Handbook
MAC Niagara Islamic School offers the Ontario Ministry’s Curriculum, in addition to programs in Arabic language, Quran and Islamic Studies. Our school emphasizes the essential values of our youth’s development and social training, which will inspire our students to become community leaders.
Mission Statement:
Guided by faith and trust in Allah, our school is dedicated to providing a nurturing and high-quality education. Integrating Tarbiyyah into every aspect of the school experience, we aim to foster an environment where students actively participate in the Tarbiyyah process, and they are encouraged to develop as Rabbani individuals. This function supports the development of a strong Muslim identity, academic excellence, and a deep sense of belonging to their community, and the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
TEACHER/PARENT COMMUNICATION
Teachers will send messages to parents whenever the need arises via email.
If a parent has any question or concern about their child’s education, they should arrange an interview by sending an email or by making an appointment through the office by emailing macnis2017@gmail.com or by calling 905-688-6622. Please allow a 24-48 hour response time for non-urgent inquiries. If you feel that your question or concern has not been sufficiently addressed, please feel free to discuss it with the Principal.
Arriving in the Morning:
Students must enter from their designated doors: School doors will open at 8:15 am sharp. Please do not drop children off in the schoolyard before 8:15 am. Please observe proper parking spaces and walk small children to the door, observing the yellow safety zones for pedestrians. There is no parking on the street. If all spots are taken, please loop around and re-enter again. Please be advised that there will be no supervision before 8:15 am, so parents must stay with their child(ren) in their vehicle until then. Do not drop children and leave until you see school staff.
Student Absence / Late Arrival
Students must be seated at their desks at 8:30 am. Arrival after 8:30 am will be marked as late. Students arriving late can be a major disruption to the class, and repeated tardiness will result in a meeting with administration.
Appointments During the Day
If your child has a medical or dental appointment during the school day, please notify the teacher in writing that day via email or note. Please inform us before pick-up if you have an appointment or need to pick your child up for other reasons.
Custody Rights / Others Picking Up at Dismissal
Where parents are separated or divorced, the school should be clearly informed of custodial rights so that there is no question about which parent has the right to pick up the child(ren) from the school. Please notify the school if someone other than a family member has been asked to pick up your child. We will not dismiss your child to anyone other than a parent without notification.
What do Kindergarten Parents Need to Know?
Parents drop off their children in the morning from 8:15-8:25 am, in person, at the door designated by your teacher. Please do not allow your child to exit the car without you as the school is close to the street.
JK/SK is a full-day program. The JK/SK group will follow a slightly different schedule that is tailored to their specific needs as new and young students.
What is the Procedure for Visitors at MAC NIS?
For safety reasons, the doors are locked at all times during school hours. You must request entry and report to the office before going elsewhere in the school.
Volunteers
Among the most important resources of a school are the people of the school community. There is no doubt that the children benefit from the assistance provided to both students and staff by parent volunteers. A love for children combined with patience, understanding and some free time are the only requirements to be a volunteer. The time commitment varies according to the individual volunteer and the kind of role for which you volunteer. All volunteers in our school must provide a recent Vulnerable Sector Police Background Check.
Dropping Off Items at the Office (lunches, homework, etc.)
During the day, there may be drop-offs of lunches, forgotten homework, etc. to the office. Although we do our best to accommodate everyone, it is often difficult to deal with each situation immediately. Pre-planning to make sure your child has everything in their bag as they leave in the morning would be very much appreciated. If you do, however, drop something off, it is not our policy to interrupt a class to call down a student, as it is very disruptive to the class and the teacher. We will make sure the item is delivered at an appropriate time.
Care of Textbooks, Laptops and Classroom Equipment
Textbooks and equipment used in our programs are costly. It is the responsibility of each student to handle textbooks and equipment with care. Parents will be required to pay for the replacement of any textbook or equipment damaged or lost by their child.
Library / Resources
Students are responsible for maintaining all borrowed materials in proper condition (as they were received) and will be required to pay or replace lost or damaged materials.
Litterless Lunches
Please send all food in plastic reusable containers (no glass containers), reusable drink containers, stainless steel forks, and spoons, in order to reduce waste. Students will be asked to take all garbage (organics and plastics) home to dispose of. Individually packaged snacks and drink boxes (although convenient) do create an excessive amount of garbage and recycling. We are trying to help students become environmentally conscious.
Uniform
Clean uniforms are mandatory every day unless otherwise specified by the school. Students will not be allowed to have unusual piercings, dyed or streaked hair. Students cannot wear nail polish or make-up to school. Excessive jewelry is also not permitted.
On days when uniforms are not required, proper dress is required. No shorts or tank tops are allowed for either boys or girls.
All shirts must be purchased from MAC NIS. Parents may purchase light grey pants themselves, but they must be light grey and without designs or logos.
Physical Education
All of the children at MAC NIS will be encouraged to take an active part in the well-balanced Physical Education programme designed to improve fitness, teach cooperation as well as sportsmanship, and develop skills, etc. It is important that each child be prepared to participate in every Physical Education lesson. This means coming to class with the proper attitude and suitable running shoes. Your child will be asked to sit out of class if they have improper footwear. Please note that soccer cleats are not allowed at school to prevent injury. If, for some reason, your child cannot take part in a P.E. class, a note from home explaining the reason why is required.
Emergency Contacts
Please ensure that the school is notified immediately with up-to-date information if there are any changes to information, including address, telephone numbers at work or home, emergency contacts, medical contact, and custody arrangements.
Emergency School Closures
In the event of inclement weather, you will be notified by text message.
Injury or Illness at School
If your child becomes ill or injured at school, we will make every attempt to contact you or your designate to determine an appropriate course of action. If the injury is serious, he/she will be taken to the hospital. If your child is too ill to follow the daily routines at school, please keep him/her at home. If a student becomes ill while at school, parents must pick the child up or arrange for transportation in a timely manner. Generally, children do not recover at school, and we are not equipped to make youngsters feel as comfortable as they would be at home or in the care of a friend or relative.
It is critical that emergency contact information be kept up to date.
Peanut/Nut Allergies
Do not send your child to school with any peanut products or items containing nut by-products!
EPIPENS for students with life-threatening allergies are mandatory. These will be stored in the office. Please provide the school with one on the first day of school. For further information, please visit www.anaphylaxis.org
Prescription Medication at School
If your child must take prescription medication at school, we require a permission form signed by the parent. Staff can only administer routine prescribed medication when a written permission is submitted to the school by the parent. Forms are available in the office, however, we would like to encourage parents to administer medication for their children at home if possible.
Head Lice
Please inform the school if your child has this problem so that we may prevent the spread of lice to other students. The best way to prevent the spread of lice is to encourage your child to avoid sharing combs, hats, scarves, etc. If your child has head lice, you must provide medical clearance before he/she will be readmitted to school.
Please refer to the following website for a list of reportable diseases and the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
http://www.peelschools.org/departments/sch-serv/peelhlth/4-00.htm
Periods of Exclusion
Children with the following diseases should remain at home and away from others:
| Disease | |
| Chickenpox (varicella) | Until well enough to participate in all activities regardless of the state of the rash. |
| Diarrhea | Daycare: Until 24 hours after diarrhea stops * Schools: Until diarrhea stops * * Depending on the cause, the Health Department may require a longer period of exclusion. |
| Fifth’s Disease (parvovirus) | No exclusion
Children well enough to participate in all activities can attend school. |
| Impetigo | Until the antibiotic prescribed by a doctor has been taken for at least 1 full day. |
| Measles (rubeola) | For at least 4 days after the rash begins. |
| Mumps | For at least 9 days after the swollen glands first appear. |
| Pink-eye, bacterial (conjunctivitis) | Until the antibiotic prescribed by a doctor has been taken for at least 1 full day. |
| Ringworm | Until treatment has started. |
| Rubella (German Measles) | Until at least 7 days after the rash first appears. |
| Scarlet Fever | Until antibiotic treatment prescribed by a doctor has been taken for 1full day |
| Strep Throat | Until antibiotic treatment prescribed by a doctor has been taken for 1 full day |
| Whooping Cough (pertussis) | Until antibiotic treatment has been taken for at least 5 full days. If no treatment is given, exclusion for 3 weeks from when the cough began. |
Source: Canadian Paediatric Society
If you suspect your child has a communicable disease that may spread to others:
- Keep your child at home and away from others
- Contact your family doctor for a diagnosis
- Your doctor will advise you about care and treatment when a communicable disease is diagnosed
*Note: The above information is taken directly from the Halton Regional Health Department
Celebration Policy
If you wish to recognize a special day at the school, we would like to remind you that we are promoting a peanut-free and nut-free environment. Some of our students have other types of allergies. Parents must have teacher approval before sending any food to school to avoid any health or cultural issues. In keeping with this policy we are requesting that you send NON-FOOD items for celebrations or foods which are clearly marked with an ingredients list. Absolutely NO HOME BAKED items are permitted for sharing in the classroom with children with allergies. Some alternatives may be stickers, pencils, erasers, books, etc.
Exceptional Students
MAC NIS does not have the resources or facilities to accommodate special needs students, gifted children, and children with learning and physical disabilities. Parents will be consulted and may be asked to withdraw their child from the school if he/she is identified as having special needs which we are unable to meet. It is in the best interest of the child to receive the appropriate help for his/her learning needs.
Lost and Found
The lost and found box will be located in the office. Please ask to check the box if your child has lost anything. Please label all of your child’s items to prevent loss. All unclaimed items will be donated to Goodwill at the end of each month.
Probation Period
All new students will be placed on a probation period of three months. If a student is not observing the behavioural guidelines of the school or seems to have a learning issue that is beyond the capabilities of the staff, then the student may be asked to leave the school
Homework
Homework is a planned part of the education process designed to enhance student learning, and is directly connected to The Ontario Curriculum Learning Expectations. Homework provides students with opportunities to apply learning and practice skills. Homework helps to develop lifelong skills such as self- discipline, task commitment,
time management, responsibility, independence, initiative, and problem-solving. It also helps to build a partnership between home and school which leads to higher academic success.
What are the types of homework?
- Completion – anything not finished in class.
- Practice – review and reinforcement of the lesson
- Preparation- review for a test, re-reading, or research
- Extension – creative applications that integrate or expand on class lessons.
Teachers use professional judgment and discretion to alter the quantity and time frame of homework to meet the needs of a classroom or a specific student.
Extended Absences During the School Year and Homework
If parents choose to take their child(ren) out of school for an extended holiday, the school cannot provide the exact academic activities that replicate the missed schoolwork. Responsibility for this decision must rest with the parents. Parents are encouraged to plan activities such as daily journals, travel logs, reading, mathematics, science, and technology activities during their trip. Teachers are not responsible for providing work in advance of the trip and use their judgement to assign make-up work.
Please note that if your child is absent for an extended period of time, assessment in all areas of the curriculum may not be possible, and this may result in some blank areas on your child’s report card. Please complete an extended absence form found in the office if your child will be absent for more than 1 week of school.
Report Cards for All Grades
- Progress report in November
- Term 1 reports in early February
- Term 2 reports in June
Please note we are following the Ministry of Education guidelines for the new report cards.
Curriculum
Staff design their classroom programs by integrating Islamic character education through our Tarbiyyah framework with the Ontario Curriculum documents.
Parents can review the Ontario Curriculum documents on the Ministry of Education and Training website. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/