In August of 1997, devoted community members who believed that providing a full-time, Islamic education for Muslim children was vital founded Al-Hijra School. The community got together, purchased a church in a quiet, rural area at the Windsor border of LaSalle, and converted it into Al-Hijra Mosque and School.
The school gymnasium was converted into a mosque divided into two sections for men and women. Five daily prayers and Friday prayers were held in this mosque. The school started out with a small student population, and it quickly increased each year. There soon became a need for a bigger building, with bigger classrooms, and better resources fit for bigger classes. Al-Hijra School purchased five portable classrooms to temporarily accommodate the growing school population, but a dream of a new, larger building with a proper mosque containing all the students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 equipped with state of the art technology needed to be realized.
In May of 2003, the community broke ground to start the expansion of the mosque and school.
By the Will of Allah, help from the community members, and with a strong determination, the community started to build step by step. Many fundraising events were held and the Muslim community of Windsor showed their generosity every time. The brand new masjid was completed first and in 2008, the community started to pray in the new masjid.
In 2010, the community was able to turn the dream of a state-of-the-art school into a reality. The first floor of the school was opened in 2010, equipped with brand new furniture, locker rooms, Smart Board technologies and much more. JK, SK and Grade 1 through Grade 4 were moved into new school building along with the principal’s office, reception office, and the staff room.
Furthermore in 2010, Al-Hijra School started to operate as Al-Hijra Academy to reflect the focus of outstanding quality of both Islamic and academic education where we focus to provide best of Deen and Dunya.
The opening of the second floor in September 2011 marked the completion of school expansion project.