As Salaam Alaykum

With the impeding Corona Virus (COVID 19) outbreak, and after deliberation with our Medical Subcommittee, external Infectious disease physicians, and the Resident Aalim, the Management of Masjid-e-Ali (a) has come to decision to close down the center effective immediately, and not hold events for a period of two weeks after which we will re-evaluate the situation and provide updates to the community.

Jafaria School will also be closed during this period.

This decision has not been made lightly and is out of precaution in responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus that has now been detected in almost 70 locations internationally, including in the United States.

In the event a case of COVID 19 is found amongst any member of our congregation, it will be extremely difficult to reopen a place of worship like Masjid-e-Ali (a) or any congregation hall.

We will, Insha Allah reschedule the Jashn of Imam Ali (a) as soon we are able to open Masjid-e-Ali (a).

We wish to give some advice and guidelines on the Coronavirus that is having an impact on many parts of everyday life. Our primary concern remains that you, your families and indeed the communities stay safe and healthy. The purpose of this communication is not to create fear or panic amongst our members but rather, to ensure we take appropriate preventative measures to minimize risks.

Travel advice

We, recommend that travellers returning from China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau and Northern Italy (North of Pisa not including Pisa, Florence and Rimini), as well as Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq and Syria from 19 February, 2020 should avoid attending the mosques/imambarghas/Islamic centers and other functions (conferences, sporting events, majalises at peoples’ homes etc) for 14 days irrespective of symptoms following, business, personal or spiritual (ziyarat) travel.

Hygiene measures

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses. These include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices:

• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based anti-bacterial hand rub or soap and water, this will kill the virus if it is on your hands.
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
• If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
• Try to maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and other people who are coughing, sneezing and have a fever.
• When visiting live markets in areas currently experiencing cases of novel coronavirus, avoid direct unprotected contact with live animals and surfaces in contact with animals;
• The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and request you to please continue to exercise precaution in your day to day activities.

Management

Masjid-e-Ali (a) / MFI

Source:
http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=304180&f=79042&s=84589&m=747163&t=9e77de94b3f1098eb8fc6e1fea3885b5014d5cba14a713e7dff8409075700bde

The following is a special message from the United States Department of Health and Human Services - Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Current information on how to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html

School is currently closed. But when classes resume (tentatively scheduled for Sunday March 22nd, 2020), the Jafaria School schedule will be changing, to accommodate the time for jamaat prayers, which are held as part of the school day.

THE START AND END TIMES OF THE SCHOOL DAY WILL REMAIN THE SAME. 10:30AM to 2PM.

The change will be in the arrangement of the schedule for the day.

The new schedule will be as follows:

10:25AM - Student Drop Off
10:30AM - 11:40AM - First Period: Tarbiya
11:40AM - 12:50PM - Second Period: Quran
12:50PM - 01:10PM - Lunch
01:10PM - 01:15PM - Wadhu
01:15PM - 02:00PM - Salaat / Instruction
02:00PM - Dismissal

Jafaria School is partnering up with Soles For Souls, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit charitable organization dedicated to helping those who are in need, through the collection of shoe and clothing donations.

All students are requested to bring in used shoes to Jafaria School, and drop them off in the donation box at the main entrance of the school during school hours.

The donation drive will run for the next several weeks.

This is your opportunity to make a difference!

Who wants an Apple Watch? The Masjid-e-Ali Library is holding a raffle contest from March 1st through March 29th, 2020.

The drawing for the winner will be held on Sunday March 29th, during school hours.

All proceeds from the raffle will go toward The Library.

• 1 ticket - $15
• 2 tickets - $20

Tickets may be purchased in person at the library during school hours.

The website for the Masjid-e-Ali Library has been relaunched!

http://www.masjid-e-ali.org/library

Parents are strongly encouraged to stop by our full-service library with your children on Sundays.

The Masjid-e-Ali Library is holding a raffle drawing during the month of February 2020. Please stop by the library during school hours for complete details.

The library is open every Sunday from 10:30am through 2:30pm.

Library membership is open to the parents and students of all Jafaria School families, as well as the Masjid-e-Ali community at large.

Stop by the library today to browse our selection of over 1,000 books, and to participate in the raffle drawing!

