Mission Statement

IEC will provide students in grades K-8 an academically rigorous mathematics, science and technology-intensive program in a safe and caring environment.

Imani will address the needs of the students, their families, and their communities by building on the strengths of each student's cultural heritage and life experiences.

The goal is to enable students to become successful, lifelong learners and valuable members of the global community.

 

Philosophy

IEC will integrate the Principles of Nguzo Saba (on which Kwanzaa is based), the Kemetic ethical system of MA'AT (which are truth, justice, order, balance, harmony, reciprocity, Sankofa (which means return to the source), and the study of science, math and technology.

To achieve this goal, Imani will strive to move all students through a process called "Heshima to Hotep" (understanding and respect for self and others to wisdom, peace and universal harmony).

These principles will guide students as they reach out and work toward building cross-cultural and intra-cultural relationships and achieving academic and social success.

Goals and Objectives


High student academic achievement is the primary goal of Imani. The underlying philosophy of Imani will result in well rounded and productive students.

By combining a holistic, integrative constructivist curriculum, infused with the holistic and cultural richness of African Heritage Concepts.

From our Curriculum Specialist
      Mallama Karen Brown


I've come to Imani School after working in the School District of Philadelphia for over 14 years in various capacities. I plan to use those experiences in collaboration with the instructional staff in order to further enrich the curriculum at the Imani School.

The staff has been working diligently with me this summer creating a curriculum that is tailored towards Imani's mission. Throughout the school year, I will be providing professional development for the staff in order to enhance their abilities to continue to provide instruction to your child/children that is both effective and stimulating.

I look forward to meeting you, as well as working with you, to ensure that your child's year at Imani will be successful.

Hotep,
  From our Founder, Principal and CAO
      Dr. Francine Fulton


We are excited and happy that you are spending the school year 2002/2003 with us here at Imani Education Circle. We had a very good year last year, and only anticipate things getting better. The faculty and staff welcome you and are prepared to work together to help all students become the best that they can be.

We are an African-Centered elementary middle school that focuses on the strengths of our children to help them to achieve designated goals. Our mission is to provide an educational program that is based on the principles of Khepera which means to always strive for excellence.

At Imani we practice and promote the principals of Ma'at which are truth, justice, order, balance, harmony, reciprocity, Sankofa (which means return to the source) and Nguzo Saba are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichaguilia (Self-determination), Ujimaa (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith).

Go back in our culture and history and get the best our ancestors had to offer us and go forward. These principles guide the way to reach out and build a new world.

Hotep!! (Peace)


From our Human Services Coordinator
      Terry Morange-Macon, M.S.W.


"If we have the courage and tenacity of our forbears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do our day what they did to theirs."
Mary McLeod Bethune


Welcome to Imani Education Circle Charter School's fourth year. As you are well aware we are an African Centered Charter School. There are many challenges in operating a cutting edge Afrocentric educational setting. This is, of course territory familiar to Imani Education Circle Charter School, by virtue of our strategic role in providing an atmosphere of authentic learning activities based on the student's life experiences. We first saw the need of our children, and the future potential that this educational delivery system will accomplish.

We are in the process of reforming or redesigning our curriculum to impact on student achievement, whether through instruction of special needs students directly, through training of school staff to improve their skills or by assisting in improving administrative services more cost effectively and thereby making more dollars available to raise classroom achievement.
  It is very important that parents understand the importance of an African Centered Education. It has value, importance and necessity in the development of Black children. We don't want our children just to come to school we want them to be educated while at school. Your part in this process is extremely important. We want education to be fun, however it is often hard and boring work, and requiring commitment on the part of the student and the parent.

Homework is one of the most powerful tools that can be used to ensure your child's success in school. As you know the purpose of homework is to reinforce and extend what teachers have taught in the classroom. Another important aspect of the students schooling is attendance. It is important for parents to make certain that their children attend school on a daily bases in order for them to receive the maximum benefits of instruction.

This is going to be an exciting year and we wish you and your family the best, and may peace always be with you.

