The Islamic School of Seattle

Due to the extreme staff turnover rate (including principals), I cannot recommend this school. The students were often left unsupervised in their after school "program" in the gym, with only older students available. My son experienced severe taunting and came home regularly with unexplained injuries. Needless to say, we took him out after only a few months. He was in the preschool class. After that time, he was so adverse to going to school, we had to take him to a counselor. He is now thriving at another private school that we feel truly loves him and cherishes him for his personality. ISS lacks any type of specialist to help the children deal with the psychological issues they face as refugees especially. It is also most disconcerting to see them treat their staff so poorly which accounts for the high rate of turn over. Within one year, they had four principals! Inshallah, Seattle will be able to offer a more well-rounded Islamic education for our youngest members. But, the teachers' materials were severely outdated - the library was full of dusty old books from the 70's and 80's.
—Submitted by a parent

I have one child currently attending this school. It is a warm & caring community with wonderful parents and wonderful teachers. In addition, mutual respect and kindness is exhibited by all I interacted with. ISS has done wonderful job recruiting teachers from different cultures and background. They provide child centered education. My child is getting exposed to diversity I did not find at any other place- & my child went to 3 different schools . The quality of instruction has been great and my child is learning new concepts at such an impressive pace. Parent groups like the PTT and Outreach Committee do an amazing job of building a sense of community by giving. This school does an amazing job catering to low income students and providing free tuition to those who cannot afford private education in their community. Their overall graduation rate is impressive. This school is a model
—Submitted by a parent

As a previous teacher of this school I can tell you that this school is very forward thinking on their educational viewpoints. The adminstration are passionate and care greatly about what happens and work to ensure their staffing feels the same. Since working at more than four schools since my departure I can tell you that if you are looking for a small child centered private school that will think of your child first and not just making sure they score well on state tests look here~ Former Teacher~
—Submitted by a teacher

A progressive school, both in an Islamic and educational context. This progressive nature has been a consistent source of tension with those of more traditional viewpoints. If you are looking for a happy, child centered, theme based school ISS will be a great fit for children and parents of all faiths.

I am very please with my child's experience at ISS... she's speaking Arabic, feels respected, and I see how the teachers do their best to cater to the individual learning style and needs of the children. The montessori style is the best! Where else can you go and see youth willing to lead themselves through their work?! The building's in need of some TLC, but otherwise the current staff and the staff's level of commitment and passion is excellent!
—Submitted by a parent

I have visited a lot of Islamic Schools in the U.S. and this one by far is one the best. Great staff and program.

As a former parent of children that attended ISS over the last decade I cannot with any good conscience recommend ISS.the low quality of classroom instruction due to inability of what it seems is adequate teacher retention and training obviously made my kids education suffer and their test scores to remain low for years.
—Submitted by a parent

As a current teacher at the Islamic School of Seattle I see growth and a promising future. At no other faith based institution will you see a student centered curriculum and authentic methods of assessment implemented. Children are taught the importance of tasfir and the application of their faith. It is a testiment to our program that does not teach in a conventional fragmented way that their students excelled beyond state and district standards in the WASL. We offer daily Halaaqa, thematic curriculum, Qur'an with importance placed on tasfir, Arabic, PE, Afterschool Activities, community service and much more.
—Submitted by a teacher

As a parent who has had my children enrolled in the Islamic School of Seattle for many years, I have been more than satified with the education that they have received. The early years are Montisori(pre-3). They have multiage class rooms and have included high shchool last year. My oldest child is fluent in the Arabic language(reading,writing,speaking), my other children are not that far behind. They teach in themes and use a lot of hands on and group work along with field trips. I would not put my children in any other school in this city. We have had our ups and downs with the school, but have learned from the mistakes made and I have to say that I think that the comming up year will be one of the best years to come. The quality of education is execellent. Begining with preschool all the way up to HS.
—Submitted by a parent

As a current parent I am most happy with the quality of education that my child is receiving. I love how Islam is integrated throughout the school day and is a genuine part of my child's life. Morning Halaqa is so wonderful to see, as the children discuss quranic surahs and the application of these to their lives. My child is reading at a level far above grade level and thoroughly enjoys the Accelerated Reader Program. Last year I know my child really enjoyed the Nasheed Program. She loved the different themes of study last year and especially loved studying about Electronics. She constructed simple circuits, added buzzers and enjoyed a guest teacher from the Mad Scientist Program. This year her class will go to camp and she is so excited. I would highly recommend this school both as a academic institution and as one that teaches religious education.
—Submitted by a parent

As a former parent of a child at this school;I was very disappointed overall in the quality of eduacation and the morals it failed to uphold in its stated mission. Several things come to mind when I think of ISS: failure to retain staff for any length of signifigant time: including both adminstratively and teachers, lack of any positive discipline on the part of establishment, no firm or established set curriculum, inavailability of teaching materials for all curriculum introduced, no school clubs or specialists and most of all the poor way they treated their staff and families in terms of pay and personally. I could not recommend this school to any Muslim parent or non Muslim parent in good faith. I was very disappointed as countless other parents were who I have since talked to since I pulled both my children out over a year ago.
—Submitted by a parent