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January 9 - First Day back after Winter Break -
School Resumes with normal timing
January 14 - Strive Together: A new Saturday Academy geared for children with different abilities - Classes start on January 14, from 10:30am-12pm at MEC. For more info please email [email protected]
January 14 - Prayer Power: Boys Workshop on Perfecting Salah - First day of new class for boys in grades 2nd-5th (see flyer for details).
January 16 - Martin Luther King Day - NO SCHOOL and No After School Activities
January 22, 3:30-6pm - MCCA Family Roller Skating Party -
Open to all MCCA families and friends, invite your family and friends, purchase tickets on school website or at the door. This is a Muslim Family Event with Nasheed music and snacks available to purchase. (see flyer for more info)
January 23 - Pearls of Wisdom from the Quran - first day of new class for women only, ages 18+ (see flyer here for more info)
January 26 - Early Dismissal at 1:30pm -
Please note
early
dismissal
pick-up timing for your child for the following grades:
Pres, Prek, Kg: 1:15-1:30pm
1st-8th grades: 1:30-1:45pm
NATIVE DEEN
in concert at MCCA
TWO SHOWS
Friday, January 27 at 7pm
Saturday, January 28 at 11am
Open to the Public. Space is Limited.
$10 per ticket in advance or $15 at the door
Purchase at either school campus or online,
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AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS ACTIVITIES AND CLUBS - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We are always looking for volunteers from the community to offer their time and talent to lead after school sports activities and clubs. If you have a special talent you'd like to share with our students, we would appreciate your time in volunteering to share your talent with our students. If you know a high school or college-aged student with a talent to share, please encourage them to volunteer. Please contact our Activities Director Mr. Azam Tai with any questions and to sign up to lead an after school sports activity or club.
Contact information for after school sports and clubs:
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REMINDER: TUITION PAYMENTS
Monthly tuition is due each month by the 10th.
Late payments will accrue late payment fee of $25 for each month payment is not received.
Please sign up for automated withdrawal if you have not yet done so.
If you have any questions about tuition payment, please email our accountant at [email protected].
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A Note from the School Council
Salaam alaikum MCCA Community,
Welcome to 2017. The year 2016 ended with a lot to be thankful for. We live in a very close-knit and vibrant community, and our many programs reflect this.
It was amazing to see our MCCA Girls' Basketball team do so well. They were featured on Chicago's ABC 7 evening news and in the Daily Herald newspaper. Next year, inshAllah, to the State Championship! Go Girls!
Our Drama and Performing Arts Clubs put on two fabulous shows in December, one at the Morton Grove Library and the other at the Skokie campus. They make us proud. We thank you for attending and encouraging our youngsters and their director, Mrs. Bergeson.
I don't know what we would do without our wonderful PSG? Thank you PSG for hosting Donuts with Dads and MCCA Family Pancake Breakfast. I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend even though I had tickets to it. I did enjoy the Facebook post and felt sorry for myself.
Our PSG Annual Coupon Book is still available. It is a great way to raise funds and save money at the same time. It holds $250 worth of coupons for just $20. It also makes a great gift.
Talking about fundraising, please mark your calendars for our MCCA Annual Dinner. It is on
Saturday, March 11, 2017
. Tickets will be available soon.
Keep warm and make dua for all who are the suffering in the world. May Allah swt ease their pain and keep us all safe and healthy. Ameen.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Musarrat Khan
MCCA Council Chairperson
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PSG Update
Key Dates:
Jan 13, 27 - PSG meetings
Jan 20 - PSG Board Meeting
Jan 19 - Popcorn Sale at Skokie campus
Jan 10
, 17, 24, 31 - Pizza Sale at Skokie campus
Jan 11, 18, 25 - Pizza Sale at Morton Grove campus
Save the Date: MCC Academy Annual Dinner on March 11, 2017. PSG will host another amazing babysitting room program for our little ones.
Looking forward to a great year filled with opportunities to volunteer your time and talent to your child's school.
Coupon Book:
Alhumdulillah! We are selling Coupon Books to raise funds for our Morton Grove campus library and STEM program for our school. Jazakallah to everyone who supported the school in purchasing this beneficial booklet. Hopefully, you will use them during winter break and enjoy some family time. Coupon books are still available for those that didn't have a chance to grab theirs, please stop by the office. If your child buys a coupon book he/she gets a NO HOMEWORK pass and middle school gets 20 PTS for their house. JZK!
Pancake Breakfast
PSG social Pancake breakfast event at the Morton Grove campus was very successful. It was a fun morning, and a special shout-out to donors of home-baked goods. The auction table was a success and Alhamdulillah has brought our school some great funds for future projects. Thanks to all the families that came to enjoy this beautiful gathering.
Upcoming Events:
MCCA Family Roller Skating Party:
January 22, 2017
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MCCA Alumni Recognized as 2017 Illinois State Scholars
AlhumdilAllah, we are pleased to see many former MCC Academy students (including Hana Alali, Aisha Kothawala, Labiba Mahmud and Faisal Patel) among the 179 students Niles Township High School District 219 announced to be recognized as Class of 2017 Illinois State Scholars, an honor bestowed upon the roughly top ten percent of high school seniors each year from 765 high schools across the state. The recognition is given to students who possess strong academic potential by having a combination of exemplary ACT or SAT scores and high sixth semester class rank. Congratulations to all of the students recognized for this honor. We are especially happy to see so many Muslim students among this group of top-performing students. From a total of 179 awarded with this honor, roughly 12 percent of them are Muslim students. May Allah swt continue to guide all of our children toward success in this life and the next, inshAllah. Click here for Patch article
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Welcome to our New International Students
MCC Academy is pleased to welcome seven new students in grades preschool - 8th who recently arrived to the States from Syria, Burma, and Afghanistan. Through the generosity of our community in choosing MCC Academy to give their Zakat donations, MCC Academy is able to sponsor these students for the duration of their studies with us. We are most appreciative of Islamic Oasis for helping to facilitate this process. Our students have been making these children feel welcome by pairing up with them as class buddies and making special efforts to help get them acclimated to the school and meet friends. Every student who attends MCCA helps to make the school a special and unique environment, so we look forward to the wonderful contributions these seven new students will certainly bring to MCC Academy.
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Students Enlightened by Visit to Indonesian Cultural Center
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MCCA sixth-graders visited the Indonesian Cultural Center to learn about the culture and customs of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. Students had an incredibly amazing time, and they gained experiential learning about the vast diversity and complexity of Indonesian tradition. Students watched an excellent presentation
peppered with quiz games and prizes
on important facts about the country. Then, they played a song using the gamelan, an Indonesian music form that involves highly specialized percussion instruments. Afterwards, students got to see a dramatized performance by an Indonesian artist. The fun was not over, however. The entire MCCA class practiced ankur, an art form involving the use of bamboo percussion instruments to create sound. Students had a great deal of fun and worked up quite an appetite while doing this. The Indonesian Cultural Center, as their grand finale, provided MCCA with traditional zabihah halal Indonesian cuisine for lunch, along with cookies for dessert. MCCA students had an excellent time and really walked away with a newfound appreciation of and love for Indonesian culture.
-- Submitted by Mrs. Sadiya Barkat, Middle School Social Studies
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PSG Hosts Delightful Pancake Breakfast Event
MCCA Parent Support Group hosted a fun and festive Family Pancake Breakfast early in December. Guests enjoyed breakfast together, a silent auction of home-baked goods, and crafts for the kids. MCC Imam Mufti Mangera gave a wonderful opening dua, followed by a short talk by Principal Mr. Quadri on the importance of parent involvement in a child's education, MCCA PSG President Belinda Tibayan emceed and conducted the silent auction, and we ended the morning with MCCA parent Hafiz Azam Hashmi, who gave a beautiful closing dua. Thanks to all of our families and friends who came out to support the school.
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT:
Suha Moten, Class of 2013
MCCA Alumnus Suha Moten Aces ACT Exam and is Awarded Full Deen's Scholarship to Loyola University, Admission into Northwestern University
It's that time of year when high school seniors start to get those special letters in the mail from the many universities and colleges they've applied to. They will soon know all the doors that have swung open to them as they eye up their options for the next step of their journey. For MCCA alumnus Suha Moten, class of 2013, her decision on where to spend her undergraduate years has come down to two amazing options. MashAllah, Suha has been excepted into pre-medical school tracks at both Northwestern University and Loyola University, the latter of which has offered her a full Deen's Scholarship, making her entire tuition completely covered by the university.
We are incredibly happy for Suha and her family and thankful Allah swt has blessed her with such great opportunities. Suha is truly a role model for our youth. She worked incredibly hard these past years in high school, helping her to achieve a perfect score on her ACT exam, mashAllah. We caught up with Suha to ask her more about how she has come to this amazing pinnacle:
What types of classes did you take in high school and how did MCCA help prepare you for the rigor of high school?
MCC Academy helped me to be prepared for high school in terms of workload. The good amount of work I did in middle school at MCCA helped me because it made completing assignments in high school not that of a hard task. The content in high school has been different and much harder (as expected), however the workload was something I was already comfortable with, which gave me a huge advantage over the other students. In high school, I was able to take all AP classes with the exception of honors classes my freshman year.
Congratulations for achieving a perfect score on your ACT exam. How did you go about preparing to take the ACT?
I did not formally take an ACT preparation class, rather I used the ACT prep book and took a few practice tests at home.
What advice would you give to graduating 8th graders about high school? As long as you complete all your work with sincerity, Allah will reward you for it. Always stay humble in your work, and keep your eyes on your ultimate goal. We can be brought down by others, however if you waste your time crying about all the people who bring you down, you will never succeed; use their criticism positively and go forth with what you wish to achieve in life.
What do you hope to someday do as a career?
I will begin majoring in biochemistry, and I plan to go to medical school and become a surgeon.
What extracurricular activities did you do during high school (either within the high school or outside of the high school)?
I am an athlete. I play volleyball, soccer, and basketball. I also had the honor of coaching volleyball at MCCA. I also participate in my school's STEM Club and Fashion Club.
Who are your role models and how did they inspire you?
My role models - that is a hard question...I have many role models. First, my elders (my parents and teachers). Any elders, even if they were in my life for only a week - I consider them my role models because they have helped to shape me into the person I am today. In terms of a religious role model, it would be Khalid Ibn Waleed, as he was one of the most determined sahaba, and he was very intellectual.
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Students in Performing Arts and Drama Clubs Present Delightful Plays
MCCA Drama Club (grades 3rd-5th) and Performing Arts Troop (grades 6th-8th) held their end of term performances in December. Students worked hard all semester to perfect their performances by memorizing their lines and taking direction on their acting from Drama Club Director Mrs. Donelle Bergeson. The results: each group did a phenomenal job, mashAllah!
The Performing Arts Troop performed their play "RISING SUN, RISING MOON," by Randy Wyatt, featuring folktales from the Pueblo Indian and African tradition, at the Morton Grove Library.
The Drama Club performed an adaptation of "ARTHUR'S MYSTERY ENVELOPE" to a crowd of family and friends on stage at the Skokie campus.
Our thanks to Mrs. Donelle Bergeson, director of Drama Club and Performing Arts Troop, and her assistants Mrs. Ela Abdul and former MCCA student and Glenbrook South HS Senior Saarah Bhaiji. Our parents and students appreciate the commitment and guidance each of you dedicated to these students over the past many weeks.
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Conjuring Computer Creativity
Middle school students complete a menu of computer courses throughout the year to hone a variety of skills. 8th grade students have been working on movie editing, learning the nuances of movie-editing software. Students made commercials and either a movie trailer or a short movie. They wrote their own scripts, recorded footage, and then edited their movies using iMovie or Final Cut. They learned different editing techniques, such as splitting a clip, adding transitions, adding background audio, voice overs, and creating subtitles and credits. They created masterpieces!
Six-grade students have been working on desktop publishing skills by creating a travel brochure. First, they researched facts about their country, such as landscape, tourist attractions, food, climate, hotel and airline fares. Then, they incorporated this information into a brochure template within Microsoft Word. They personalized their projects by manipulating the template, playing with fonts, colors, sizing of objects and photos. Then, students presented their work to the class, showcasing their travel brochures and selling their classmates on why their country would be the best to visit.
- Submitted by Ms. Asmaa Shafiq, MCCA Computer Technology Teacher
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Part-time Early Childhood Program - Mrs. Patel
MCCA early childhood students in our part-time program enjoy hands-on learning! Here, students are reviewing patterns, rolling letters, creating letters and lacing shapes.
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Middle School Literature - Mrs. Gomaa
Middle-schoolers are working hard in Mrs. Gomaa's classroom. Sixth-graders created storyboards on the fable "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" by A. Wolf. They read this story and then created storyboards showing Wolf's point of view of what really happened. In 7th grade, after completing a unit on poetry, students wrote their own acrostic poems on a person or event from history that has inspired them. After completing a unit on poetry centering on valuing beauty in a variety of ways (not just physically), 8th graders created group collages pulling out images and words they identified as beautiful. They are presenting their collages to their peers in class.
-- Submitted by Mrs. Gomaa, Middle School Literature Teacher
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Middle School Science - Mrs. Saleh
Our middle school scientists have been conducting exciting experiments at Morton Grove campus. Sixth-grade students completed their studies on storms and to better understand the function of tornadoes, they designed a simulation of a tornado by observing the funnel shape it creates. 7th-grade students have been studying the digestive system. They conducted an experiment to simulate how the digestive system works. They studied the effects of hydrochloric acid and pepsin (an enzyme) on egg whites and were able to make the connection with what occurs in their own stomachs when digesting food. Our 8th-graders discovered "elephant toothpaste"! They observed a chemical reaction that consisted of hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, yeast, and food coloring to create an explosion of foam. 8th-graders also acted as
forensic scientists with a mystery to solve in our crime scene for Mrs. Bakersfield the Baker! Students had to analyze their mystery powder to come up with a match with the crime suspects in custody. They discovered that there were two criminals that committed the crime; cousin Alice and the robber.
- Submitted by Mrs. Abeer Saleh, 8th Grade Science Teacher
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Middle School English - Mrs. Elmasri
Mrs. Bara's middle school English class students are working on presentations. Seventh-graders are presenting a product they find useful in their day-to-day life. They're using iPads to gather information and write notecards for their PowerPoint presentations. Eighth-graders are presenting places from around the world.
Mrs. Elmasri's sixth-grade class is presenting their research papers using Google slides via the class iPad. They presented with a poster they designed and brought props from home. Our students LOVED taking center stage!
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Physical Education Update
This past month in P.E., students started their first sports unit, which is kickball! They learned the rules and positions and have been putting it all into action as they practice their kickball skills in competitive and exciting games! At the same time, students are continuing to work on their fitness with games incorporating team building and physical skills to keep students moving in a fun and challenging way. In middle school, students also watched an eye-opening documentary on sugar and its adverse effects on people, young and old. They are currently working on their reflections on what they learned from the documentary and are looking forward to sharing ideas on how sugar can be cut down in their everyday lives and be replaced with healthier options. After winter break, students will be doing their second, end-of-the-quarter, fitness assessment to see how much improvement they made in their muscular and cardiovascular strength and endurance.
-- Submitted by Ms. Zeenat Umar, MCCA Phys. Ed Teacher
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1st Grade - Ms. Malik, Ms. Adhami, and Mrs. Nabeel
First-graders were learning different strategies to add and subtract numbers to 20. During math centers, they enjoyed learning about double facts by using different manipulatives to practice making double facts. Children enjoyed indoor recess games and making snowman for art class.
