on the word. Your purchase will make us earn up to 6%
P.S. Family and friends participation is the key to our success, and we are counting on you!
Student Council's Food Basket Drive
Student Council of TIA is organizing a Food Basket drive for the needy ones. Donation of different types of pasta, rice, and canned goods are welcome. No large rice bags, as individual baskets of items will be put together in the basket.
Items can be dropped in the bin by the school foyer or
in second grade classroom. Items will be collected until Friday, November 19th.