Grand Rapids To Get First Islamic Grade School
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - The former site of a Grand Rapids daycare center is being converted into the first Islamic grade school in the area.
The Islamic Academy is holding an open house Saturday to garner support for the new school. Officials are hoping to provide preschool programming before the school opens next fall for students in kindergarten to fifth grade.
"It's a vision," said Kamal Nuriddin, a member of the school's planning committee. "A big test for us is going to come this week with the open house. We'll see what kind of support we get from that."
The effort is similar to the building of the $1.8 million Islamic Mosque and Religious Institute, the first mosque in the Grand Rapids area, he said.
"I'm really hopeful. Nobody has really seen, except for a handful of people, what is really going on there," Nuriddin said
County records show the Creative Learning Center property was purchased out of foreclosure for $270,000 in April. The Islamic Foundation of West Michigan has since made repairs on the 12,000-square-foot building, The Grand Rapids Press reported.
Tuition at the Islamic Academy will be charged on an income-based sliding scale, but rates have yet to be set.
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