Where Islam and Education Come Together!

Fully recognized by The Illinois State Board of Education since 1992. 
North Central Association Accredited.
 

 7350 West 93rd Street Bridgeview, Illinois 60455

                                (708)599-4100 Fax (708)599-1588

                               Mrs. Farhat Siddiqui, M.Ed.                Mrs. Hanan Abdallah, M.Ed.
                                                    Principal                                          Assistant Principal   

Last Day of School !
June 13th, 2008

The year is over but we need our families to start getting your children ready for the 2008-2009 school year. The following are simple reminders for our families:

* First Day of school will be Friday, August 22nd, 2008 for Pk-12th grade students. Dismisal time will be 12:00 noon. Students must be in complete uniform, and 8th-12th students with books!.

*8th - 12th grade students must purchase their books online, and have them for the first day of school. Check the textbook list in our home page to get ISBN, tittle, and year edition. Textbooks

* Keep your children enroll in summer activities that will help them in their next school year such as summer camps, summer classes, reading clubs, etc.

But most important share quality time with them by reading, cooking, playing, listening to their stories and ideas. Lets be part of their lives!

Congratulations Graduates!
June 2nd, 2008

On Sunday, June 1st, 2008 took place the 8th grade and the 12th grade Graduation Ceremonies. We had Mrs. Nikia Bilal as the 8th grade graduation key note speaker, a graduate from Universal School, who hearned her Jurist Doctorate from DePaul University and founder of Amal Law Group, LLC in Chicago.We also had Mr. Clyde K. El-Amin as the 12th grade graduation key note speaker, a research associate at the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and a father of a former graduate at Universal School.

This year's Valedictorians and Salutatorians from 8th and 12th grade are:

Valedictorians:
Osama Zayyad - High School
Dania Atallah - Middle School

Salutatorians:
Gulrana Syed - High School
Ayaat Dahleh - Middle School
Duaa Muhamed - Middle School
Sajida Rahman - Middle School

We want to thank the Grduation Committee members, Mrs Sahloul, Mrs. Abuzir, Mrs. Khudeira, Mrs. Shabaneh, and Mrs. Sharara, who worked hard for the last few months to make this special ceremony a memorable one for our graduates and their families.

Universal School @ the State Science Fair!
May 7th , 2008

On Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 the Illinois State Science Fair Competition took place in Champain- Urbana. Universal School participants were recognized with Gold, Silver and Bronze for their projects. The students are:

Sajida Rahman - Silver
Aala Mohammed & Yarah Kudaimi - Gold
Nadia Ahmed- Gold
Asma Hammadi & Reema Abuzir - Gold
Qurat-Al-Ain Ghani - Gold
Noor Jabri & Noor Al-Awad - Silver
Duaa Mohammed & Ronya Kawji - Gold
Adham Sahloul - Bronze
Duhah Hamayel - Gold
Eman Sahloul - Gold
Zaid Zayyad - Gold
Nabiya Arshad - Gold
Shetha Hamoud - Gold
Tasmiha Khan & Gulrana Syed - Gold
Nisreen Amir - Gold

Congratulations to all the participants.

Universal School Annual Arabic Spelling Bee Competition
April 21st, 2008

We would like to congratulate all the participants of this year's Arabic Spelling Bee, that took place on Friday, April 18th, 2008. The following are the winners of each Division:

Middle School

1st Place:
Hind Diab -7th Grade
Duaa Muhamed -8th Grade

2nd Place:
Reem Khudeira -6th Grade

3rd Place:
Ronya Khawji - 8th Grade

High School

1st Place:
Doha Hamayel - 10th Grade
Noor Khudeira -10th Grade
Aala Mohamed -10th Grade

2nd Place:
Tamara Nafe-11th Grade

3rd Place:
Amjed Hussein - 12th Grade
Nadia Ahmad -12th Grade

Elementary

1st Place:
Tariq Nasir - 1st Grade
Wael Gad - 2nd Grade
Bader Abdel-Hadi - 3rd Grade
Ibrahim Salah - 4th Grade
Mohayad Alzein - 5th Grade

2nd Place:
Jannah Gad - 1st Grade
Mohammad Toumah - 2nd Grade
Hamza Shahin - 3rd Grade
Rema Martini - 4th Grade
Rami Al-Masalki - 5th Grade

3rd Place:
Rahma Elabbady - 1st Grade
Hala Amine - 2nd Grade
Ziyad Elabbady - 3rd Grade
Somaya Hader- 4th Grade
Adam Aldabe - 5th Grade

Congratulations for your hard work!

