Granada Islamic School (GIS) is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation (FID 31-1267559) established in 1988 by the Muslim Community Association (MCA) to meet the PK-8th grade educational needs of the Muslim community of the San Francisco Bay Area. The school is located in a light industrial area in the heart of Silicon Valley, and occupies one half of the MCA building, adjacent to the mosque and community center. The school consists of 20 classrooms, a science lab, a computer lab, a library, two language labs (Arabic and ESL), lunchroom, one teacher room and four offices. Outdoor facilities include a playground, a grass area, a basketball court and an asphalt parking lot. Because of its location in a light industrial area, students do not live within walking distance of the school. The school’s main source of income is from student tuition.

GIS has an administrative team (a Principal and a Vice-Principal) who reports to the seven-member School Board of elected and appointed community members. The School Board reports to the MCA Board, the (elected) governing board of the Mosque and Community Center.

The school is divided into upper grades (5th-8th) and lower grades (K-4th). The program for both upper and lower grades consists of three components: academic subjects, Islamic education subjects, and enrichment classes. In our academic subjects, our students are expected to master all the standards set by the State of California for Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. The Islamic and enrichment classes comprise about a third of the student’s day at school. Islamic education subjects include: Qur’an reading and memorization, Islamic studies and Arabic language. The third component, enrichment classes, includes art, physical education and computer education. The total instructional minutes for GIS students exceeds the California code requirement at all grade levels.

Our academic year goes from the end of August until mid-June and is divided into three trimester grading periods. Our school day runs from 8:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and from 8:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Fridays and is broken down into eight 45-minute periods.