Education.

At City of Knowledge, our young students are taught to be engaged and inquisitive participants in their own education. We integrate the curriculum throughout each day and across subject areas, encouraging students to make connections, develop critical thinking skills, and flourish from insights gained in the classroom. We ensure that the academic program is balanced with the social and emotional growth of each student, and that each student's needs and talents are recognized and addressed. We are committed to creating a safe space for students to joyfully engage in their pursuit of knowledge.

The California State Standards, Common Core Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards are used as guidelines for the skills and concepts taught at each grade level. Our teachers receive regular training and workshops to stay abreast of the most current developments in education. The strategies we train teachers on bring the concepts to life while recognizing each student’s individual level. Students engage in field trips (both off-campus as well as on-campus visits) and hands-on activities to enhance the learning they receive from their books, instruction, and other resources.

+ More.

We enhance our K-8 curriculum with additional activities to enhance and bring more joy to our students’ learning and experience. These include:

Karate. Every Spring semester, City of Knowledge students participate in weekly Karate classes with experienced and certified instructors. Through these classes, students build strength and learn discipline, respect, and self-confidence.

Coding. Students begin learning the foundations of coding early in elementary school and enhance their understanding as they progress through the years. In addition to the computer science skills they develop, students develop problem solving and logic skills, structural and computational thinking, and more.

Competitions. Our students engage in a variety of competitions to enhance their public speaking and critical thinking skills, and their understanding of various topics. We have an annual Speech Competition where students write, prepare for, and perform speeches on provided topics in front of the school, parents, and a panel of judges. We also have an annual Spelling Bee where students compete against one another on a broad range of spelling words, and the winners compete against students from other schools. During our annual Science Fair, students (either independently or as a class, depending on grade level) come up with and research a question and present their findings, which are evaluated by a panel of judges.

Islam.

Our priority at City of Knowledge is ensuring students maintain their innate nature, or their fitrah, and foster it in a positive and God conscious way. We integrate Islamic values such as honesty, compassion, and respect, throughout the curriculum. Students have daily Ethics classes where they learn Islamic concepts—the teachings and tenets of our faith as well as Islamic history, role models, morals, and values. Additionally, our students engage in daily Qur’an and Arabic classes where they learn to read, write and understand the language of the Qur’an. They also engage in daily group duhr and ‘asr prayers and du’a, sharing in the collective experience and reward of group prayers and resetting themselves in the middle of the school day.

Students celebrate Islamic holidays including the birth of the Prophet (s), and those of his Ahlul Bayt, and commemorate significant events including Ashura. We regularly bring guest scholars from around the world, often during these special occasions, to speak with our students on a range of Islamic topics.

We have an optional Qur’an memorization program in addition to our daily Qur’an classes. These students meet prior to the commencement of each school day, at 7:30 AM.

Students are expected to adhere to our school uniform, which follows an Islamic dress code. Hijab is required for females ages 9 and up. Only halal (zabihah) food is served and permitted on-campus.

STEAM Camp. In addition to the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art & math) lessons that are part of the daily curriculum at City of Knowledge, we’ve incorporated a STEAM Camp into the curriculum for grades K-8. In this program, students engage in a range of fun, educational, and hands-on STEAM activities to help them understand important concepts and develop their interest in these subjects. One fun component of our STEAM camp is the Rubik’s Cube program. Students starting in Kindergarten learn to solve the Rubik’s Cube, teaching them focus, sequencing, problem solving, and other STEM concepts, and building their self-confidence. We also hold an annual STEAM expo where students come together and engage in a variety of hands-on STEAM projects and experiments in a fun and educational event.

Performing arts. We hold a variety of plays and performances in Arabic and in English. This helps our students strengthen foreign language skills and also build their confidence, public speaking skills, and understanding of Islamic events and rituals. Our students begin participating in performing arts from as young as Preschool, where students of all grades circumambulate our “Kaaba” and perform the other rituals associated with Hajj, or act as children in the annual Karbala play. In addition to these and many other performances, students learn various “anasheed,” which they perform along with Qur’anic Surahs during different events.