State Final WYSE Competition !
April 16th, 2008

On Monday,April 14th, Universal School participated in the WYSE (World Youth Science and Engineering) State Final Competition and Univeral School Team came on fourth place.

The following students received also special awards:

Osama Zayyad - 2nd: Physics
Mohamad Elsharkawy - 2nd: Biology
Abdallah Atek - 4th: Biology
Adhma Karim - 6th: Biology

Congratulations to all the participants.

All American Boys and Girls Competition
April 15th, 2008

Omar Moukkadem from 7th grade, and Duaa Mohamed from 8th grade, were selected by the 3rd Congressional District of Illinois as the 3rd Place Winners of the All American Boys and Girls Competition. Omar and Duaa competed with 1,000 students from public and private school in the State of Illinois, and on April 11th, they were awarded with a certificate by Congressman Daniel Lipinski,Representative of the 3rd Congressional District in Illinois.

Mothers' Club Always In Action!
April 4th, 2008

This year's Mothers' Club Project was the remodeling of the School's main entrance. After many meetings and fundraising activities, this project is finaly a reality. The Mothers' Club wanted to thank all our families, who had participated in any of the Mothers Club events such as Annual Dinner Auction, Eid Gift Shop, etc. for making the School's Main Entrance Remodeling Project a success with their ideas, encouragement, and financial participation.

We want to thank Mrs. Nahhas (President), Mrs. Almasri (Treasure), Ms Shalabi (Representative), Mrs. Ali (Secretary), and all the Mothers' Club members for their dedication and hard work to make Universal School a better place for our students.

On behalf of the Board, Administration, Staff, Families and students,thank you for caring and making every day a special one for all of us!

Experience It! Open House for New Families
March 21st, 2008

Universal School opened the doors to the community to welcome them and inform them about what Universal School has to offer to our students. The parents were able to attend to Mrs Siddiqui (Principal), and Mrs. Abdallah (Assistant Principal) presentation and asked questions about Universal School's programs. The parents had a tour of the school while their children were able to attend to classes to meet our students and teachers. The administration informed parents about the high demand in middle school and high school levels, where we have a waiting list of new families interested in registaring their children.

We had about 73 families attending to the Open House who were satisfied and impress of the curriculum, students, and educational structure of the School. The administration was pleased with the outcome and hope that in the near future Universal School will be able to expand the building capacity to open doors without limits due to classroom sizes.

If you are intersted about registering your children at Universal School please contact the office at (708)599-4100.

Universal School Senior Girls' Trip
March 20th, 2008

Yesterday, March 19th, 2008 a group of 16 senior girls traveled to Turkey under the supervision of Ms. Benameur, the senior trip advisor and Dean of Students, and Mrs. Khudeira, Islamic Studies teacher; they were also acompanied by eight other adults, mothers and staff from the school. The seniors will be visiting Islamic turistic sites in Istambul, Bursa and Edirne; they were also invited to visit Fatih High School and Serhat High School. We would like to thank Niagara Foudation, Bakiad Foundation, and the Odeh family for co sponsoring this trip.

The seniors will be returning back to Chicago on Friday, March 28th. We wish they benefit the most of such a beautiful experience, and pray to Allah (SWT) for a safe return.

Zaner-Bloser Handwritting Contest
March 19th, 2008

The Language Arts and Reading Company, Zaner-Bloser had once again the Annual National Handwriting Contest, in which Serene Darwish (2nd grade), Ronya Kawji (8th grade), Marwah Roussi (4th grade), Hana Khatib (5th grade), and Shurouq Ahmad (7th grade) participated on. The students received a certificate from the Company and where recognized for their fine work. Each entry from Univeral School joined thousands of other entries from across the country to compete for the State Grade Level Winners,where Hana Khatib (5th grade) won and will participate in the National Grade Level Winners, and the Grand National Champion.

We congratulate our students for their motivation to participate, and wish Hana Khatib the best in the next National level of this competition.

Dawa Club 5th Annual Seminar at Universal School
March 18th, 2008

The Dawa Club prepared a half a day seminar for 8th through 12th grade students "Islam and Contemporary Issues" witn Dr. Scott Alexander as a keynote speaker. Dr. Scott Alexander is Associate Professor of Islam and Director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies program at Chicago Theological Union's Bernardin Center for Theology and Ministry. His interest in Islam dates back to the early 1980s, when he witnessed the Islamist revolution in Iran while studying comparative religion at Harvard. After earning his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard, he attended Columbia University in New York where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Religions with Islamic religion and society as his area of specialization.

