Tarbiyah Academy Parent Newsletter

Bismillah!

Assalamu Alaikum Dear TA Parents and Families!

I hope that this finds all of our families well and in the best of conditions! On behalf of the Tarbiyah Academy faculty and staff, I'd like to officially welcome you all to the 2022-2023 academic school year! We are incredibly excited to embark on our 8th year in operation with you and your children. May Allah continue to guide us on this journey of raising our precious children in the most excellent manner. May He accept our efforts, protect our children and families, and forgive us for our shortcomings!

Our families can expect this newsletter in their inboxes every few weeks, or as needed, and will serve to keep our families abreast of school-wide announcements and updates. I will also use this newsletter to remind families of any important matters or to inform our families of any school related issues. Please do take a few minutes to take a look and read through these newsletters, as they will contain lots of relevant information for our families! As always, do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, or feedback.

Thank you and jazakum Allahu khairun.

Hagar Aboubakr

Head of School

A parent orientation will be held via Zoom this evening at 6:00. This orientation is geared towards new TA families, however, all of our families are welcome to join. I look forward to seeing you all this evening, insha Allah! Please use the Zoom link below to join at 6:00 p.m.

Zoom Link for Parent Orientation:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85947560152?pwd=VEw3QU8vczI4amNXZXF2Rld1ZDlWdz09

Meeting ID: 859 4756 0152

Passcode: TAParents

We look forward to receivingng our students and families, tomorrow, insha Allah, Thursday, August 25th at our Meet & Greet! Please see the times below; if you have multiple children at our school and your family falls into two or more time slots, feel free to come by at any time; these times have been generally staggered to avoid overcrowding in the building. Please do bring your child's supplies for the school year, as this will make the first day of school much easier for students and teachers, insha Allah.

We are very excited, alhamdullilah, to bring back our designated parent TA group-known as Friends of Tarbiyah Academy, or FTA. Some of our FTA parents will have a table set up tomorrow at our Meet & Greet, insha Allah. Please look out for them and stop by their table! Learn more about the new initiative for 2022-2023, and take their survey!

As we approach the 2022-2023 academic school year, as always, Tarbiyah Academy is committed to the safety, security, and well-being of our students, staff, and families.

At this time, in accordance with guidance from state and federal departments of health, the TA Board has voted to update its mask-wearing policy:

Mask wearing will be optional for students and teachers/staff during indoor and outdoor settings.

It is important to note that people with COVID-19 symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 must follow the School’s isolation and quarantine policy regarding mask-wearing upon their return to campus.

As always, we highly encourage our community members to observe masking and all hygienic practices that preserve the well-being of our community including regular hand washing and social distancing. As we know, masking is highly effective at preventing the spread of COVID, *and we may reinstate the mandate in certain circumstances for certain groups or our entire community. *

We will continue to provide masks for our community members and distribute them as needed. So long as they are made available to us by the Maryland Department of Health, we will continue to provide free PCR and rapid testing on-site, as well as distribute at-home test kits for our families. Please stop by the front office or call the school at any time to request an appointment for testing or to request an at-home testing kit.

I am very excited to officially introduce to you all the 2022-2023 TA faculty and staff. Insha Allah, you will learn more about each of your child's teachers and staff members during the Back to School Night and through their welcome letters to you. Please take a look below and remember to make a duaa for them, as well!

Hagar Aboubakr: Head of School

Ghada Elkordy: Admissions Office and Administrative Assistant

Zareen Siddiqui: Admissions Assistant and Receptionist

Shabana Ahmed: PYP Coordinator

Hagar Ibrahim: Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies Department Head and 8th Grade Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies Teacher

Aisha Karachiwalla: KG Homeroom Teacher and K-2 Team Lead

Jamilah Abdullah: 1st Grade Homeroom Teacher

Debby Rashed: 2nd Grade Homeroom Teacher

Nahla Aboushaara: 3rd Grade Homeroom Teacher

Faiza Khan: 4th Grade Homeroom Teacher

Sana Waris: 5th Grade Homeroom Teacher and 3-5th Grades Team Lead

Wafa Alnumri: KG & 1st Grade Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies Teacher

Khalid King: 2nd Grade Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies Teacher and K-8 PE Teacher

Yousaf Seyal: 3rd Grade Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies Teacher, 4th and 5th Grades Quran and Islamic Studies Teacher

Youssef Ouamamou: 4th & 5th Grades Arabic Teacher, 6th & 7th Grades Quran/Islamic Studies Teacher

Hesham Hassanein: 6th & 7th Grades Arabic and English/Language Arts Teacher

Aya Karam-K-3rd Grades Art Teacher

Zaynub Siddiqui-4-8th Grades Art Teacher

Shaista Abbasi-Middle School Science Teacher and Middle School Coordinator

Aziz Ahmed-Middle School Social Studies Teacher, Middle School Skills & Inquiry Teacher, Middle School Student Life Director

