Issue 1; Volume 1

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Muharram 26th, 1433

Al-Rahmah School

Newsletter

Welcome The Al-Rahmah Parent Teacher Shura Association (PTSA) is re-launching its Newsletter for the school. High school students, alumni, parents, and teachers are encouraged to submit articles/short story of 250 words or less. High school students will get extra credits in the class to publish in the newsletter. It is also an opportunity for the students to be on the publication committee and improve their credentials Deadline will be announced later for the next newsletter. The vision for this newsletter is for it to provide a means to communicate with our parents, students, and community. This newsletter will, inshaʼ Allah, help build bridges with our local communities, by highlighting the hard work and achievements of our students and the efforts of the school leadership, to make Al-Rahmah one of the best private schools in the Maryland area. I want to take a moment and thank Srs. Laura, Lisette, Takia and Donna for contributing and supporting PTSAʼs efforts to get this newsletter started. Newsletter has a facebook page too, join and be a part of future school newsletters. Please donʼt hesitate to submit your comments and suggestions to the Editor. Jazakum Allah Khair,

Zoobia W.Chaudhry (Editor)

alrahmahschoolnewsletter@gmail.com

Please dispose off the newsletter properly

Upcoming Events

First Quarter Highlights

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January: Technology Coin Drive, please see page 3 Feb 15th: School Spelling Bee Mar 10th: Baltimore Spelling Bee

Mar 22th: Science Fair TBA: Islamic Studies Competition

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Nov 3rd: Hajj simulation in Gym

Elementary School Field Trip to Port Discovery

4th and 5th grade Field trip to Maryland Science Center

Middle and High School went to Shake n’ Bake for Eid party

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Picture by Adil Zamman

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Al-Rahmah Newsletter Vol 1 * Dec 21st, 2011

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Science Laboratory Dedication Sr. Takia Lyles

Photographs by Surayyah Khan

As-Salaamu-Alaikum Dear Parents, Students, and Community Members, I greet you warmly and feel honored to have this opportunity to communicate with you all. Al-Rahmah School has many things to be thankful for this school term. We are sincerely grateful to all of the donors that contributed to the construction of our new, “state of the art”, science lab. Classes have begun to utilize the lab and there is an overall increase in the level of enthusiasm and interest in science classes, on the part of our students. This school year seems to be moving at a rapid pace. We are already mid-way through the 4th month of school. Teachers are advancing through the curriculum and there is great evidence of student learning. One testament to this is that more than half of our 4th through 11th grade students made either the merit or the honor roll for the first quarter. These students all have GPAʼs of 3.3 to 4.0, “Allahu Akbar”. We look forward to providing all the extra and co-curricular programs that have become a tradition at Al-Rahmah School, such as the Spelling Bee, Science Fair, Qurʼan competition, and Islamic Knowledge contest. In addition, this year we will also present an Arabic Spelling Bee. One of the greatest accomplishments for this school year is that Al-Rahmah School is now a state approved K-12 school. Additionally, we will, inshaʼAllah, graduate of our first high school class in June 2012. Each of our 11th grade students is on track to completing all of the requirements for private school graduation and all have opted for early graduation. We are very proud of our 11th graders, who are all honor roll students with GPAʼs of greater than 3.6. Many sincere thanks to the parents, students, and community members who continue to make serving Al-Rahmah School a great blessing. Jazakum Allahu Khairan, L. Abdur-Rahman, Principal

Principal’s Corner

Long awaited and overdue, on Saturday, December 19th Al-Rahmah School unveiled our new state of the art science lab. Allah (swt) blessed the Al-Rahmah community with very generous donors. It was through the charitable donations of our community members that we were able to complete this project that cost over $38,000. SubhanAllah! Our Principal Sr. Laura gave very encouraging and appreciative words to the donors. May Allah (swt) grant the unnamed donors with Janna. Ameen! Dr. Wilson from SEMMA commended us on our accomplishment, as well as offered his full support. Upon the completion of the initial greeting, we all participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony. Br. Faisal from the Board of Education did the honors of cutting the ribbon. After the unveiling, Sr. Mehnaz, Sr. Akram, and myself Sr. Takia lead guided tours of the lab facility. Alhamduliliah the laboratory is fully stocked with non-consumable supplies. We have also been blessed with suppliers to stock the lab with any chemicals and additional supplies that we will need. With having all of the materials that we need, Inshallah we will be able to provide the students with a competitive advantage. On top of being able to offer the students with excellent hands on activities, we will also be able to supply the students with virtual labs. Virtual labs are beneficial in that they allow us to do experiments that otherwise would be too expensive or impossible for the students to perform in person. As one of the science teachers on board, I speak for all of us when I say that this addition to our facility will open many doors. Through these doors we will be able to open our studentsʼ eyes and minds and give them lasting lessons and memories.