The Dawa Club members covered different topics of interst such as the state of women in Islam, gender issues in Islam, hijab, hudood, human rights in Islam, democracy in Islam, slavery in Islam, etc. the seminar was very educational and informative to the audiance.

The administration is very pleased with the Dawa Club members and their advisor, Mr. Fadhli, for their dedication and hard work to make this seminar a sucess.

WYSE Competition a Total Sucess !
March 13th, 2008

As every year, Universal School participated in the WYSE (World Youth Science and Engineering) Competition on March 13th, 2008. Univeral School Team came in first place in Sectionals and will be advancing to State level competition, on April 14th, 2008. We want to congratulate our team members, Abdulla Atek, Ali Aldabe, Gulrana Syed, Mohamed Elsharkawi, Mukaram Amine, Nadia Ahmad, Nimah Ahmed, Nuha Mulk, Nur Malas, Osama Zayyad, Salma Salah, Sana Said, Zacharea Katerji, and Heba Matari.

The following students received special awards:

Osama Zayyad - 1st: Physics and 2nd: Math
Ali Aldabe - 2nd: Chemistry
Mukarram Amine - 3rd: Physics
Nimah Ahmed - 3rd: Physics

Congratulations to all the participants; their team effort made it possible for Universal School to win the First Place this year. We also would like to thank all the teachers for helping our students to suceed in all the different areas of the WYSE Competition.

Middle School Lexicon Challenge Competition
March 12th, 2008

We would like to congratulate our ten middle school participants in this year's M.S. Lexicon Challenge. After long hours with our English Department Teachers, we have the following winners of this year's competition:

First Place: Tarmim Khan
Sencond Place: Ahmad Hasan
Third Place: Kareem Youssef

Congratulations!

Universal School at the Regional Science Fair.
March 10th, 2008

Universal School participated in the IJAS Region #2 Project Session on March 8, 2008 .  The Universal School student participants all did a great job. A total of 45 projects attended from our school, and 37 of those projects received a GOLD AWARD (91% or higher). The other 8 projects received a silver award (81-90%)

Choosing the 80 projects that Region #2 are allowed to send to the state competition was a difficult task.  According to IJAS, the student's score was computed from the 3 judges and the top 2 scores were averaged.  This eliminated the possibility of a judge being very critical of the student's work.  The computer score list was then compared to a manual list that was prepared after the scores on each judging rubric were verified twice and again to the judging rubrics looking for possible errors. The following is the list of projects and students that were invited to attend the state science fair from Universal School :

327 BEH Better Spellers   Nisreen  Amir
1222 ENV The Munching Microbes Tasmiha  Khan & Gulrana  Syed
1621 MICRO Turn up the Heat Noor  Jabri & Noor  Alawad
1722 PHY Speed of Light in Water Duhah  Hamayel
1326 HEALTH And What Would the Kidney Like to Drink? Aala  Mohammed & Yarah  Kudaimi
700 COMP Which Anti-Virus is the Best? Zaid  Zayyad
624 CHEM The Kiss of the Crime Eman  Sahloul
1311 HEALTH Battle of the Antacids Nadia  Ahmed
1723 PHY Temperature and Motor Oil Viscosity Duaa  Mohammed & Ronya  Kawji
1220 ENV Old or New: Is Biodiesel for You? Shetha  Hamoud
1219 ENV Is Your Drinking Water Clean? Nabiya  Arshad
1607 MICRO 5 Second Rule: Myth or Fact? Asma  Hammadi & Reema  Abuzir
1313 HEALTH Does a Pill Coating Affect Dissolving Times? Sajida  Rahman
1609 MICRO Attack of the Antiseptics QuratulAin  Ghani
1721 PHY Power Source Adham  Sahloul

Three projects from Universal School are on the alternate list and those students are Cheza Loutfi, Ali Aldabe, Jamal Sahloul, and Talat Suleiman. They will be called by IJAS in the event that students from the top 80 projects cannot attend the state fair.

We appreciate the hard work of the Science Department for their dedication to our students to make sure that their projects and topics are always at the Regional and State standards.

Winners of the High School Lexicon Challenge Competition
March 6th, 2008

Universal School had the Final Lexicon Challenge Competition for the high school students on March 5th, 2008, and we had ten participants who qualified last February 27th during the preliminary of this competition. The winners of this year's High School Lexicon Challenge are:

First Place: Tasmiha Khan
Sencond Place: Eman Sahloul
Third Place: Duhah Hamayel

Lets give them a round of applause for their hard work and great accomplishment.