Fatima Ilyas-8th Grade English/Language Arts Teacher

Bassnt Wahba-Middle School Math Teacher

Sadaf Siddiqui-Events & Marketing Team Team Member

Ranya Mike-Events & Marketing Team Member

Duaa Emira-Events & Marketing Team Member

Fatima Khan-School Counselor

Fatima Rafique-Middle School Math & PYP Teaching Assistant

Mona Abdelazim-Arabic Support Teacher

Madeha Mira-School Staff Assistant and Before/After Care Member

from left to right:

Sana Waris, 3-5th Grade Team Lead; Shabana Ahmed, PYP Coordinator; Hagar Aboubakr; Head of School; Aziz Ahmed, Middle School Student Life Coordinator; Hagar Ibrahim, Arabic, Quran, Islamic Studies Coordinator (on camera); Aisha Karachiwalla, K-2 Team Lead; Shaista Abbasi, Middle School Coordinator

The TA Teaching, Administrative, Office, Events, and Support Teams have been working very hard for the last 3 weeks to get the school and classrooms ready for our students, in addition to planning for the curricular, academic, and social-emotional needs of our students. We're all very excited to be back and to kick off the new year, insha Allah, with our students and families.

We have been made aware that some uniform items have been back-ordered with Dennis Uniforms. If you have not received a uniform piece by the first day of school, please ensure your child comes to school in clothing of similar style and color. For example, if you have not received the girls' jumper or skirt, you may replace these items with red skirts.

**This exception is only made for items that have been back-ordered. All students are expected to come to school each day in the complete school uniform, otherwise.

PE uniforms will be on sale tomorrow during the Meet & Greet. You may also purchase PE uniforms with Ms. Ghada Elkordy by emailing her at gelkordy@tarbiyahacademy.org.

PE uniforms are not purchased through Dennis Uniform.

BAND is an app/platform we use for some forms of communication. Although it is not a formal means of communication for updates and announcements, it is utilized to give you, the families, a glimpse into the classrooms and to remind you of relevant information. Please do join your child's grade level BAND group, using the appropriate links below.

KG-https://band.us/n/a7ac76bbW8E3p

1st-https://band.us/n/a5aa74bbWeIbU

2nd-https://band.us/n/a3a87fb1W8Jcg

3rd-https://band.us/n/adad77b0W6J32

4th-https://band.us/n/afa87fbbWbJ0i

5th-https://band.us/n/a0a073b8W1J6R

6th-https://band.us/n/aca673baW8k5J

7th-https://band.us/n/aea974b2Wbk0Y

8th-https://band.us/n/a6a970b1W7k0e

All Parents https://band.us/n/a9a878baxcX9N

Arrival

Our doors will open at 8:30 for students.

Parents may drop off their child at the front or rear entrances of the building (see diagram below for back entrance route).

Students that arrive after 8:40 must enter through the front entrance of the building, and are marked as tardy.

Dismissal

Dismissal will begin at 4:05 p.m. Please read ahead carefully.

FRONT Dismissal: Students in grades 4-8th, plus their siblings in K-3rd grades will be dismissed at the front entrance of the building. Families will need to park their car and pick up their child.

BACK Dismissal: Students in grades K-3 that do NOT have siblings in 4-8th grades will be dismissed from the back of the building. Parents are to come through the back entrance of the school through Roosevelt Boulevard and remain in their cars, following the direction and guidance of staff (see image below).

**Carpooling families-determine your dismissal assignment location by the OLDEST child in the group.

Students are dismissed every Friday, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Students will be sent to after-care if they have not been picked up by 4:15 (Monday-Thursday) or 1:15 (Friday).

Important!!

• For families picking up at the back of the building, please ensure that your driver's side is clear for students to enter your car into. If you have an infant or toddler, please place their car seat on the passenger side of the car, so that your student may enter into the driver's side of the car when being picked up from school. Students are NOT allowed to go around the car and enter through the passenger side; this creates a major safety hazard for students and staff.
  

• Please do your best to keep dismissal moving along efficiently; do not chat with staff/teachers at dismissal or get out of your car at this time. If you need to discuss a matter with your child's teacher, please reach out through email.

• Families will be issued a car tag to display for staff when picking up their child for dismissal. This car sign will indicate your family name and grade levels; using these signs will facilitate the dismissal process. Signs will be issued during the Meet & Greet. Please ensure that when picking up your child from school, that your sign is clearly displayed for staff.

• At this time, we will keep all students inside the building during dismissal and call students out as parents arrive for pick up.

• If families coordinate a carpool together, you MUST authorize another person to pick up your child in writing. We will NOT send a child home with anyone who is not officially authorized to pick up the child. In this case, please complete the "Pick Up Authorization Form" through TADS. If you are coordinating with another family for just a day you may send an email to our office stating your child's name, your child's grade level, and the name of the families who are authorized to pick up your child from school that day. Please send this email to our office staff, Ms. Siddiqui and Ms. Elkordy:

zsiddiqui@tarbiyahacademy.org
gelkordy@tarbiyahacademy.org

See back entrance route in the diagram below. Families are to enter through the back parking lot from Roosevelt Blvd, in the direction indicated below.

