Introduction

IALFM Sunday School is a non-profit school founded by the community members for the community. We have been serving the community since 2000. Our mission is to provide an age-appropriate educational program to our students from Pre-K thru 6th Grades (4 to 11 years old) based on the principles of basic primary & secondary education encapsulated in a rich Islamic atmosphere. Classes are held at our premises located at 3430 Peters Colony Road in Flower Mound, Texas. We strive to provide an enriched supportive environment through exploration, discovery, and creativity under the guidance of trained & caring staff to help foster learning in our students. Our goal is to prepare students to conduct themselves as responsible and respectable citizens of the community, the nation, and the world at large.

We work hard to serve the community by maintaining affordable tuition rates & providing need based tuition fee waivers in the form of scholarships thru ERF Program. All of this is possible through the generous help provided by volunteers from our community, who work as a team to operate our school. Almost all functions of the school are run by a team of volunteers, starting from Administrators to Teachers, Teaching Assistants & Substitutes. As an independent non-profit school, we receive no financial support from any level of government and depend entirely upon tuition fees, donations, volunteers, and fund-raising activities to balance our annual operating budget. As tuition fee income alone is not sufficient to cover the entire cost of operations, we therefore appeal to our community to assist us in maintaining and more importantly enhancing the services IALFM Sunday School provides to the community.

The long term growth and sustainability of this institution depends entirely on the generosity of our wonderful community. We invite you to explore different projects that we have to find out more about how you can get involved through the available programs. We are always looking for volunteers to actively participate in our Sunday School Committee and provide teaching & administrative services in different roles.

Levels & Graduation Requirements

The school has developed curriculum for four levels. Students attend each level for two years. Students are eligible to begin Level 1 if they are at least 4 years of age by September 1 at the start of the school academic year. Although students remain in the same level for two years, they do receive different instructions each year as we use different curriculum. Below is a description of the classes. Students graduate upon completing two years of level 4 or entering the 7th grade in their regular schools.

Levels, Age Groups & Grades

Level 1: 4 to 5 years old on September 1 (Pre-School/Pre-K & Kindergarten)
Level 2: 6 to 7 years old on September 1 (1st & 2nd Grades)
Level 3: 8 to 9 years old on September 1 (3rd & 4th Grades)
Level 4: 10 to 11 years old on September 1 (5th & 6th Grades)

For grades 7th and up, IALFM offers a new program called Pillars Academy which will replace level 5 that used to be offered by Sunday school for 7th & 8th graders.

Schedule

At present, there is only one session of our Sunday School. We have operated two sessions in the past to accommodate more students. School starts at 10:30am and ends at 1:45pm.

Starting in August 2024, we are offering 3 classes/periods (each class is of 45 mins duration), on topics related to Quran & Religion (such as Islamic Studies, Makkan & Madinan Sirah, Arabic Letters, Themes in Juz Amma), a 35 mins recess for snacks & playtime (cost of snacks is included in tuition fees) around noon, and 15 mins for Dhuhr Salah with congregation at the end of classes. Sunday School timings do not change due to Daylight Savings Time (DST). See the table below for details.

Study Materials

The school uses a variety of study materials from renowned scholars, including books by Safar Publications. Starting in August 2024, students in Level 2 thru 4 will not be required to purchase any books. Level 1 students may still need to buy a workbook. Sunday school will provide all required supplies & study-materials to students for their classes (covered thru supply fee). All students may use a standard Sunday School Canvas Bag for study materials.

Extra Curricular Activities

IALFM Sunday School is dedicated to providing a nourishing atmosphere with a balanced curriculum. Last year, we organized several exciting workshops for our students, includuing Calligraphy workshop, Self-Defense workshop, and Anti-Bullying workshop.

Basic Curriculum Overview

IALFM Sunday School’s curriculum is age-based and consists of topics like basic lessons in Ethics & Human values, short stories to teach basic Principles of Life, Good Qualities of a Human Being, how to establish Healthy Habits & basic Arabic language in Levels 1-3. Levels 3-4 focus more on World Cultures and Arts, the History of Islamic & other Empires of past and the Contributions of Muslims to the Modern World. Students also receive primary level instructions in reading and writing basic Arabic as a second language. As students enter higher grades, more comprehensive details on these subjects become an area of greater focus in their classes.

Level 1 (ages 4 or 5)

    *  Memorizing Surahs: Al-Fatiha, An-Nas, Al-Iqlas, Al-Falaq, Al-Kauthar, Al-Lahab, An-Nasr, Al-Kaafirun, Al-Maun, Al-Quraish, and Al-Feel
    *  Identifying and writing letters of the Arabic alphabet in their basic form
    *  Describing Attributes of Allah, the 5 pillars of Islam, and the beliefs of Islam
    *  Demonstrating basic Islamic Adab
    *  Describing the stories of some of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an

Level 2 (ages 6 or 7)

    *  Recitation & Tafsir of Surahs: Al-Fatiha, An-Nas, Al-Iqlas, Al-Falaq, Al-Kauthar, Al-Lahab, An-Nasr, Al-Kafirun, Al-Maun, Al-Quraish, and Al-Feel
    *  Identifying and writing letters of the Arabic alphabet in their various forms
    *  Describing stories of some of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an
    *  Describing the Attributes of Allah, the 5 pillars of Islam, and the beliefs of Islam
    *  Identifying deeds as Halal or Haram

Level 3 (ages 8 or 9)

    *  Recitation & Tafsir of Surahs: Al-Humaza, Al-Asr, Al-Takathur, Al-Qariah, Al-Adiyat, Al-Zalzala, Al- Bayyina, Al-Qadr, Al-Alaq, and At-Teen
    *  Sounding out words with short vowel sounds
    *  Describing the Five pillars of Islam
    *  Describing ways to worship Allah
    *  Events in the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
    *  Describing ways to increase Iman
    *  Practicing Islamic adab
    *  Properties of good Islamic character
    *  Islam’s influence on cultures around the world