The website for the Masjid-e-Ali Library has been relaunched!

• Search the entire collection of books online.
• Register for a library card.

http://www.masjid-e-ali.org/library

Library

If your child is sick, the best course of action is to stay home and rest. Simply fill out our online Absence Reporting Form to notify your child's teacher of their absence.

Your teacher will reach out to you to let you know what lesson plan was covered and what is the homework for the following week.

Staying home not only allows your child to recuperate more quickly, but also helps to curb the spread of any communicable illnesses.

What if my child gets sick in school?

If your child is found to be ill during class, they may be sent to the office where they will meet with our School Nurse. If your child is unwell to remain in class, the school administration may contact parents to come pick up their children early.

Update: $1600 has been raised so far!

Inshallah, we are expecting to move to the new school building during the academic year 2021-2022. We have started a fundraising campaign by students of Jafaria School to help build the new school.  

It will continue through the end of this school year.

The goal is for each student personally participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity and feel ownership of the new school and learn a few fundraising and community engagement skills. 

We are hoping in average each student to sponsor a brick! The cost of each sponsorship is $200. Obviously, contributions will vary from student to student. Every amount of contribution is welcomed and appreciated. 

We thank you in advance for encouraging and guiding your child(ren) to activity participate in this effort. Some of the suggestions for participation are: 

• Donation from allowances or gift money
• Fundraising from family members, relatives, friends
• Selling items, as appropriate with proceed going to build the school.

Students are encouraged to bring their contributions weekly and drop in the collection box located in their classroom. 

Inshallah, a plaque honoring all the students will be placed in the new building. 

It is a well-established fact that in order to develop proficiency in any field of study, you have to spend adequate time learning and practicing.

The study of Arabic reading is no different.

One hour of exposure to Arabic reading and writing per week in class at Jafaria School, plus the accompanying homework that your teacher assigned to your child, may not be adequate to help him or her develop their mastery of Arabic for Quranic reading.

Therefore, Jafaria School has compiled this list of online Skype Quran class, that you may wish to consider enrolling your child into.

Jafaria School does not endorse any particular Quran class. The list of online Skype Quran classes below was compiled based on referrals from other Jafaria School community members who have had success with each of these.

Enrollment in online Skype Quran classes is not mandatory.

However, it is highly recommended, if you would your child to seek excellence in this area.

This way, when your child comes to Quran class at Jafaria School, he or she will have that much more of an advantage.

If you know of any recommended online Skype Quran classes, please feel free to send us your recommendations to: registration@jafariaschool.com.

The winners of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) Poster Contest were presented and awarded during school last week on Sunday December 8th, 2019.

The winners were as follows:

Individual Winners:
Dima & Maha Al Quzwini (5th and 7th Grades)

Honorable Mentions (Individual):

• Fatemah Alhillo (5th Grade)
• Bilal Uppal (5th grade)
• Aariah Rizvi (7th Grade)

Winners by Class:
4th Grade Tarbiya

Honorable Mentions by Class:
9th Grade Tarbiya
10th Grade Tarbiya

Click on the image below to view the complete gallery of poster submissions:

Students who bring mobile phones with them to school are required to put their phones away and keep their phones on silent at all times, while in class and during the salaat period.

Students are not permitted to use their mobile phones, tablets, or gaming devices while class is in session or during the salaat period, unless permission is specifically granted by the teacher, for the purposes of classroom instruction. For example, teachers may, from time to time, permit their students to make use of mobile devices for classroom research, or as an audio / video / interactive learning aid. Mobile device usage apart from this, is not permitted.

These devices may be used during the lunch period, or other designated break period, only.

Students who are caught using mobile devices without permission during class or during the salaat period, may have their phones confiscated until the end of the class period.

And certainly We have made the Quran easy for remembrance... (Holy Quran 54:17)... After dropping off your kids at Jafaria School, put your time to good use by developing your proficiency with the Holy Quran.

Classes are held 10:30AM to 11:50AM every Sunday, for FREE Quran / Arabic recitation lessons.

Classes are led by Sheikh Ahmad Ameeny, in the masjid hall.

School uniforms will be available for sale on premises during school hours. If you need to purchase uniforms for your children, please feel free to stop by at the appropriate kiosk, located in the main lobby of the building, during school hours.