Before care will be available from 7:30-8:30 a.m. After care will be available from 4:15-6:00 p.m.

Please note there are additional charges for Before and After Care.

Space in Before and After Care will be limited. If you will regularly be using Before and/or After Care, you must register your child(ren). To register for Before and/or After Care and to view fees, please visit our school’s website here: https://tarbiyahacademy.com/academics/after-care/

We have multiple ways here at TA for our parents to stay informed and updated. I wanted to take a moment to outline for you the main sources of communication for our families.

BAND: Each grade level has a BAND group; BAND is mainly for sharing snippets of teaching and learning with parents; here is where teachers post pictures and sometimes videos of learning engagements. Teachers update BAND groups on a weekly basis. There is also a Parent Band group for all parents for posting reminders and sometimes, for sharing pictures and other information. Use the links provided above to join!

Email: Parents receive email updates from individual teachers about every 1-2 weeks. Email is also used by teachers and other staff members to send requests, updates, reminders, announcements, etc. to parents.

Head of School Newsletter: This newsletter is sent to parents about every 2 weeks, or as needed, and contains school-wide updates, announcements, and reminders for parents. If you are not receiving the Head of School newsletter, please contact me at hagaraboubakr@taribyahacademy.org.

IB PYP (elementary school) Coordinator Newsletter: Our PYP Coordinator, Ms. Shabana Ahmed, will send out curricular and IB updates about two times a term (6 times a year). These newsletters will provide our elementary school families with curricular overviews and updates, in addition to school-wide learner engagements and other applicable information.

Events Team Newsletter: The Events Team newsletter is written by our Events Team, Ms. Ranya Mike and Sadaf Siddiqui. It is sent to families about once a month and contains important information about upcoming school events organized and led by the Events Team. If you are not receiving the Events Team newsletter, please contact Events@tarbiyahacademy.org.

Counselor Newsletter: The Counselor Newsletter is written by TA's School Counselor, Ms. Fatima Khan. It contains relevant information on the Social-Emotional Learning program here at TA. If you are not receiving the Counselor Newsletter, please contact fatimakhan@tarbiyahacademy.org.

Managebac: Managebac is the platform used by parents to view descriptions of lessons as well as grades and comments by teachers on your child's performance on some tasks. Managebac is updated weekly by teachers with grades and tasks. Managebac also has a feature where teachers can choose to alert parents when a grade has been posted. Some teachers may use this feature, so parents may also receive emails from Managebac as well, alerting them that a grade has been posted. Finally, Managebac is also used for behavior logs and for publishing report cards. Again, parents may receive alerts from time to time from Managebac alerting them of updates or postings. If you do not know your Managebac login information, please contact virtualhelpdesk@tarbiyahacademy.org.

Although not an official mode of communication for our TA families, we also have social media accounts managed by our Marketing Coordinator, Ms. Amina Jamil, where we share snippets of TA life and happenings with the wider community. If you are on social media, please do follow our pages as follows:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TarbiyahAcademy

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarbiyahacademy

Please do support our posts on social media, if you see something you like and are so inclined!

Starting on the first day of school, we will have snacks, bottled water, and lunch available for purchase for all students. Snack offerings will consist of crackers, popcorn, pretzels, etc. The cost of bottled water and snack is $1 each. Please take a look below at our lunch offerings and costs. All purchases must be made in cash. We recommend our younger students bring their money in an envelope or plastic bag with their name marked on it. Teachers will collect lunch orders first thing each morning.

Lunch Menu

Mondays/Wednesday: provided by Flip’s Pizza

• Pizza by the slice - $2
• Mozzarella sticks (5 sticks) - $5
• Medium fries - $3
• Small garden salad - $5
• Grilled cheese sandwich with fries - $5

Tuesdays/Thursday: provided by Ziza Kabob (thabiha options)

Chicken kabob (includes rice, salad, juice) $7

Kofta kabob (includes rice, salad, juice) $8

Chicken tenders (with fries and juice) $7

Chicken kabob salad $7

Chicken wrap with fries and juice $8

Lamb wrap with fries and juice $8

Fries $4

This is a reminder that we are strictly a nut-free school. Please ensure your child does not bring in any food items that contain nuts including granola bars, sandwiches, snacks, etc.

Due to conflict for several families and staff members who have children in the Howard County Public School system, we will be moving our Back to School night to Thursday, September 8 from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Monday, August 29th: First day of school for students; students may begin to enter the building at 8:30 a.m., either through the front or back entrance.

Monday, September 5: Labor Day, No School for Students

Thursday, September 8: Back to School Night, 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 15: Back to School Barbeque; details forthcoming

You may access the 22-23 school calendar using the link below. This calendar indicates days off for students, vacations, and other relevant information.

Email: hagaraboubakr@tarbiyahacademy.org
Website: www.tarbiyahacademy.com
Phone: (844) 827-2492
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TarbiyahAcademy/