Tarbiyah Academy Parent Newsletter
Updates, Information, and Reminders for our TA Families
December 14, 2021
Assalamu Alaikum Dear TA Parents and Families!
I hope that this finds all of our families well and in the best of conditions!
Alhamdullilah, we've achieved a huge milestone of the academic year with the completion of Term I, including our parent-teacher-student conferences and the publishing of our first report cards of the year. By Allah's Mercy and Blessings, we've been able to achieve so much and our students are demonstrating their learning each day in many, amazing and inspiring ways. We are so proud of them for the strides they are making and the manner in which they are flourishing. As always, we thank you for your continued support and partnership!
Please do read ahead with pertinent announcements, updates, and reminders, and do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Thank you and jazakum Allahu khairun.
Hagar Aboubakr
Head of School
Email Security Concern
Winter Vacation-December 20-January 2
Students will return to school on Monday, January 3.
For any families traveling internationally over the break-your child MUST receive a negative PCR COVID test before returning to school on Monday, January 3. This test MUST be conducted upon arrival in the United States, even if your child received a negative PCR test before traveling to the United States. Students will not be permitted to attend school until they have taken a COVID test and submitted the negative results to our front office.
Staff Changes
Mr. Yassine Agoud will join the TA Team as our Physical Education teacher starting on Tuesday, January 4.
Mr. Aziz Ahmed has moved over to our Middle School, full-time, taking on Middle School Social Studies instruction for 6th-8th grades and continuing, as usual, with his Inquiry & Skills class.
Ms. Mahvash Ahmed will be moving over to our PYP (elementary school) full-time as a Support & Intervention teacher.
Finally, I would like to share with our parent community that Ms. Hala Salama will be resigning from her position with TA. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. May Allah reward her for all the hard work, dedication, and care she has manifested for her students since she joined the TA team. It is always very difficult to see a teacher resign, but we know that she is always a part of the TA community and family.
Mr. Hesham Hassanein will be taking over Ms. Salama's position. He has started the onboarding process with us and will take over classes fully on Monday, January 3, insha Allah. Mr. Hesham Hassanein will be teaching 5th grade as well as 7th/8th grade Arabic Quran, and Islamic Studies. Mr. Yousaf Seyal will take over Arabic with our 4th graders (currently Ms. Salama), and continue with 6th grade Arabic, Quran, and Islamic Studies.
Bios and more information on our new staff are forthcoming. In the meantime, please make duaa for all of our new and current staff who have been Risk-takers by taking on new roles here at Tarbiyah Academy. May Allah bless them in all they do and reward them for their efforts!
Re-enrollment for Current Students + Siblings Now Open
You may use the link below to re-enroll your child on the TADS website.
We are also very excited that the 2022-2023 admissions application is now open for siblings of current Tarbiyah Academy students. You may use the link below to begin the admissions process for TA siblings at this time. Admissions at this time has been prioritized exclusively for our current families. Please do not share the link below with families outside of the TA community. The admissions application will open to the general public on January 10th. Thank you and we look forward to a continued partnership with your family!
https://secure.tads.com/Go/StartAdmissionsApplication.aspx?SetupCode=AWPLT-CP5
Vaccine Clinic at TA-Wednesday December 22
- Pfizer Pediatric; 5-11 years old, 1st and 2nd doses
- Booster Shots for Adults (Moderna, J&J, Pfizer)
To receive a vaccine for yourself and/or your child, please register by clicking on the link below.
When you click on the link, a pop-up box will appear. Click on "Avoid Long Wait in Lines...Click Here." From there, you will fill out the required form, entering December 22nd as your appointment date and selecting a time between 1:00-3:00. Please do reach out to me with any questions about this.
Spelling Bee
Parents at this time can begin having their child practice the Spelling words from his/her grade level for the in-class Spelling be on January 6. If a child exhausts the words from that list, he/she may move on to the next grade level words.
The top 3 winners of the in-class Spelling Bee will move onto the School-wide Spelling Bee on February 3. The first-place winner from the School-wide Spelling Bee will move onto the Howard County Spelling Bee in the Spring.
January 6: In-Class Spelling Bee
February 3: School Spelling Bee
Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences-Thank You!
Tarbiyah Academy Need-Based Scholarship Announcement!
We hope that all qualifying families will participate in this opportunity!
Discovery Day-Monday January 10
Discovery Day is a 2-hour Open House event for families interested in Tarbiyah Academy for their children. During the Discovery Day event, families learn more about the TA mission & vision, the IB program, the admissions process, and receive lots more information related to our school. Please share with your family and friends who may be interested in enrollment at our school for the 2022-2023 academic school year.
Interested families can register here (please share the link!): https://playpass.com/Tarbiyah/discovery-day-monday-january-10-2022-AcXcKFq
Spirit Week
Thank you to our Events Team for organizing Spirit Week!
Parent Workshops
The Learner Profile & Character Education
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2022, 06:00 PM
Tarbiyah Academy, Business Parkway, Elkridge, MD, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Teaching and Learning Math Conceptually
Wednesday, Feb 2, 2022, 06:00 PM
Tarbiyah Academy, Business Parkway, Elkridge, MD, USA
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Parent Book Club
Our first book selection for the book club will be based on the book, "How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk" by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.
The first book club meeting will be held in January, insha Allah (final date TBA). In the meantime, if you're interested in attending this book club meeting and taking part in a conversation on how to communicate more effectively with children, please do acquire the book and begin reading! This book can be purchased, used, on many online sites, or checked out from the library. We hope you will join our first TA Parent Book Club!
Learner Profile Attribute Focus-Communicator
The Learner Profile is a set of 10 attributes that characterize an internationally-minded, global citizen.
Here is how the IB defines being a Communicator:
"We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups."
Essay Panel Competition (Repeated Reminder)
I'd like to remind all families about the annual Essay Panel Competition (EPC), organized by Mafiq Foundation. Essays/Poster/Multimedia must be submitted by January 7.
The theme for the competition is "Islam and Mental Health: Keeping a Sound Mind and Sound Faith”. This competition is a wonderful opportunity for learners of all ages to reflect on how our religion serves our mental health, and how we can draw from the teachings of our religion to navigate the obstacles, big and small, that we encounter in our lives. See below more information, provided by Mafiq Foundation, as well as a link to their website with even more detailed information.
WHAT: Annual EPC (Essay/Panel Competition) Event
WHEN: Saturday, January 15, 2022
WHERE:
- Diyanet Center of America (Lanham, MD) - In person for Metro DC area participants
- Virtual for overseas and non-DMV area participants.
HOW: Submit Essay, Poster, and Multimedia content
Morning Assembly (Repeated Reminder)
On a side note, our middle school students do have their own advisory/homeroom morning meetings, for the same purpose, although each grade level meeting is conducted within their homeroom classes, so it is not streamed via Zoom.
Use this link to join our morning assembly at 8:40:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83204215637?pwd=NFVTakk2KzJFSUdYMGlIbTA1YnE2UT09
Meeting ID: 832 0421 5637
Passcode: Assembly
TA Correspondence (Repeated Reminder)
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. If you are not on your child's grade level BAND group(s) and/or the Parents Band group, and would like to join, please contact Ms. Elkordy at gelkordy@tarbiyahacademy.org.
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.
Events Team Newsletter: The Events Team newsletter is written by our Events Team, Ms. Fatima Rafique and Ms. Munaza Khan. It is sent to families about once a month and contains important information around 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!
Now Accepting Cash for Lunch, Snack, and Water Purchases (Repeated Reminder)
As a reminder, snacks and water cost $1. Here are the lunch options with corresponding prices:
Mondays/Wednesdays; 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/Thursdays: provided by Columbia Café (thabiha options)
- Chicken burger with fries - $6
- Beef burger with fries - $6
- Chicken tenders (3 pcs) with fries - $6
- Chicken nuggets (6 pcs) with fries - $6
- Fries $2
Stay tuned for more parent workshops in the future, insha Allah.
Upcoming Important Dates
December 13-17: Spirit Week
December 20-January 2: Winter Break; No School for Students and Staff
January 6: In-class Spelling Bee
January 12: The Learner Profile Parent Workshop
January 14: 5th Grade Bake Sale
Previous Newsletters
November 30: https://www.smore.com/5qjfa
November 22: https://www.smore.com/5qjfa
November 3: https://www.smore.com/sgfet
October 14: https://www.smore.com/413zm
September 28: https://www.smore.com/t1njr
September 12: https://www.smore.com/46sqe
August 30: https://www.smore.com/x61ph
August 22: https://www.smore.com/872u3
July 28: https://www.smore.com/m73wyHagar Aboubakr, Head of School
Email: hagaraboubakr@tarbiyahacademy.org
Website: www.tarbiyahacademy.com
Phone: (844) 827-2492
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TarbiyahAcademy/