Who We Are
A STEAM INTEGRATED ISLAMIC SCHOOL
Our Mission
ARK Academy’s mission is to foster God-conscious lifelong learners who strive for excellence in character, thought, and action—using an integrated curriculum and a pedagogy that is rooted in the teachings of the Qur’an, the Prophet (sws), and his Household (as).
Our Vision
We are striving to revive an interdisciplinary Islamic scholarly culture that will advance our community.
Why ARK Academy?
ARK Academy draws its inspiration from the symbolic significance of the ark, a vessel of salvation and refuge. As mentioned in a tradition by the Holy Prophet (saws),
Those who board the Purified Household’s (as) ark will attain salvation.
ARK Academy, through its name, embodies a spirit of refuge, enlightenment, and commitment to values against the tide of adversity in the educational landscape. ARK Academy, named after the Ark of Salvation, aspires not only to provide academic excellence but also to cultivate God-conscious lifelong learners. Following the example of the Ahlul Bayt’s ark, the school envisions its students as passengers on a journey of enlightenment, instilling in them a profound sense of morality and consciousness through an integrated approach. The curriculum is designed not only to impart knowledge but to foster individuals who are committed to goodness, morality, and consciousness by encompassing a wide range of subjects, including Quranic studies, Arabic language, Islamic history and civilization, mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts.
Our Approach
At the core of our school is a commitment to Islam as a way of life and the Islamic scholarly tradition. We seek to graduate God-conscious learners who center their lives around doing what pleases our Creator, including love for Prophet Muhammad (s) and his family (as).
We hope to instill a culture of seeing the interrelated nature of things. As such, we use an integrated curriculum that highlights the interconnections across traditional subjects, such as Islamic studies, mathematics, science, language arts, social studies, and the arts. While our curriculum emphasizes the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), we do not do so at the exclusion of the humanities and arts. Rather, we highlight ways in which the natural sciences, the human sciences, and the arts are intertwined. For example, we see STEM not only as important for succeeding in modern society, but also as tools for reflecting on the creation of Allah (swt) and reviving the interdisciplinary Islamic scholarship of previous generations.
Just as our curriculum is integrated, so too is our understanding of the whole child. We hope to nurture the mind, body, and soul of our students—not as distinct separable components, but rather as interconnected aspects of a unified whole child. We recognize that each student is an amanah (trust) entrusted in our care and we respect the honor and dignity of each student. We place expectations on our students based on where they are in the developmental journey of their lives.
We recognize that every learner is unique and has different needs, capacities, interests, talents, and dispositions. While we seek to instill in all of our students a set of common core values, knowledge, and skills, we recognize that each student will develop a unique and personalized understanding of anything they learn. We seek to guide our students in developing God-centric worldviews and supporting them in following their unique callings in life and in the service of the Imam of the Time (atfs).
The Messenger of God said, “We the legions of prophets have been commanded to speak to people according to their intellectual capacities.”
Narration attributed to Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq
Our approach is guided by evidence-based findings and theories from psychology and education. We not only rely on existing research, but we also seek to gather evidence about what works best in our school so we can iteratively improve in meeting our mission and vision.
ARK Academy is governed by a Board of Directors and Executive Committee
Imam Dr. Sayed Al-Qazwini
Islamic Scholar And Author
Director
Founding Imam of IECOC
Islamic Scholar And Author
Graduate Of Islamic Seminary Of Qum
PhD In Islamic Studies, London
Ahmad Khalife
Principal Engineer, Parker Aerospace
President/Member
Senior Principal Engineer, Parker
Sunday School Principal, IECOC
MS in Mechanical Engineering, CSULB
Dr. Shayan Doroudi
Professor of Education, UC Irvine
Director/Member
Assistant Professor of Education, UC Irvine
PhD in Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
BS in Computer Science, Caltech