"The night is beautiful, So are the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, so are the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people."
(From My People by Langston Hughes)


Hotep

Unity

I dreamed I stood in a studio
And watched two sculptors there
The clay they used was a young child's mind
And they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher-the tools he used
Were books, music, and art.
The other, a parent, worked with a guiding hand,
And a gentle, loving heart.
Day after day, the teacher toiled with touch
That was deft and sure.
While the parent labored by his side,
And polished and smoothed it o'er.
And when at last there tasks was done,
They were proud of what they had wrought.
For the things they had molded into the child
Could neither be sold or bought.
And each agreed they would have failed
If each had worked alone.
For behind the teacher stood the school
And behind the parent at the home.
Author Unknown
 
Rise Black Youth

a new harvest must be planted
to help future generations
blossom into adulthood
with values and knowledge
which liberate their minds
from the shackles of oppression
and the social diseases
that contaminate their lives
Rise Black Youth!
take hold of your roots
Rise Black Youth!
take control of your present
a new harvest must be cultivated
so Black youth can fulfill
their true potential
and become the energizers
for preserving Black traditions
raising strong families
developing positive images
and building Black institutions
Rise Black Youth!
take hold of you identity
Rise Black Youth!
take control of your minds
a new harvest must be sowed
that germinates from our African vestiges
and embodies the wisdom of our ancestors
to prepare Black youth for their Rites of passage
and ascension to adulthood
Rise Black Youth!
take hold of your lives
Rise Black Youth!
Take command of your destiny

CHILDREN LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

If A Child Lives With Criticism,
He Learns To Condemn.
If A Child Lives With Hostility,
He Learns To Fight.
If A Child Lives With Ridicule,
He Learns To Be Shy.
If A Child Lives With Shame,
He Learns To Feel Guilty.
If A Child Lives With Tolerance,
He Learns To Be Patient.
If A Child Lives With Encouragement,
He Learns Confidence.
If A Child Lives With Praise,
He Learns To Appreciate.
If A Child Lives With Fairness,
He Learns Justice.
If A Child Lives With Security,
He Learns To Have Faith.
If A Child Lives With Approval,
He Learns To Like Himself.
If A Child Lives With Acceptance And
Friendship,
He Learns To Find Love In The World.
DOROTHY LAW NOLTE

LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
"The Black National Anthem"
By James Weldon Johnson

Lift every voice and sign,
Till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stoney the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers signed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might.
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
Shadowed beneath thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.

BLACK FAMILY PLEDGE

Because we have forgotten our ancestors,
our children no longer give us honor.

Because we have lost the path our ancestors cleared kneeling in perilous undergrowth,
our children cannot find their way.

Because we have banished the God of our ancestors,
our children cannot pray.

Because the old walls of our ancestors have faded beyond our hearing
our children cannot hear us crying.

Because we have abandoned our wisdom of mothering and fathering,
our befuddled children give birth to the children they
Neither want nor understand.

Because we have forgotten how to love,
the adversary is within our gates,
and holds us up to the mirror of the world, shouting
"Regard the loveless."

Therefore, we pledge to bind ourselves to one another,
To embrace our lowliest,
To keep company with our loneliest,
To educate our illiterate,
To feed our starving,
To clothe our ragged.

To all good things, knowing that we are more than keepers of
our brothers and sisters.
We are our brothers and sisters.
In honor of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,
and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation.
We make this pledge.
MAYA ANGELOU



IMANI AFFIRMATION PLEDGE

We are descendants of Great African fathers
And Great African mothers

We will remember the humanity, glory, and sufferings of our ancestors, and honor the struggle of our Elders.

We will have peace and harmony among us.
We will be loving, sharing, and creative.
We will cultivate self-reliance.
We will have discipline, patience, devotion and courage.
We will be free and self-determining.
We will work, study and listen,... so that we may learn.
We will learn ...so that we may teach.

We will have the pride, strength, and power of the Motherland to help us do the things we must do,... because we must understand ...that I am ...because we are... - and we are... ...because I am.

When I shine ...the nation shines,...and when the nation
shines,... We all shine.
We are African People!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hotep!