Preliminary Lexicon Challenge Competition
February 27th, 2008

On February 27th, 2008, Universal School had the Preliminary Lexicon Challenge Competition for the high school students to qualify and be able to participate on the Final Lexicon Challenge on March 5th, 2008. The following are the winnners of the Preliminary Lexicon Challenge:

Eman Sahloul, Tasmiha Khan, Gulrana Syed, Nuha Mulk, Salma Salah, Nur Malas, Duhah Hamayel, Muhammed Abdulla, Ali Aldabe, and Runna Othman. Congratualitions to all and we wish them the best in the Final Competition on March 5th.

Julia Asfour (3rd Grader) Awarded by the AAAEA
February 25th, 2008

The Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects (AAEA) had their annual Essay/Poster Contest on February 8th, 2008, and Julia Asfour, a 3rd grader at Universal School, won the first place with her Essay "The Engineer I Admire". She was recognized on Ferbuary 22nd during the The Chicagoland Engineering Awards at the University Club of Chicago for her beatiful work.

Universal School Islamic Competition
February 21st, 2008

On Tuesday, February 19, 2008, our annual Islamic Knowledge Competition for 8-12 grade students took place. The boys and girls played separately, in the North Cafeteria and Gymnasium. Our students spent an hour and a half of fun and knowledge where twenty boys and twenty girls participated in the competition. They were divided into four teams and played two rounds. Finally, the last two teams tied and we had to perform a tie breaker. Upon that tie breaker, the winners were the following students :

The other competing teams were:

We also would like to thank the Da'wa Club members, who assisted in running the game. Our first place winners will receive trophies at the end of the year and the second place winners will receive medallions. All participants will receive certificates of participation and one free lunch. We hope to accomplish more in the future and help our students gain precious knowledge about our religion.

Comcast Awards
February 20th, 2008

Congratulations to Tasmiha Khan as the 2008 Comcast Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Recipient and the Bronze winner in the Prudential Community Service Award.

Illinois State Scholars 2008-2009!
February 20th, 2008

The following students are Illinois State Scholars and have been awarded a certificate for outstanding performance in the 2008-2009 Illinois State Scholar Program Competition. Nadia Ahmed, Ninah Ahmed, Mukarram Amine, Amin Elsaeed, Zacharea Katerji, Tasmiha Khan, Shaaf Mahmood, Nuha Mulk, Gulrana Syed, Osama Zayyad.

Universal School at the Metro Prep Basketball Conference and IHSA Regionals.
February 20th, 2008

We would like to congratulate our Junior Varsity and Varsity Boys Basketball Teams for their great performance throughout the basketball season. On Saturday, February 17th, our teams participated in the Metro Prep Conference Championship with seven other schools from the Chicagoland area. Universal School Junior Varsity Team won the 3rd place and our Varsity Team won the fourth place in the championship with a record of 16 winning games and 5 lost games through the season. On Wednesday, February 19th, Universal won the first IHSA Regional game against Big Picture High School (83-58), and on Thursday, the team will meet Morgan Park Academy, when the winner of this game will meet with Immaculate Conception High School at the regional title.Two of our Varsity players, Khalil Hassan and Ala Mizyed qualified last night to the second round of Three Point Shoot in the IHSA Regional. We are so proud of their dedication and hard work this year.

Pennies for Peace Program with Mr. Greg Mortenson!
February 15th, 2008

Universal School's 6th through 12th grade students attended on Thursday, February 14th to the Donald E. Steven Convention Center in Rosemont to meet Mr. Greg Mortenson, author of the Best Seller " Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a time " and founder of the Central Asia Institute, a non profit organization aimed at promoting and providing community based education, specially for girls in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr. Mortenson and Amira, his daughter captivated the hearts of the audience with his work and dedication for others, and after a magnificent presentation, Universal School's Principal, Mrs Siddiqui presented a check for the amount of $ 8,000.00 raised by our students to help the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan to have their dream school and education. Mr. Mortenson was so grateful for such a donation and promised Mrs. Siddiqui to come to Universal School to meet our students again.

