Assalaamu alaikum,

What a year it has been! While the first semester was business (and busy!) as usual, the second semester brought historically unprecedented circumstances, with the onset of a pandemic and our immediate shift to online learning. The adaptability and creativity of our staff, the resilience of our students, the cooperation and collaboration of our families, and the generosity of our community were all so critical to our success. Alhamdulillah, distance learning brought great opportunities with its many challenges. We extend our heartfelt thanks and duas to all of you. This has definitely been a year to remember. Below are just a few brief highlights.

-Dr. Haleema Shaikley

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)

Newsweek x STEM.org Recognition. This year, City of Knowledge was honored to be recognized by Newsweek and STEM.org as one of the Top STEM High Schools in the country! CKS was ranked among the top 2,000 out of over 37,000 high schools in the US, putting it in the top 5% of the nation's high schools in STEM.

College Board Recognition. City of Knowledge also, once again, received the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award from the College Board. This award recognizes schools that close the gender gap in AP Computer Science courses. Our students also had great success on their AP exams, achieving a 100% success rate on the AP Studio Art exam and a nearly 90% success rate on the AP Seminar exam.

STEAM Camp. Our K-8 students continued to participate in weekly STEAM activities as a part of our STEAM camp, including our Rubik's Cube club! We have more students than ever who can solve the Rubik's cube, including in a timed interval, and many more who are almost there!

STEAM Expo. Our 2020 STEAM expo was a huge success! Students engaged with over a dozen hands-on STEAM activities and experiments and a Rubik's Cube competition in the fun-filled and educational on-campus event early this year.

Hour of Code. Our students once again participated in the annual Hour of Code on Code.org. We teach coding to our students beginning in early elementary school, but always participate in Hour of Code as a fun global event that encourages children to begin learning how to code.

College Counseling

In continuing our efforts to help our students with college admissions, we continued our tradition of holding events, workshops, and other events to inform students about the process of applying to, and getting accepted into, competitive colleges and universities. Below are some highlights!

ACTS College Summit. Our alumni association continued its annual tradition of collaborating with the Asomugha Foundation to plan the ACTS College Summit, hosted by athlete Nnamdi Asomugha and Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix. CKS juniors and seniors attended the summit, where they learned tips on writing college applications, applying for financial aid, and more, and even met with admissions officers for college specific advice.

Special Sessions.We held our annual presentation on college admissions with Hamada Zahawi, founder and CEO of Write Track Admissions, who provided students with countless tips for success in the college applications process.We also held a panel discussion with eight CKS alumni from a variety of colleges and universities includingPomona College, UCLA, UCI, and UCR, presented a panel discussion to high school students where they gave advice on college admissions and answered questions, and even provided personal support with applying for financial aid.

UCLA Admissions Session.We hosted Scott Wilson, Assistant Director of Admissions at UCLA, who discussed with students information about admission into UCLA as well as changes to admissions in light of COVID-19.

Performing Arts

We continued our commitment to teaching students performing arts, and integrating important historical lessons into student plays to allow students and audience members to better understand different events in Islamic history. Our annual Karbala Play was a huge success this year, drawing hundreds of participants to watch a performance involving students from grades Kindergarten all the way to 12 that re-enacted the events prior to, during, and after the battle of Karbala. We also held our annual Hajj program where students of all ages dressed in ihram and reenacted the holy pilgrimage millions of Muslims perform ever year. Additionally, we held plays and student performances, including Qur'an reading and anasheed, during the days of the births of the Prophet (s) Fatima (as), Imam Ali (as), and during other historical events, to provide both an educational and creative learning experience for our students.

Special Guests

Guest speakers. This year we were very proud to once again welcome a wide array of esteemed speakers to the City of Knowledge campus speak with students across all grade levels on various religious topics and address some of their questions. The list of our honored speakers included Sheikh Salim Yusufali, Sheikh Faisal Al-Kadhemi, and Sheikh Mohammed Al-Saadi. We also had the pleasure of bringing in various City of Knowledge alumni, including Zahra Khalili and Maryam Moaddel, to speak to students on a variety of topics. We also held a variety of workshops for parents, including on parenting in a tech world, mental and emotional well-being, positive parenting, and more.

Ramadan Speaker Series. After taking our instruction virtual following COVID-19 school closures (see below for more), we worked hard and fast to develop a schedule of speakers who delivered educational, engaging, and spiritually nourishing lectures to students during every day of the month of Ramadan. Our esteemed speakers included Sheikh Ahmad Modarres, Sheikh Trenton Carl, Sheikh Azhar Sheraze, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Saadi, Dr. Sadik Kasim, Sheikh Hamza Sodaghar, Dr. Hayder Alzubaidi, Sheikh Nabil Awan, and Seyed Ali Khalkhali. Students also had the opportunity to engage in online student presentations and fun games during special Islamic occasions.