School uniforms may also be purchased online any time.

For more information on our school dress code and uniform policy, and how to purchase uniforms online, please refer to the link below:

Jafaria School Dress Code and Uniforms

In an effort to streamline our Quranic Education curriculum, we are restructuring our Quran classes such that students will be placed in age-appropriate classes, based on their current level of Arabic proficiency.

Unlike our Tarbiya classes, which are based on grade levels, in which students are placed in the same grade at Jafaria School as the grade they are in public school, our Quran class placement now operates on a different model:

QURAN CLASS DIVISIONS:

Junior Division
(Kindergarten - 1st Grade)

• Junior A (Level 1)
• Junior B (Level 2)

Primary Division
(2nd Grade - 3rd Grade)

• Primary A (Level 1)
• Primary B (Level 2)
• Primary C (Level 3)

Elementary Division
(4th Grade - 5th Grade)

• Elementary A (Level 1)
• Elementary B (Level 2)
• Elementary C (Level 3)

Middle School Division
(6th Grade - 8th Grade)

• Middle School A (Level 1)
• Middle School B (Level 2)
• Middle School C (Level 3)
• Middle School D (Level 4)

High School Division
(9th Grade - 10th Grade)

• High School A (Level 1)
• High School B (Level 2)

All Parents Have Been Notified...

All parents should have received an email confirming what class your child will be reporting to, within the past 10 days. If you have not received an email, or you are unsure which Quran class your child needs to report to, please contact us at registration@jafariaschool.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "A, B, C, D" mean? What are these "Levels"?

Within each division of the school, students are being placed into classes based solely on their proficiency with respect to Arabic reading.

Students who are not familiar with the Arabic alphabet and basic reading skills are placed in the lower levels... Section A (Level 1) being the lowest, Section B (Level 2) being the next higher level, and so on and so forth.

How does this new system benefit my child?

In previous years, we found that it was extremely ineffective to have students grouped together in the same Quran class based solely on their public school grade level.

We would have a wide variety of students in the same class - On one end of the spectrum, we would have students who were not so familiar with Arabic reading, grouped together in the same class as students who could read Arabic fluently. This made it very difficult for our teachers to teach a unified curriculum to each student.

This new reorganization of the Quran classes allows teachers to engage the students more effectively - and teach Arabic according to the level of proficiency of their students.

This will allow students to receive an Arabic education that is catered toward their needs.

Does Quran Class Teach Anything Else Besides Arabic?

Arabic reading is just one part of the overall Quran Class curriculum. Applied Quranic Knowledge is also part of our curriculum.

We also engage the students to:

• memorize surahs
• learn and understand the English translation of the Quran
• learn about the Quran itself
• learn the stories from the Quran
• derive lessons / morals / guidance from the Quran

What if my student has already finished reading the entire Quran in Arabic?

Our philosophy is that Quranic knowledge is a "continuous education". It never ends. There is no limit to the depth of knowledge you can gain. And students can always work toward improving their Arabic proficiency as well.

As stated above, our Quran classes focus on more than just Arabic reading!

My child is capable of reading Arabic! Was my child "demoted" from last year?

All students were assessed for their Arabic proficiency during the first two weeks of the school year. Upon review of all student assessments, students were grouped together in classes with students who scored at a similar level.

If you feel that your student should have been placed in a higher level class, you need not worry. Our goal is to help develop and hone each student's Arabic reading ability over the course of the school year.

No child has been "demoted".  We have simply restructured the way we group our Quran classes together, to improve the quality of our Quranic education.

The previous system of grade level Quran classes no longer exists, as of this year.

May I review my child's Quran assessment results?

If you would like to discuss your child's Quran assessment results, feel free to contact us any time at registration@jafariaschool.com or ask to speak to a member of the school administration team during school hours.

Is One Hour Of Quran Class Per Week Enough For My Child To Learn Arabic?

While Jafaria School does offer instructional Arabic to our students, one hour of in-class study (supplemented by homework) is by no means sufficient for a child to develop proficiency.