World Wide Youth and Engineering (WYSE) Competition
February 14th, 2008

On Febraruy 13th, 2008 Universal School took part of the 2008 WYSE Competition and our students won the first, second and third place in all subjects! Universal School won the first place in Regional this year. The school took 14 students to this competition and they are:

1st Place:

Ali Aldabe - Chemistry
Nuha Mulk - Chemistry
Mohamad Elsharkawy - Biology
Gulrana Syed - English
Osama Zayyad - Math and Physics

2nd Place:

Sana Said - Biology
Nimah Ahmed - Chemistry
Nur Malas - English
Mohamad Elsharkawy - Math
Nimah Ahmad - Physics
Mukarram Amine - Physics

3rd Place:

Nadia Ahmed - Biology
Salma Salah - Biology and Math
Abdullah Atek - Chemistry
Gulrana Syed - Physics

Universal School Annual Spelling Bee Competition
February 5th, 2008

The Annual Universal School Spelling Bee was held in January and February 2008. Each classroom grade 1st through 8th grade held their own spelling bee to choose a winner and runner-up for tthe class. The winners and runners-up were chosen from each division, and the divisional winners then competed in the All School Bee where a building winner and runner-up were chosen. The Universal School Building Winner will go on to compete in an area Bee for the Cook County.

The Classroom Speppling Bee Winners for the 2008:

1st Grade:
Tariq Nasir and Hayat Zarzour
Hiba Chahin and Akram Salah

2nd Grade:
Serene Darwish and Shihabaldean Shalabi
Hala Amine and Sumayya Salah

3rd grade:
Qais Dihan and Rowanne Murrar
LAith Abuzir and Zaynab Jarad

4th Grade:
Ibrahim Salah and Reema Martini
Sajid Ahmed and Marwah Roussi

5th Grade:
Suha Ahmed and Noor Krad
Mahmoud Radwan and Mallak Ahmad

6th Grade:
Ahsana Islam and Feryal Abusalim
Mohamed Mohamed and Sharif Maadi

7th Grade:
Safia Siddiqui and Khowla Roussi
Hamed Alattar and Issa Abutaa

8th Grade:
Shaza Loutfi and Tarmin Khan
Hadee Krad and Maher Hamadeh

The Division Spelling Bee Winners 2008 are:

1st - 2nd Grade Division: Serene Darwish and Hala Amine
3rd - 5th Grade Division: Ibrahim Salah and Sajid Ahmed
6th - 8th Grade Division: Tarmin Khan and Hadee Krad

The All School Spelling Bee Winners 2008 are:

Building Winner: Tarmin Khan - 8th Grade
Building Runner-up: Serene Darwish - 2nd Grade

Model United Nations by the University of Chicago!
January 31st - February 3rd, 2008

M.U.N.U.C XX is a nationwide conference organized by the University of Chicago. it is attended by more that 140 schools coming from over 25 states. This year, Universal School sent 19 delegates representing the country of Nicaragua. They delegated on issues such as transnational organized crime and water management. Aala Mohamed and Yarah Kudaimi teamed up to represent Nicaragua in the UNHCR (Human Rights Committee). On Saturday, their position paper "The Internally Displaced of Columbia" was recognized for being the best in their committee.

Inter-Islamic Schools Bowl Competition!
January 31st, 2008

On Wednesday, January, 30th , 2008, Universal School students from 2nd -8th grades, participated in the Islamic Bowl Competition at CPSA with all of the Islamic Schools in the Chicago area. It was a very positive experience for all. Our students teamed up with other students from different Islamic schools and played a wonderful, heartwarming, educational game. Our chaperones were Mrs. Khudeira, Mrs. Ata, Mrs. Salah, and Mr. Farid. Our participants were: Wael Gad(2nd), Sara Al Nass(2nd), Ridwan Rahman (3rd),Rowanne Murrar (3rd),Ibrahim Salah(4th), Reema Martini (4th), Mohayad Alzein (5th), Nour Asfour (5th), Mohamed Mohamed (6th), Saja Hamayel (6th), Hamed Alattar (7th), Khawla Roussi (7th),Baha Abusharara (8th), and Sajida Rahman (8th). Certificates of participation were given to all participants, and medallions were given to first and second place winning teams. Our winning students were:

1st Place:

4th grade Reema Martini
5th grade Nour Asfour
6th grade Saja Hamayel
7th grade Hamed Alattar

2nd Place:

3rd grade Rowanne Murrar
4th grade Ibrahim Salah
8th grade Sajida Rahman

May Allah (SWT) reward them all for their work!

Career Day At Universal School... A Success!
January 31st, 2008

On Wednesday, January 30th, 2008, Our NHS Career Day event took place from 9:00 until 12:00 for our high school students, 8th – 12 th grades. This year we added new fields that attracted many students such as Pathology, Fashion Designing, X-Ray Technician, Medical Assistance, MBA, Portfolio Management, and Comedian. We had a total of thirty-five enthusiastic speakers who performed a wonderful job at attracting our students to different future careers. We also had four different sessions for Engineering to meet our students' needs and demands. The experience was a very positive one for the students, the teachers, and the speakers.

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Last modified: June 17, 2008