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5th Grade - Ms. Barkat and Mrs. Rehman
There's been a lot of action in fifth grade from learning about the Native Americans to the explorers that settled in the US, which was first known as the 13 colonies. In math, students have been strengthening their algebraic skills and trying to solve for those mysterious variables (especially that x). In science, the students have been researching about animals and their life cycles. The fifth graders created a life cycle booklet about a specific animal of their choice. These creative life cycle books include pictures and details about the different stages of life. Stop by and take a look at the fifth grade bulletin boards downstairs in the hallway when you visit to see their amazing booklets.
Referring to our science chapter on animals, the fifth-graders are in full swing to write a five-paragraph research paper for writing class. The students are strengthening their writing skills by having a catchy topic sentences to start their paper and a strong thesis to give an overview of their paper. The students will continue to work on writing three-body paragraphs based on their subtopics and a conclusion that ends with a bang. Stay tuned for their complete research papers because they will be legendary!
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4th Grade - Mrs. Patel, Mrs. Khan, Mrs. Iftekharuddin
Fourth-graders have kept up the hard work this month. In math, students have learned to read and interpret graphs. Fourth grade surveyed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders about their favorite mythical creatures: unicorns, dragons, mermaids, and trolls. Students collected and organized the data to compete a bar graph to announce the results. It was a fun and interactive approach to learning the objective in math. The results are posted in our school's library.
Fourth grade also visited the Shedd Aquarium as we covered Animal Adaptations in Science. Students watched a 4D show on the Pre-historic Sea Monsters. Relating the subject matter to the field sparked a lot of great discussion during the field trip. We ended the unit with an animal adaptations project in which students picked an animal and moved it to a new habitat. Students created adaptations the animal will need to adapt to it's new environment. All projects are displayed on the fourth grade bulletin board in the basement. Come down and take a look!
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2nd Grade - Mrs. Sheikh, Mrs. Baig, Mrs. Bozai
Second graders are working hard to publish their class books! This year's theme is to write about what you are thankful for and our students are thankful for so much! We started this process with brainstorming and students wrote a rough draft. After completing the editing process, students went through second and then final drafts.
This has also been a busy month filled with art projects, jeopardy test review games, and read alouds. We read humorous stories like Click Clack Moo and interesting informational texts like Jellies: The Life of a Jellyfish. In math, we learned about measurement. Students enjoyed using rulers to measure in centimeters, inches, and meters. In social studies, we learned how to read maps and about geography.
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PreK - Mrs. Fayyaz and Mrs. Metovic
This month in Pre-K A and B we are learning letter recognition, letter sounds, how to skip count by 10's to 100, how to read 3 letter words, write letters A-K and numbers 1-9. The last alphabet letter we learned and practiced writing was letter Jj. We made an art project in reference to letter Jj by making Jellyfish. Pre-K A & B students love hands-on activities. We use sand, play doh, puzzles, and all sort of different manipulatives. This month, we had a lot of fun learning about different types of animals. We even tried to imitate how animals move through dancing and exercising! Pre-K A & B students made their own quilt by writing their names and decorating in reference of the book called:
Cassie's Word Quilt
.
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3rd Grade - Mrs. Patel, Mrs. Aqueel, Mrs. Qureshi
Our third-graders have made a lot of progress in math this month. We introduced multiplying three-digit numbers by one digit with regrouping, and alhumduillah all of our students caught on very quickly. We are wrapping up multiplication now, and will begin our next chapter on division. Congrats to Asma Fatani, Mujtaba Syed, Ibrahim Nubani, Zahra Omar and Eshal Patel for passing their multiplication timed tests!
In science, we are working on our next chapter on animals. As we continue learning different traits of mammals, birds, fish, etc, the third-graders will be starting an endangered animals project when we return back from the break. Our weekly writing prompts are getting easier and easier for the students. In fact, we noticed that writing five-paragraph essays has become so routine for our students that they do not want to write any less that! We are loving this love and enthusiasm for writing. We hope everyone has a wonderful winter break. We look forward to seeing everyone in the new year inshAllah.
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First Grade Arabic - Mrs. Yasin
Arabic Teacher Mrs. Yasin's first-grade students are learning and practicing their words of the week. They enjoy joining the Arabic letters together to make new words they are learning in class.
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