Level 4 (ages 10 or 11)

    *  Recitation & Tafsir of Surahs in Juz 30
    *  Phonetically sounding out words with various phonetic rules
    *  Rites associated with Salah and Ablution
    *  Strengthening an Islamic identity
    *  Reviewing the lives of the Prophets
    *  Describing the character of some of the Sahabah
    *  Describing Islam’s influence on the arts
    *  Listing months & events of the Islamic calendar

Fees

Tuition fee for 1st Child: $75/Month (charged for 9 months)
Tuition fee for 2nd Child: $45/Month (40% discount)
Tuition fee for 3rd Child: $35/Month (53% discount)
Tuition fee for 4th Child (and more): $25/Month (67% discount)
Registration Fee (one-time charge): $50 (for 1 Child) & $100 (for 2 or more Children)
Supply Fee (one-time charge): $25 per Child

For more info, see: Details of charges for families of different sizes

Payment:

  1. On the ‘Registration + Orientation Day’, you will be required to pay Registration & Supply fees (a workbook may be required for Level 1 students only)
  2. Fees payment can be made via:
    1. Credit/Debit Cards
    2. ACH Debit Payments from your Bank (you will need to provide your bank account info)
    3. Personal Check (postdated checks required for tuition fee payment for entire academic year)
    4. Cash

Notes:

  1. Tuition fee also includes cost of snacks provided to children during recess
  2. Fees will also be utilized to pay for Speakers’ honorarium on special events (generally two such events are planned every year), Volunteers Appreciation Luncheon & technology needs.
  3. Tuition fee is due on the 1st of each month, beginning in August, and ending in May.
  4. Late fee of $10 may be charged if tuition fee is not received by the 5th of each month. This includes declined credit/debit cards & NSF checks. Additional bank fees may also apply.
  5. There is a 10% discount, only on tuition fee, when paid in full (9 months), at the beginning of the academic year. Please note that you can only make this advance full payment via Check, ACH (Bank Account), Zelle or Cash (due to no processing charges). Credit/Debit Cards cannot be used (due to payment processing charges) to pay full tuition fee in advance to avail this discount.
  6. For families in need of any financial assistance, our masjid may provide assistance through an ERF Program. Please talk to the Sunday School Administrator if you want to apply for tuition fee assistance or send an email to: sundayschool@ialfm.org

Grading Policy

Students are awarded at an Annual Graduation Ceremony based on a combination of their performance in the following areas: Attendance, Homework Assignments completion & Test Grades. Tests are administered every semester (2 semesters), for a total of two tests a year. The overall grade is comprised of Attendance (30%), Homework Assignments (30%) & Tests (40%). For any homework assignments that are turned in late by the student, points are deducted. No make-up homework can be turned in after the date of the Semester test. Homework assignments are provided to students for the entire semester period on a sheet. Although our teachers are encouraged to notify parents and students when they are missing their homework, a lack of notification from the teacher does not constitute an excuse for missed homework. Teachers’ contacts information is provided so that parents have the opportunity to contact the teacher to ask any question about their child’s homework assignments. Report cards are also issued to communicate students’ progress.

Dress Code

Female students are expected to wear hijab inside the masjid at all times. Should a female student forget her hijab, extra hijabs are available for borrowing at the masjid. Male students are expected to wear pants and shirts with sleeves while inside the masjid. If shorts are worn by male students, parents should provide a thoub to wear on top of their clothes. Students should avoid tight clothing, tight leggings & short tops. All children are expected to dress neatly and conservatively with no pictures of people or animals on their clothes. If a student comes to school dressed inappropriately, they will be politely reminded of the dress code. However, continued failure to follow the dress code will result in a notification to parents and disciplinary actions.

Attendance Policy

Although students benefit most by attending class every Sunday, the school realizes that children sometimes become ill or have to travel with families on weekends. Therefore, students are allowed up to two excused absences in a year. An absence will be considered excused only when a written note for student is sent by parents via e-mail at sundayschool@ialfm.org. Please note that you must send the note via email before the end of the day on that Sunday that was missed by student in order for the absence to be considered excused. The parent or child is responsible for asking about make-up homework and bringing completed assignments to the teacher. Students with perfect attendance, i.e. no excused or unexcused absences will be eligible for the ‘Perfect Attendance Award’ on Graduation Day. Perfect attendance also includes participation in competitions (where applicable and notified). If a student misses a test and needs a make-up test, student or parents may approach the class-teacher or administrator to arrange for that at a mutually agreed upon time and place. Administering a make-up test is solely at teacher or administrator’s discretion.

Frequently Asked Questions for Parents

We highly recommend that all parents should also review the FAQs over here.

Staff

Our school is run entirely by volunteers from the community. Volunteers are utilized to complete the following tasks and/or fill the following positions to operate school.

    *  Classroom/Snacks Break setup, supervision & clean-up
    *  Clerical duties
    *  Classroom Assistants in Training (for 9th -12th graders)
    *  Classroom Assistants
    *  Substitute Teachers
    *  Classroom Teachers (for Religion & Quran)
    *  Sunday School Committee Members

Interested in Volunteering for Sunday School?

If you are interested in volunteering for our Sunday School, please complete & submit the Staff Registration Form on our website.

Sunday School Committee

See more info on Sunday School Committee over here.

Contact & Feedback

You can contact the Sunday School Committee or any of its members by sending an email at: sundayschool@ialfm.org

Academic Calendar

Calendar for current academic year is available here.