Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy
| Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
4100 East 66th Street Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, 55076 United States |
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| Coordinates | 44°51′12″N 93°01′19″W / 44.85333°N 93.02194°WCoordinates: 44°51′12″N 93°01′19″W / 44.85333°N 93.02194°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Charter School |
| Principal | Asad Zaman |
| Staff | 9 |
| Faculty | 38 |
| Grades | K-8 |
| Enrollment | 300 |
| Affiliation | Islamic Relief USA |
| Website | Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy |
Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA) was an elementary school (K-8) in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota named after Tarek ibn Ziyad, the Berber general of medieval Algeria who entered Gibraltar in 711 CE on behalf of the Umayyad Caliphate and defeated the Visigoths. The school is sponsored by Islamic Relief USA. The school has a primarily Muslim student body and has been embroiled in a number of controversies regarding the separation of church and state. The school has a waiting list of 1,500 students. Around 80% of students are English language learners. Despite this, the school has one of the highest reading scores on standardized tests in the state. As of July 2011 TiZA has been shut down by order of the Minnesota Education Department, due to lack of an approved charter school sponsor.
Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy opened in the fall of 2003 for the 2003–2004 school year. The school was founded by its current principal, Asad Zaman and Hesham Hussein, both local imams and leaders of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-MN). The school opened with an enrollment of 215 students in grades K-5. The school was very popular and had 765 applicants in the first year.
As of the 2006–2007 school year, 302 students attended TIZA. The majority were Black (83%), with Asian (14%) and White (2%) being the other major ethnic groups. Seventy-seven percent of students qualify for Free and Reduced Price Lunch, an indicator of poverty, and the majority (81%) have had limited English proficiency. Four percent of students qualify for special education. The school's math proficiency was 23 percentage points higher than the state average and the school's reading proficiency was 3 percentage points higher than the state average, at 67 percent. Principal Asad Zaman estimates that 80 to 90 percent of students are Muslim.
The school's curriculum focuses on historical civilizations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and teaches the Arabic language in addition to English. The school curriculum places an emphasis on the Arabic language. After the school day ends, several optional extracurricular activities are offered. The teaching of Islamic studies after school has generated controversy. The Muslim American Society of Minnesota (MAS-MN), which shares the building with TIZA offers the classes.
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