According to rahyafte (the missionaries and converts website):The academy has already acquired and prepared a plot of land about three minutes away from its current location on 127th Street in northwest Edmonton, where it hopes to break ground this spring. The project is estimated to cost about $80 million and aims to be open for the September 2025 term, CBC News reported on Saturday.
The school’s principal, Abraham Abougouche, said the academy was expecting a zoning permit from the city in the coming weeks that would rezone the commercial property into an institutional educational property. After that, the school would request permission from Alberta Education to open a new school.
Abougouche said the design for the elementary school was inspired by Islamic architecture, with classrooms facing Mecca, the holy city in Saudi Arabia, and scriptures on the walls. The school would also have small gardens and sitting areas for students and staff.
According to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census of population, 83,015 people in Edmonton identify as Muslim, making it one of the largest Muslim communities in Canada. Abougouche said he had seen the need for more space and more faith-based education over the past few years.
“There’s a strong demand for increased classrooms and more faith-based education, in particular, Islamic education here in Edmonton,” he said. “As the population grows here in Edmonton, so does the community. And with more students there are more needs.”
The academy has a waitlist of over 1,000 students, some of whom have been waiting for almost six years, Abougouche said. Some of these students choose home education or go to other schools in the city until a spot opens up at the academy.
“The need really comes from the growth in our population and the lack of schools within the city, and the inflated classrooms within the city,” he said. “Parents are just looking for a quality option where they can enroll their children.”
Salma Kiani, a parent of two students at the academy, said she moved from Baltimore, Md., to Edmonton in 2018 so her children could attend the school. She said the school aligned with her values as a Canadian Muslim and helped her children have pride in both their culture and their faith.
Her son, Adam, 10, was enrolled before the school had a waiting list, and her daughter, Idris, 5, was enrolled in the school’s pre-K program. Kiani said she was hoping the expansion would make it easier for her youngest child, who is not yet in school, to be enrolled in the future.
“If there wasn’t a new expansion then I would be worried,” she said.
Farhan Chak, chair of the academy’s new school project, told CBC’s Edmonton AM that the community had come together to raise funds for the expansion. As an independent private school, the academy does not receive government funding or have access to grants.
“Various stakeholders are going to be invited and asked to support the construction of this elementary campus,” Chak said. “It’s going to be very difficult but we believe that we have the interest, the means and the resources within our community, within the greater Edmonton community to do this.”
To adhere to Islamic finances, contributions to the fundraiser can also be made with an interest-free loan. The school is holding an event on January 26 featuring keynote speakers and a live fundraising session to officially launch their fundraiser.
