Sister Clara Muhammad School | Mission Statement | Meet the Principal
Who Was Sister Clara Muhammed? | Classes | Homework
Sister Clara Muhammad School
Sister Clara Muhammad School of South Jersey was established in 2001 as a Sunday Prep School serving only 15 students. The students excelled in Arabic, Quranic Recitation, Islamic Studies, Science, and Art. After numerous requests for larger classes, in 2007 the Sunday school became home to some 70 students of all backgrounds. Sister Clara Muhammad School prides itself in maintaining smaller classes where the students are encouraged to build lasting and fulfilling relationships with each other. Currently, the Sister Clara Muhammad School is in the process of working on plans to build a full-time state of the art Islamic school serving grades Pre-K thru 12.
Our mission is to instill in our students the benchmarks of an upright society guided by honesty, integrity, fairness, responsibility and duty to God, their country, themselves, their families, others and the world around them; to help develop a sense of pride in their Islamic heritage and to foster a genuine concern for the welfare and well being of others; to nurture in them an inner spirit that strives for excellence in all that they do and to encourage them to use their knowledge of Al-Islam and rational thinking to promote positive solutions for the ills of society.
WHO WAS SISTER CLARA MUHAMMAD?
Sister Clara Muhammad was born with the name Clara Belle Evans in Wenona, Georgia in 1899. She and Elijah Poole were married in 1919 and had eight children. She faced hardship during this time. Her husband, the late Elijah Muhammad was jailed for being a conscientious objector to the war and her children were not being taught adequately in school as a result of the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws wreaked havoc upon African Americans. They encouraged physical and psychological violence both in the community as well as in the public school system. As a result, this encouraged Sister Clara Muhammad to become an advocate for education.
After becoming a Muslim with the Nation of Islam, Sister Clara Muhammad had to decide how to give her children a quality education. The school system which was created for African American children purposefully hindered their education. It was plagued with substandard books and poor supplies, which in essence created an inferior education.
Sister Clara Muhammad wanted more for her children and did not allow fear to dissuade her. When the authorities demanded that she send her children back to the public school she refused and resisted. She told them that she would die deader than the wood on the back door before she would turn her children back over to the public school system. Unsatisfied with the schools that African American children had to attend, she formed a school in her house. Excellence in education, moral character, and serious study of ones faith was taught. She became the symbol of change in education for many. By 1972, University of Islam Schools were well established throughout the nation. Imam Warith Deen Mohammed later renamed the schools to Sister Clara Muhammad Schools in her honor. After her death and inspired by her legacy, Sister Clara Muhammad Schools continue to flourish.
Building upon her legacy of excellence, The Sister Clara Muhammad School of South Jersey was formed to inspire all people to achieve excellence in both education as well as moral character.
MEET THE PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER
Sister Shirley has been in the field of education for approximately 33 years, and has spent her life engaged in work that advances the educational and social experience of children. Along with other devoted mothers, she instituted the first Girl Scout Troop at Camden Masjid in the late 1970s-early '80s, which remains a thriving activity for the youth in Camden, New Jersey, today. Not too long thereafter she founded Sarafina, a dance school that performed annually in Lawnside, N.J., and co-founded another Girl Scout Troop in Lawnside.
A devout Muslim, Sister Shirley made Hajj in 2006 and supports and promotes the Ministry of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad. She co-founded Masjid Freehaven in 1992 and founded Sister Clara Muhammad School of South Jersey in 2001.
Sister Shirley taught high school math in the public school educational system for 32 years and presently serves as the math coordinator for the New Jersey Department of Education.
Her wealth of knowledge has made her an instrumental asset to the community she serves.