By Alex Robinson
After a couple years of delays, Jamaica’s Al-Mamoor school will be moving to a new location in Flushing this summer.
The school will open the doors of its new facility, at 78-31 Parsons Blvd., to its growing student population this September.
“This will give us a much larger capacity,” said Ismael Khalil, the school’s principal. “You can’t even compare the two.”
The Islamic school currently teaches 165 students, and will be able to accommodate 80 to 100 more once it moves, Khalil said.
The new facility is made up of two buildings: a two-story structure with a basement and a larger building, which will eventually contain the school’s library, gym and some classrooms.
The school is just waiting on a Certificate of Occupancy from the city Department of Buildings before it can start moving into the main two-story building, which will house a cafeteria and a number of classrooms, each with its own smartboard, Khalil said.
The new buildings have also been equipped with bathrooms with special washing areas so students can properly clean their feet before praying.
The school has been in the Jamaica Muslim Center, at 85-37 168th St., for at least the last 10 years, but in order to grow and meet the demands of the community, Al-Mamoor needed to move, Khalil said.
“We also needed to relieve the mosque from the presence of the school so they can have more room for worshippers,” he said.
There is no concrete data that demonstrates how the Muslim population has grown in Queens or even New York City, but the 2010 U.S. Religion Census showed Islam was the country’s fastest growing religion from 2000-10. During that time, the Muslim population more than doubled as it grew from 1 million to 2.6 million, according to the study.
Khalil said this influx is particularly true in Queens, the city’s most diverse borough.
The school’s new location is a little more than a mile away from the old address, where the community is centered, Khalil said. The move has been in the works for a few years now, but has been slowed by fund-raising problems and permit delays.
In the past year, the school taught boys and girls from pre-K to eighth grade, but will be able to offer ninth grade as well this fall and plans to add a grade every year up until 12th-grade.
In addition to teaching the state Department of Education curriculum, Al-Mamoor instructs its students in Arabic, Islamic studies and holds classes on the Quran.
“We need really to raise good citizens who are proud of their identities as Muslims,” Khalil said. “By raising good Muslims, we are building the future of this nation.”
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