We strongly encourage all parents to sign up for an online Arabic class for your children. There are a number of reputable Arabic tutors who offer lessons online through Skype, with flexible schedules that allow for classes during weeknights, multiple times per week, at a reasonable cost. We will be publishing a list of recommended online Skype Classes soon.

School is dismissed at 2:00pm SHARP.

Dismissal Procedures For PreK through 3rd Grade:

Parents should go directly to their students' Quran (2nd Period Classrooms) to pick up their children and sign them out.

Dismissal Procedures For 4th Grade Through 10th Grade:

Parents must PARK their cars in the PARKING LOT. No curb-side pick-up is allowed. Students may either head directly to the cars in the parking lot, or the parents may come inside to pick up their children from the lobby and escort them outside.

Late Fee!

Parents who pick up their children after 2:10pm will receive one warning.

After that, parents will be charged a $25 late pickup fee for each occurrence thereafter.

It happens from time to time: You are subscribed to an email service. You expect to receive email updates, but they never seem to show up....

But then you check your SPAM folder, and there it is!

If you suspect that you are not receiving emails from Jafaria School, be it the weekly email newsletter, or emails from your child's teachers, please be sure to check your SPAM / JUNK mail folder first.

If you have a Gmail account, there is one other place you may wish to look... Some Gmail users may have different tabs set up.... Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums.

In some cases, you may find that emails from Jafaria School are landing in your Forums tab, so be sure to check there as well!

If you are still not receiving emails from Jafaria School, please send us an email at registration@jafariaschool.com, and we will look into it for you.

Enrollment fees are due!

The fee schedule for 2019 - 2020 is as follows:

First Preschool Junior child: $300
Each additional Preschool Junior child: $250

First child (all other grades): $450
Each additional child (all other grades): $350

Three Ways To Pay:

Method #1) You may pay your enrollment fees online:

Pay Enrollment Fees Online

(A nominal convenience fee will be added to your balance due, for online payments.)

Method #2) You may pay your enrollment fees in person.

Simply write a check payable to Jafaria School and hand it to a member of the school administration during school hours.

Please be sure to indicate your Family ID number and the student ID number of your eldest enrolled child, on the check.

Method #3) You may mail your check.

Please make checks payable to:

Jafaria School
c/o Zain Razak
4 Merchant Court
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

Please be sure to indicate your Family ID number and the student ID number of your eldest enrolled child, on the check.

Please note that your registration at Jafaria School is *not* confirmed until payment is received in full.

If your payment is not received in full, then you may lose your seat, should there be a waiting list for your class.

All students are required School to wear uniforms at Jafaria School.

Visit the link below for information on our uniforms and how to purchase them online:

Jafaria School Dress Code and Uniforms

Enrollment at Jafaria School is nearing its capacity. Most of our classes are already full. There is a WAITING LIST in effect for most of our classes.

However, in order to be considered for registration and being put on the waiting list, you may go ahead and fill out our new student registration form below:

New Student Registration Form

From the time we opened our doors over 20 years ago, the Jafaria School community has witnessed explosive growth. Starting with a handful of students that could all fit in a single house, we have seen the student population grow exponentially year after year.

… So much so that we are now literally bursting at the seams. Although we now have state of the art classroom facilities built on the second floor of  Masjid-e-Ali, the demand for sending our children to Jafaria School, has outpaced our physical capacity.

Putting students kids on a waiting list just won’t cut it anymore.

Simply put: WE NEED MORE SPACE.

Fortunately, the leadership of Masjid-e-Ali has had the foresight to create a roadmap for fulfilling our community’s need to provide a well-balanced education for our children, one that not only imparts academic knowledge but which also nurtures piety (tarbiya), provides a foundational platform for developing strong ties and relationships with fellow members of our faith, and molds our youth into the model citizens and leaders of the next generation.

Fulfilling this vision, Masjid-e-Ali is planning to expand the masjid complex by building a brand-new, standalone state of the art school building to meet the growing needs of our community, and a parking lot as well.

More classrooms means we can accommodate more students.

But none of this can happen without your financial and physical support. Your contributions are critical to the success of this mission. We are striving to build an infrastructure that will plant the seeds for a growing community, one in which we help to prepare our children to become model servants of the Imam Of Our Time (AS).

Please visit http://www.masjid-e-ali.org to learn how you can contribute today.