A keen student during Science lab tour Dr. Jonathan Wilson, Dir SEMAA chating

with guests during refreshments service

Faisal Abdur-Rahman, Chairman Board of Education with Dr.Mohammad Abdul Khadeer

Al-Rahmah Newsletter Vol 1 * Dec 21st, 2011

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On Tuesday October 25, 2011 11th graders in Al Rahmah High School took their first of several college visits to a major college or university. The visit was to the University of Maryland Baltimore County where students attended an information session, received a tour of the campus and sat with members of UMBCʼs Muslim Student Association. Students toured lecture halls, classrooms, campus library and even got to see a typical dorm room. The tour was followed by lunch in the student union and afterwards a visit to the Muslim Student Association where students gathered to pray, study and rest between classes. ARHS students were able to ask MSA students questions about what it was like to go to UMBC. The students from UMBC ranged from undergraduates with majors in Biology, Political Science and Public Health to PhD candidates in Mathematics, showing the wide range of careers and opportunities for Muslim women. Overall, it was a great visit kicking off the college tours for the class of 2013! Coming next our tour of Notre Dame of Maryland University... Note: ARHS in 11th grade have the option of early graduation. This option allows them to take classes they would normally take in 12th grade during their junior year. We are proud to announce that all 11th graders in Al Rahmah High School will be graduating in the Spring of 2013!

High School Field Trip To

UMBC Sr. Lisette Abdiruhman

For advertisement please contact alrahmahschoolnewsletter@gmail.com

Newsletter Featured

Annual Fundraiser held Oct 22nd, 2011

Reviewed by Muhammad Shakeel ASET is a non-profit entity, under section 501(C) (03) of the IRS code. Its purpose is to establish an endowment fund for supporting education from the time children enter Al-Rahmah School and Nursery and beyond. This is in keeping with the tradition of most leading schools and universities that are not supported by the federal or state governments who have established endowments. ASET was established in 2007 to increase the quality of education, provide state-of-the-art facilities and expand the services and capacity of Al-Rahmah like providing scholarships. To kick-start this fund it need an amount of $100,000. By the grace of Allah STW, ASET have already raised approximately $58,000, so obviously it has a long way to go. On October 22nd, 2011 an annual fundraiser was organized at ISB. Radwan Baytiyeh was the keynote speaker at the event. www.alrahmahtrust.org

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Technology Coin Drive PTSA is, insha Allah going to start a campaign to raise money to purchase Laptops and other equipment after the winter break. Stay tuned for more information and details about the proposed project.

September 19th, 2011 though October 14th 2011

The “Can-Paign” is an idea launched by students from the MWB chapter at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The purpose of the Can-Paign is to host an annually held national canned food drive that will grow each year until students have set up regional food banks throughout the United States to serve our neighbors in need. Al-Rahmah School participated in this drive. First grade-A students brought in the most and won the Pizza party.

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Zoobia W. Chaudhry (Editor) Laura Abdur-Rahman Lisette Abdiruhman Donna Khan

Publication Committee:

Outstanding Teacher Award

by MCSS Nasreen Sawwan (11th grade)

Photograph by Surayyah Khan

Do you remember hearing about the Baltimore County Teacher Appreciation Dinner held on November 17, 2011 @

Martins West? The event was hosted by Muslim Community Support Services and focused on religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity in the classroom. An award was given to teachers from select schools in Baltimore County. Sr. Lisette Abdiruhman was an award recipient for her outstanding teaching abilities. As a teacher of 10 years, she still wishes to continue teaching. “I want to keep learning for the rest of my life” she says. Sr. Lisette teaches Social Studies, Art, and English; she mostly enjoys teaching social studies. It all started when a friend of hers suggested that she should try teaching and when she did, she really enjoyed it. “Teaching allows you to use all interests. You can use all the talents you have in your class. The best part about teaching is that you can mix all your interests and talents in your classroom as a teacher”, says Sr. Lisette. Please take the time to congratulate Sr. Lisette for her outstanding achievement.

Sr.Lisette with other award holders

NAME YOUR NEWSLETTER CONTEST!!!

Submit your suggestion for the name for the school newsletter at alrahmahschoolnewsletter@gmail.com. Suggested name should have a meaning and a short story explaining the reason you picked that name. There will be a poll to pick the winner and will be featured in the next

newsletter insha’ Allah, ….Editor