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By Matt Hughes mhughes@timesleader.com
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WILKES-BARRE – Starting Monday, students at the Al Noor Islamic Academy will begin their day as all practicing Muslims do.

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Dr. Abrahim Almeky stands in a classroom that will be used at the new Islamic school on Scott Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Don Carey/ the times leader

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For more information about the Al Noor Islamic Academy, contact the Islamic Association of Northeast Pennsylvania at 823-9660.

They will rinse their hands, face and hair with water to purify themselves for prayer, they will face in the direction of the Kaaba, in Mecca, and begin their morning salah, or daily prayers.

It will then be off to math class, or gym or whatever other class their daily schedules dictate, just like all the other students in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The school opens Monday in the Islamic Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania Building, which also houses the Masjid al-Noor Mosque, 999 Scott St., though organizers point out that the mosque and school are separate entities with separate entrances.

Formerly the Calvin Parsons Elementary School, the building already possesses most of the physical properties Al Noor students will require. Organizers were fortunate to have classrooms, a gym, and a library space, for example. They have already added a computer lab, and plan to expand further once classes are under way.

The school is starting small, offering only kindergarten and first grade classes this year, though it plans to add an additional grade each year. Al Noor has already received state certification to provide education through the sixth grade, school committee members said.

The school is currently interviewing candidates for several teaching positions, including three full-time elementary teachers, a full-time teacher of Arabic and an Islamic studies teacher. All are welcome to apply for the elementary positions, school committee member Abrahim Almeky said, as being Muslim is not a requirement.

“We want the best qualified people for the subject they are teaching,” Almeky said. “Our mission is to provide the highest quality education to the students. We will have the same standards as the public schools, but add Arabic and Islamic studies.”

The school will follow the local public school calendar and curriculum, with classes running from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. As time goes by, after-school clubs will also be added, organizers said.

Enrollment is still open, so Al Noor representatives could not provide an accurate count of how many students will begin classes Sept. 13, but Almeky said that the school is prepared to open with as few as five students. His youngest child will be among them, he added.

Al Noor school representatives said that, beyond providing a top-quality education, the school will serve a two-fold purpose for the Islamic community. By teaching Arabic and Islamic studies, it will help students maintain a cultural identity, which is important to parents, many of whom are immigrants from predominantly Islamic or Arabic-speaking countries. The second reason is to prepare students to be good spokespersons for their religion and, in Almeky’s words, “to clear misconceptions about Islam.”

At a time when plans to open an Islamic community center blocks from the site where Islamic terrorists attacked and destroyed the World Trade Center has ignited nationwide debate and fueled opposition to mosque openings across the country, Al Noor school organizers realize their efforts may raise a few eyebrows.

But they said they aren’t worried about community backlash here. The Al Noor Mosque has been a part of the community for nearly 20 years, and anyone with misgivings about their work is always welcome to witness it firsthand.

“Our door is open. We are completely transparent. We are always open for the community,” Almeky said. “We would love for them to visit us and explore with their own eyes.”

Almeky said his group is planning to hold an open house in September. Members of the Islamic Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s school committee said the decision to start a school was based on demand from within the community, and was one the community couldn’t afford not to make.

“There is a lot of demand from within the community,” said school committee member Ikram Muhamad. “A lot of people moved from the area to the bigger cities because there is no Islamic school.”

Mamoun Bader, who will serve as the school’s interim principal until a full-time replacement can be found, added that the list of those who have left in recent years includes a number of prominent professionals, including doctors, engineers and university professors.

“Maybe we don’t have that critical mass that we really need, but we’re going ahead anyway because of this,” Bader said.

Bader, a professor at Penn State Hazleton, added that the school will not only serve the area’s burgeoning Islamic community but also prove an asset to the area as a whole, especially when it comes to recruiting professionals to work here.

“Let’s say you are hiring doctors for Geisinger, and one of the people you are looking at is a Muslim. You can say ‘Oh, by the way, we have an Islamic school,’” Bader said. “It makes the area more marketable.”