Field Trips

Off Campus Field Trips. Although our year may have been cut short, we had no shortage of trips and visits for our students this year. Our AP Capstone students attended a field trip to Cal Poly Pomona to enhance their college-level research skills. A research librarian gave them tips on conducting research and accessing digital resources to improve their research. Younger students enjoyed a day of play at We Rock the Spectrum where they engaged in sensory play and activities. High school students visited theCalifornia African American Museum to learn about the historical experience of African Americans in the US. Middle and High school students visited the La Mirada Theater for Performing Arts to watch a play as an English field trip, as well as Riley's Farm as a History field trip, where they got a hands-on glimpse into civil war history.

On-campus Field Trips. You don't always need to leave campus for a field trip! We had many on-campus field trips including a visit from Kidspace children's museum where students engaged in hands-on science activities, the Mosquito and Vector Control District, where students got to look at and learn about a wide variety of real bugs and play related games, the Mobile Dairy Classroom, where students learned all about cows and got to pet a real-life cow visitor, and Aquasmart, where they learned about water safety through fun puppet shows and games!

Student Organized Events

ASB & MSSC. Our ASB (Associated Student Body) and MSSC (Middle School Student Council) continued their tradition of organizing various events and activities. The ASB organized Spirit Week, a week during which activities, competitions, and pep rallies are held allowing students to engage in fun team building activities and games, as well as an online spirit week (following COVID-19 campus closure) during the week of the birth of Imam Mehdi (aj). The MSSC also continued its tradition of doing bake sales to raise funds for polio eradication.

Student Clubs. Student clubs also planned and engaged students in events. For example, this Spring, our Red Cross Club organized and held a blood drive to aid the dire shortage of blood at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Celebrations and Special Events

We had many celebrations and special events this year among which was the celebrations of the birth of the Prophet, Fatima (as)/Mother's Day, Imam Ali (as)/Father's Day, and more. We also held special events for days such as Arabic Language Day and the 100th day of school. These celebrations and events always involve plenty of fun and special activities--plays, crafts, games, treats, and more for our students to enjoy!

Science Fair, Qur'an competition, Islamic competitions, and more!

We continued our annual tradition of holding annual competitions including a science fair, Qur'an competition(where students competed on their memorization and recitation of different surahs based on grade level), and various Islamic knowledge competitions (including fun virtual Kahoot and Jeopardy competitions following campus closure!). In these competitions our students gain knowledge through hands-on learning and also develop confidence, public speaking skills, and more.

COVID-19 and the New Normal

Distance Learning. City of Knowledge closed its physical doors on March 13, the last day before Spring break, in light of the Governor's statewide stay-at-home order, and to protect students, staff, and families from COVID-19. Administration and staff immediately began training on distance learning and equipping students without devices or WiFi with the necessary equipment, and by the time students returned from break a week later, the school was well prepared to finish the semester online. While our the school year as we once knew it was cut short, we made the best of it by not only continuing classes online but also continued programs and activities to keep up the morale of our students.

Activities & Guest Speakers. There are silver linings to distance learning--you can access the world at your fingertips! Teachers and administration took advantage of this opportunity, inviting guest speakers from all over the world, and engaging students in fun online games, virtual field trips, and more. We also held a dynamic speaker series in Ramadan, which was a huge hit with students and adults alike! We've also continued Saturday Circles, bi-weekly discussions with students (high school, college & beyond) to discuss matters relevant to understanding Islamic principles and history, and living Islamic lifestyles.

Drive-Through Eid Parades. Social distancing has been difficult on many--but young people in particular! We made Eid al-Fitr a special event by holding a drive-through Eid al-Fitr celebration that brought around 400 families who received free food, goodie bags, and more to celebrate the day of Eid. Join us for another drive-through Eid al-Adha drive through celebration, a collaboration between CKS and various local masajid, on Sunday, August 2, from 5-7 PM!

Graduating Class of 2020

With many thanks to Allah, and to you--our parents, community members, staff, and supporters--City of Knowledge's class of 2020 has graduated. We are so proud of their successes, many of them graduating with honors, receiving recognition from the College Board including AP Capstone Diplomas (indicating they have passed both AP Capstone courses and 4 other AP exams), AP Capstone Certificates (meaning they have passed both AP Capstone courses) and AP Scholar Awards (meaning they have passed at least 4 AP exams), and receiving scholarships to and acceptance into the nation's top universities including Stanford University (on a full scholarship!), UCLA, UCSD, UCI, UCR, Cal Poly Pomona and much more. While our graduation ceremony may have looked a little different this year due to COVID-19, we had a unique drive by celebration that was new but special. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Summer Programming

Summer School. We recently concluded our summer term! We held engaging virtual classes for all ages--from Qur'an and Arabic for all ages to K-5 reading and math to Trigonometry and Chemistry. Alhamdulillah, students from all over the country were able to tune in to the online classes.

Al-Qa’idah al-Nuraniyah. We are proudly sponsoring Qur’an courses in Al-Qa’idah al-Nuraniyah for women in both English and Arabic. These courses began this summer and will continue through the end of the year, teaching the principles of proper Qur'aanic recitation and pronunciation.