Principal and Director
Doctorate in Education Leadership and Cultural Foundations (University of North Carolina)
MS Educational Administration (Eastern Illinois University)
MS Technology Management (Eastern Illinois University)
BS Computer Science (International Islamic University in Islamabad)
As a co-founder of Tarbiyah School, Dr. Latif brings a depth of diverse experience from teaching at a Montessori to university education. She has been in the educational field since 1998 with teaching, administrative, and consulting experience. She has consulted schools with a majority of refugees and immigrants from South America, Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She is a pioneer of quality Islamic education and curriculum in the Delaware Muslim community and has trained emerging teachers who have now obtained teaching positions in local schools. She has received many awards, fellowships, scholarships, and grants for her research. She has received the 2011 Distinguished Dissertation Award from American Educational Research Association (AERA). AERA is a prestigious international professional organization, with more than 25,000 members who are educators; administrators; directors of research; persons working with testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioral scientists. She is currently developing elementary and middle school curriculum based upon Tarbiyah’s pedagogy and Delaware common core standards. She believes that the goal of Islamic education is to foster and cultivate social justice, social change, diversity, and globalization. Tarbiyah is an important aspect of children’s life where they interact and experience their parents, teachers, peers, and community. She believes that all children have the capability to excel in every area of learning. With an Islamic learning environment, she is confident that children will have an enriching experience with an inquisitive mind to think critically about the broader societal and global issues InshAllah. At Tarbiyah, the goal is the pursuit of excellence in preparing children for success in this life and the Hereafter. Her research interests are in literacy, educational leadership, social justice, diversity, demographic change, narrative research, feminist epistemology, women studies, girls’ education in developing countries, international comparative education, and technology. Dr. Latif is married to Dr. Naveed Baqir with four children: two daughters and two sons all under age 8. She loves travelling, reading, eating and cooking food from different countries. She also enjoys learning new languages and listening to narratives of people.
Islamic Principles Teacher, Grades 4 through 8
Sister Gulmakai brings her zeal to learn, effective teaching practices, and hard work to Tarbiyah. She joined Tarbiyah in August 2012 as an Islamic Principles teacher. She has taught at Villanova Academy for Honor Studies Grades 1-7, has led several new initiatives and programs for children at Islamic Centers. She brings 9 years of teaching experience to Tarbiyah. She is married and has two girls and a son.
A Message from Sr. Gulmakai
As an active Islamic Principle teacher at Tarbiyah School, I would like to share my philosophy in teaching and some of my student’s achievements.
I use my diverse skills as a teacher, to implement Islamic teachings into the lives of my students the love of Allah and Muhammad (pbuh).
My philosophy of teaching is that every child has a different way of learning and grasping knowledge. I believe working with students to meet their needs will make them more organized, proactive, creative, motivated, and inspired. My goal is to enrich their learning environment by using creative methods, and by promoting Islamic values and morals and implementing self-confidence into the student. It helps students possess good morals and values and helps them be successful both in academic and personal lives.
Working closely with Dr. Amna, I present core content to my students in an interesting and involving manner. For example, when I noticed that students like to play a game called Roblox, I joined them. I used the game to bring in the concepts from the lessons they were supposed to learn in a way that created a bond and trust between the students and myself as a teacher.
When one of their classmate became sick, the whole class paid him a visit. It brought more respect and understanding for each other. It taught them the importance of social responsibility while practicing a great Islamic tradition.
Seeing the students in 5th grade from the first semester to the second, I can only say I have seen big improvements their behavior, mash’allah.
I would like to take a moment and thank parents of students at Tarbiyah from the bottom of my heart for letting me teach your child. May Allah (swt) guide us in the right direction.
Science Teacher Grades 4 through 8
United States Medical Board Certified: Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates
MBBS King Edward Medical College, Lahore
Dr. Sara Tahir brings her vast hands on science background. She is a certified medical doctor trained from the prestigious King Edward Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan. She has completed her licensing exams and residency requirements. She is board eligible medical doctor and has decided to join Tarbiyah to share her knowledge and lead Science education for Grades 4 through the middle school. She is a very creative teacher and is setting up a science lab at Tarbiyah.
A Message from Dr. Sara Tahir
Science is a subject that can bring one closer to His Creator by increasing ‘taffakur’ [thinking, meditation] and studying the signs of our Lord. We begin our Science class here at Tarbiyah by doing zikr everyday. My target is to complete the Seerah of the Prophet SAW, in the entire year with every class, in a story like fashion where kids can better remember it. The more students get to know about the Prophet SAWW, the more they will love Him inshaAllah.
This year all the science students made projects of ‘Cells’ and presented their projects in front of the entire school. This activity added to their confidence and communication skills bringing out the best in each child, some of them coming out as natural leaders of their groups. We also held a Science bee which was a Science quiz competition where kids competed against each other during various rounds of questions, spelling Science words and putting the bones of a skeleton together. I believe that Science should be taught with colors, diagrams and multimedia resources where all resources act as aides clarifying each new concept. We finished doing the digestive, respiratory, circulatory systems of humans where a concept was first introduced, slides of the frog’s intestine and lung slides were seen under a microscope. To further add to the knowledge gained in class we are going to dissect frogs and look at all these systems live inshaAllah in the coming weeks.
Science videos and looking up pictures and documentaries about each new scientific term, during science class act as tools of learning for each student. Friday labs about the lesson taught during the week are an additional resource that the students so look forward to. Recently we performed an experiment where students were able to see the activity of live yeast cells under the microscope and comparing the results of two beakers, was something which was a learning activity along with fascinating discoveries by the students. I strongly believe that for the building of Science to stand firm, it needs to have a strong foundation which starts during the early school years and new scientific terms and concepts keep adding to it every year.My aim as a Science teacher is to help my students in each grade make a strong foundation inshaAllah. As a medical doctor my field of learning has always been Science. I love Science and my goal is to make my students fall in love with it too and making sure that for them Science acts as a tool to bring them closer to Allah SBT.
English Language Teacher Grades 4 through 8
Master of Sciences – San Francisco State University
Master of Arts – University of Texas San Antonio
Sister Keran brings her leadership, values of justice, and dedication to Tarbiyah. She has taught and has worked with middle, high school, and college students. She has initiated and been part of several youth programs for at-risk children in California. She was a lecturer at the San Francisco State University where she helped establish an Arab and Muslim American Studies program. She has a passion for social justice and women studies. She joined Tarbiyah in August 2012.
Prekindergarten-4 Teacher
Degree in Early Childhood Education – Delaware Department of Education.
Certified and Licensed Child Development Associate
Degree in Management and Foreign Languages.
Sister Meryem brings her love for children, dedication, and friendly personality to Tarbiyah. She has four years of experience in early childhood head start programs (Prekindergarten and Preschool and) in Delaware Public Schools. She joined Tarbiyah in August 2011 and has received Best Teacher Award during 2012-2013 school year. She is CPR certified and well trained in the field of early childhood education. She has the ability to cater to the needs of all students to enhance their learning in all subject areas. She is a mother of two children, Ahmad and Neesam.
Grade 1: Homeroom, Science, Social Studies
Kindergarten: Science, Social Studies, Arabic, and Islamic Principles
Certified Early Childhood Education Associate, Delaware Department of Education
Degree in Law, Morocco
Sister Saida brings her love, passion to learn, and dedication to Tarbiyah. She joined Tarbiyah in August 2012. She is eager to learn and applies research based practices to teaching. She brings two years of teaching experience. She is married and has four children: three daughters and a son.
Degree in Science – Long Island University
Sister Shantel is a very hardworking and promising teacher who has recently joined Tarbiyah for the current Academic Year. She is the homeroom and Islamic Principles teacher for Grade 2 and will also teach science and social studies to grades 2 and 3.
Arabic Grade 1, Arabic Grade 2, Arabic Level 2 Teacher
Degree in Arabic Language, Literature, and Linguistics – ElJadida University, Morocco
Tajweed Ijaza (Certificate) from Syria.
Sister Aicha Elyamni has a degree in Arabic Language and Linguistics from Morrocco. She has 9 years of Arabic and Quran teaching experience. She joined Tarbiyah in August 2011. She is very dedicated, humble, and has great ideas and strategies for teaching Arabic and Quran. She also assists Sheikh with Quran and Tajweed. She is married and has one son.
Degree in Science – Temple University
Sister Kemba brings her dedication, expertise, and passion for Mathematics to Tarbiyah. She has taught in Clara Muhammad Schools in Philadelphia and has a diverse experience in teaching Math and Science from elementary to middle school level. She joined Tarbiyah in February 2012. She is a widow who has a daughter.
Grade 1: English, Math, Islamic Principles
Pursuing degree in Elementary Education
Sister Yasmin brings her love for learning, hard working, and lively personality to Tarbiyah. She has a proven record of teaching children with special needs and with those requiring individual and personable attention. She started at Tarbiyah as a Pre-K 3 teacher in August 2012. She is CPR certified.
Pursuing a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education
Sister Ayesha joined Tarbiyah in January 2013. She has a very creative, dedicated and focused personality. She helps aftercare students with their homework and structured educational activities as well as arts and crafts creative ideas.
