Universal School is an

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

, K-12

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

, that is located in

Bridgeview, Illinois Bridgeview is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately southwest of the Chicago Loop. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the village population was 17,027. History The earliest European sett ...

, in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. Students take

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, and

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

classes. The school motto is "Where Islam and Education come together." Universal School was officially founded in 1989, and opened on September 4, 1990, to 140 students and 11 faculty members. the superintendent is a

Syrian American Syrian Americans () are Americans of Syrian descent or background. The first significant wave of Syrian immigrants to arrive in the United States began in the 1880s. Many of the earliest Syrian Americans settled in New York City, Boston, and Det ...

man named Safaa Zarzour, who also served as the head of the Chicago office of the

Council on American Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

(CAIR).

History

Impetus to establish an Islamic school occurred after a wave of Arab immigration came in the 1970s and 1980s to the southwest Chicago suburbs; Palestinians were a large group within this wave. According to Craig N. Joseph and Barnaby Riedel, authors of "Islamic Schools, Assimilation, and the Concept of Muslim American Character," "Universal School owes its existence to" the Muslim immigration wave and to the Bridgeview Mosque. Three doctors decided to establish an Islamic school.Joseph, Craig M. and Barnaby Riedel. "Islamic Schools, Assimilation, and the Concept of Muslim American Character" (Chapter 7). In: Ewing, Katherine Pratt (editor). ''Being and Belonging: Muslims in the United States since 9/11''.

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

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The

Islamic Development Bank The Islamic Development Bank (, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are 57 shareholding member st ...

gave the founders of the school a loan to have the facility built, and Muslims around the U.S. gave their own donations to the founders. In 1988 groundbreaking occurred, and on September 4, 1990, the school opened its doors. The

Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, wit ...

recognized the school in 1992. In its first school year the institution had 11 employees and 140 students. the school had 638 students. By 2008 there were over 50 employees and over 600 students.

Campus

The campus is adjacent to the

Muslim American Society The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. MAS describes itself as a grassroots Islamic movement. It has more than 50 chapters across the United States. History Muslim A ...

Chicago offices; the Aqsa School, another K-12 Islamic school, the Bridgeview Mosque, and a youth center. It is across the street from

Mosque Foundation The Mosque Foundation is located in Bridgeview, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area. History In 1954 a handful of Palestinian American, Palestinians from Beitunia émigrés on Chicago's famous Southside formed the Mosque Foundation of Chi ...

. The building, made up of gray concrete, uses mirror-tinted windows oriented in a lengthwise manner. It has 36 classrooms, including dedicated rooms for preschool and kindergarten-aged children. It also has a cafeteria and lunchroom located in the basement, as well as two laboratories, and a basketball court. Joseph and Riedel stated that the school building that the concrete and windows "define" the building, which is "long, squat, and institutional in appearance." Due to the appearance and its perceived role in sheltering students from influences and anti-Islamic sentiment in the outside world, students gave the building "the box" as its nickname.

Operations

It is not affiliated with the Bridgeview Mosque, which is adjacent to the school. Marguerite Michaels of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' stated that "The Universal School makes clear its independence from the ..ridgeview mosque." It is also not affiliated with Aqsa School.Riedel, Barnaby B. "Universal Particularism: Making an Ethical Islamic School in Chicago" (Chapter 5). In: Minow, Martha, Richard A. Shweder, and Hazel Rose Markus (editors). ''Just Schools: Pursuing Equality in Societies of Difference''.

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the tuition for each student was $4,500 to $4,900. Students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through grade 5 attend coeducational classes, while for grades six through ten boys and girls are in separate classes. In grades 11 and 12 boys and girls sit separately but attend the same classes. Female students are required to wear hijabs in middle school and high school, while in lower levels doing so is optional. Male students may not have body piercings, and this ban extends to earrings.

Curriculum

In 2008 Barnaby B. Riedel, author of "Universal Particularism: Making an Ethical Islamic School in Chicago," wrote that some Islamic teachers at Universal School desired more instruction dedicated to specific Islamic schools of thought, although the majority believed in using a more general approach to teach the religion.

Extracurricular activities

The athletic teams play in the Metropolitan Prep Conference. Among the sports offered are boys' basketball and volleyball. The school also offers basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and soccer. As of 2021 the school also has spelling bees, a science fair club, a mathematics league, and a student newspaper.

External links

Universal School - website

References

{{authority control Private elementary schools in Illinois Private middle schools in Illinois Islam in Illinois Islamic schools in Illinois Private high schools in Cook County, Illinois Private high schools in Illinois Private K–12 schools in the United States 1990 establishments in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1990