Michigan Islamic Academy (MIA) is a subsidiary organization of the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor and Vicinity (MCA).
These organizational bodies share the same facility and serve a large multicultural community that has grown up around the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, and Ann Arbor proper.
Michigan Islamic Academy is a small, private Islamic school that is nestled between a middle-class residential neighborhood, commercial businesses, and the University of Michigan’s North Campus.
MIA prepares students with the academic skills needed to foster student success in any rigorous educational setting, offering a strong secular and religious curriculum for students in grades Pre-K through 12 while instilling Islamic teachings and good morals that are intended to help students enhance their religious practice.Established in 1985, MIA strives to provide a faith-based, college preparatory school in a safe and caring environment.
Its establishment was the result of collaborative efforts between Muslim educators and prominent members of the local Muslim community.
All of them, as parents, deeply desired to provide the same thing for their own and other Muslim children that the school’s staff and parents continue to strive for today – quality academic education and a moral Islamic upbringing in a safe and caring environment.
A pioneering institution from its inception, MIA was the first full-time Islamic school in Michigan and one of the first in the nation to offer all academic subjects (aligned with the state curriculum framework) in addition to Islamic Studies, Quran, and Arabic.The mission of Michigan Islamic Academy is to set the standard for excellence in education while nurturing Islamic character.
Our goals are: To teach in a way that educates spiritually, physically, intellectually, and emotionally. To provide skilled instruction at an academic level necessary for worldly success. To strive for excellence, social awareness, and responsibility through involvement in the community. To instill the attributes of integrity, citizenship, service, and diversity in our children by providing Islamic Character Education.Our core values are faith, character, perseverance, resilience, and stewardship.At Michigan Islamic Academy, our vision is the guiding principle that establishes the goals and expectations for the student population.
Students at MIA receive the necessary skills to foster academic success and Islamic character development through the strong secular and religious curriculum for students in grades Pre-K through 12.DemographicsEnrollmentThere are 269 students currently enrolled at MIA for the 2021/2022 academic year.
This represents a sharp increase in the total number of students enrolled at Michigan Islamic Academy compared to previous years as a result of our expanding facilities.
Prior to that, the total number of students was around 210, with fifteen-student fluctuations more or less, from the year 2011 until 2016.
It is also worthy to note that MIA’s enrollment from grade to grade has fluctuated significantly over the years as groups of varying numbers advance through the system, with new students transferring in from other schools, especially in middle school and Grade 9, and some high school students moving to charter schools.GenderAt MIA, like any typical school, the number of males and females is approximately even. We do have a slight elevation in the number of females over males.
Factors contributing to the higher number of females are most likely cultural and social factors related to the Muslim identity of the population we serve.Ethnicity and LanguageThe MIA student body is composed of many ethnicities.
Approximately sixty percent (60%) of students are from the Middle East.
The Asian ethnicity, at approximately twenty-five percent (25%), constitutes the second largest group.
Approximately seven percent (7%) of the students have mixed ethnic heritage, three percent(3%) are Black, African-American, and African, and five percent (5%) are of other descent.More than half of MIA students are English Language Learners, as English is not the primary language spoken at home.
Arabic, Chinese, English, Somali, Spanish, and Urdu are among the first languages of MIA families.City of ResidenceMost MIA students live in the cities of Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti, but the school also hosts students from more than ten different cities throughout the metro-Detroit area, including Canton, Dearborn area, Saline, Novi, Inkster, Jackson, Livonia, Midland, Farmington Hills, and Westland.
Due to the fact that MIA has expanded its provision of busing for students, it has been better able to accommodate students from cities more than 30 miles away.Family Education and Job CategoriesThe school serves the Islamic community in the area.
Most MIA families are from well-educated backgrounds and include engineers, businessmen, doctors, and others in the medical field, university professors and other educators, etc.
For families experiencing financial struggles, tuition assistance is available.CurriculumMichigan Islamic Academy provides instruction from Pre-K through 12th grades.
The school keeps its goals and objectives at the heart of its curriculum.
To that end, the school has developed academic programs in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education similar to what is offered by most private and public schools in the area.
The Arabic, Qur’an, and Islamic Studies Programs are designed to go hand-in-hand with the academic program to produce students who are rooted in faith, ethical living, social responsibility, and worldly success.
The school also offers dual enrollment, early graduation, and onsite college courses.
All school programs combined target excellence in education.The Arabic and Islamic Studies programs offer Islamic education, which targets nurturing Muslim character.
It is achieved through both formal coursework and role modeling.
Three courses of study in each grade from pre-school through high school are designed to accomplish this goal: Qur’anic Studies Islamic Studies and History of Islam Arabic Language