Toddler Program Homeroom Teacher
Certified Early Childhood and Elementary Education Associate
Sister Noura joined Tarbiyah in October 2012 and has proved to be a very hardworking team member at Tarbiyah. Her humble attitude inculcates great personal characteristics in children at a very young age. She has one daughter.
Infant Program Homeroom Teacher
Certified Early Childhood and Elementary Education Associate
Sister Khadija joined Tarbiyah in September 2011. Since then she has been a role model for young infants. Her love, care and humbleness makes her an all time favorite teacher for young infants.
PreK 3 Assistant
Certified Early Childhood Associate
Sr. Rajae joined Tarbiyah during 2013-2014 academic year as an assistant child caregiver. She is a very hard working, dedicated and caring teacher.
Degree from Long Island, New York
Sr. Naafiah moved to Delaware in 2004 and has ten years of teaching experience with daycare, elementary, and middle school students in various settings. She is founder of NR Learning Center where she creatively implemented her student based curriculum to students: Prek – Grade 7. She brings her talent and passion to teaching to Tarbiyah School. She is continuing her education in the field of curriculum development.
Certified Early Childhood Associate
Sr. Sahar brings her energy, enthusiasm, and care for children to Tarbiyah. She started as a volunteer in summer of 2014 and was subsequently hired as a childcare assistant.
Degree in Early Childhood Education
Licensed Child Development Associate
Sr. Fatimah Cantre began as a volunteer at the Tarbiyah Day Care program and was subsequently hired as a caregiver for infants and toddlers. She quickly established herself as someone who is energetic and organized with a strong work-ethic. She has experience working with infants, toddlers, and prek students since 2006 in Puerto Rico and Long Island, NY where she worked as an employee at Head Start and YMCA Day Care programs among others. She is bilingual – Spanish and English and will be starting Spanish classes for upper elementary and middle school students.
Art Teacher
Sr. Ladan is an expert artist who expresses herself in a number of different medium. She has invigorated the art department at Tarbiyah. Her specialty in working with oil on canvas and clay has helped students be creative in artistic expressions. She is a very dedicated, humble and hardworking teacher at Tarbiyah.
Prekindergarten Teacher Assistant, ESL Grammar Teacher
Certificated Early Childhood Assistant Teacher
Zakiyyah Ali graduated from Central Texas College in Texas with an Associates Degree in General Studies and a Certificate in Health Information Management. She is a certified assistant teachers . She owns an e-commerce business as well.
School Custodian
Sr. Fatima joined Tarbiyah in 2011 and immediately became a “star” team member due to her attention to details, hardwork, focus and dedication.
Arabic Level 4, Quran Teacher
Degree in Islamic Studies — Université Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Fes, Morocco
Sheikh Hicham Ahmed is a resident Imam at Masjid Isa and Quran Teacher at Tarbiyah School. Sheikh Hicham graduated with a Bachelors Degree from University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah in Fez, Morocco. He is fluent in Warsh and Hafs Qiraat methods and beautifully recites in many different styles. Please go to TARBIA.TV to hear his recitation and join us for the daily prayers and Jummah Salat to meet with Sheikh Hicham in person.
Resident Scholar – Tarbiyah and Masjid Isa Ibn-e-Maryam
Degree in Hadeeth and Hadeeth Sciences: Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Br. Shadeed conducts training programs for Tarbiyah Faculty, Hadith lectures for students and evening halaqas in Masjid Isa. Shadeed Muhammad was born and raised in Montclair, NJ. He graduated from the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia with specialization in Hadeeth and Hadeeth Sciences. He has extensive experience in the field of Da’wah (i.e. Islamic outreach) and translation. He has lectured at many masjids and colleges throughout the country, having translated for some of the most renowned Islamic scholars of our time. He has authored several books and academic papers on important religious issues.
Psychologist and Behavior Counselor
Br. Shariyf is an effective and experienced psychologist and behavior counselor. He works at State of Delaware’s juvenile facility and supports Tarbiyah School on an on call basis. He has been instrumental in bringing in his perspective and experience to develop model behavior in Tarbiyah Students.
Pursuing a degree in Elementary Education, Wilmington University
Sister Humaira joined Tarbiyah as a standby substitute teacher in March 2013. She brought her knowledge, energy and drive to Tarbiyah and has contributed as a reliable and effective substitute teacher. She is now a member of the elementary education support team that looks after curriculum development and implementation.
Degree in Microbiology
Sister Nazia joined Tarbiyah in 2012 and has always been a very reliable source of Science teaching support program. Born and raised in Chicago, IL, she has a degree in Microbiology. Her experience and her dedication makes her a unique member of Tarbiyah Team. She has led science projects and science fairs at Tarbiyah in the past and we are looking forward to benefiting from her involvement in the science curriculum design and implementation at Tarbiyah.