Nasser Zawia and Jennifer Ead, members of the board of trustees of the Islamic School of Rhode Island, look forward to the school's Sept. 7 opening.

Besides traditional subjects, children will take classes in Arabic, the Koran and religious studies.

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 20, 2004
BY ZACHARY R. MIDER
Journal Staff Wrtier


WEST WARWICK -- The first Islamic school in Rhode Island is set to open here next month, serving Muslim students from Rhode Island and nearby states.

In past years, Muslim parents have had to take their children to parochial schools in Massachusetts, or send them to local public schools, where they sometimes face prejudice, said Jennifer Ead, spokeswoman for the new Islamic School of Rhode Island.

The new school is in an unusual place -- the site of a former Roman Catholic parochial school, just behind Sacred Heart Church -- and its front door looks out on a grotto honoring an Italian saint.

"It's good to be in the background of a church," said Nasser Zawia, a member of the school's board of trustees who said he wants the school to be an accepted part of the community. "It erases a lot of misconceptions."

The school is open to any student, pre-kindergarten through grade six, although enrollment may be limited to pre-K through grade three during the first year, Ead said. Fewer than 50 have signed up so far. Students are expected from as far away as Massachusetts and Connecticut. So far, no non-Muslims have enrolled.

There's been a need for an Islamic school in the area for some time, but the backlash against Muslims following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks galvanized the effort to create one, Ead said.

"We wanted our children to come and feel free in who they are and not have backbiting and ridicule," she said. Ead said public schools are particularly difficult for Muslim girls, who often stand out because they cover their heads.

Zawia and Ead said overt hate crimes are rare in Rhode Island, although just last month, someone spray-painted slurs on a convenience store across town that is owned by an Egyptian-American.

Ead, also a member of the board of trustees, grew up in Glocester and is a convert to Islam. She has been home-schooling her children, ages 7 and 4, but plans to send them to the new school when it opens Sept. 7.

In addition to traditional academic subjects, students will take classes in Arabic, the Koran and religious studies. They will break for midday and afternoon prayers. Non-Muslim students would have the option of forgoing those activities.

The state Department of Education has granted the school "provisional approval" to open next month, said Stephen Nardelli, who handles parochial school matters for the department. Final approval would come once building, fire, and other inspections are complete, he said.

For decades, Sacred Heart Church rented the school building to the West Warwick School Department, which used it as an annex to the Providence Street Elementary School.

The Rev. Richard A. Bucci, pastor of Sacred Heart, said his church welcomes its new neighbors -- and the new source of rent.

"A Muslim family has had the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre since the Middle Ages, so I don't think giving them the keys to our school was a particularly momentous event.

"I've had less trouble with them than I've had with the Town Council, let's put it that way."

The school operates on a shoestring, relying on donations and a $3,000 annual student tuition. Every donation helps, Ead said, such as the $100 worth of paint that Home Depot recently gave the school.

"Our biggest challenge is transportation," said Zawia, who is also a professor at the University of Rhode Island. Enrolled students are from all over the state, and there is no money to bus the students in. For now, parents will be responsible for that.

If the school succeeds, it will try to pay for busing in the future, Ead said. She added: "Insha Allah" --