Meet the woman behind proposed school for Muslims

J. Staas Haught, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
·2 min read
This building on Thru Parkway Drive in the Erie Station Business Park is expected to open in the fall as the Al Wadood Academy.
This building on Thru Parkway Drive in the Erie Station Business Park is expected to open in the fall as the Al Wadood Academy.

A soon-to-be vacant call center in a West Henrietta industrial park will shortly take on a new purpose.

The Al Wadood Academy next month will ask the Town Board’s permission to open a pre-K-12, college prep school at 250 Thruway Park Drive.

The location, inside the Erie Business Park, is allegorical of the school visionary’s approach to life lessons: what’s around you isn’t as important as what’s in you.

What is Al Wadood Academy?

Mimi Enadeghe, Al Wadood’s founder, CEO and president, said there’s a lot of need — and a call — for moral-based, Islamic-centered education.

“Our community has been — for lack of a better term — forced to do a lot of damage control in the sense of doing our very best to give proper guidance to our children to be a great asset to the community and to the public,” she said.

The non-Muslim community often sees Islam through a “disconnected and misinformed lens,” Enadeghe said. “We come with peace and tranquility.”

Mimi Enadeghe poses in downtown Rochester on April 23, 2024. A single mother of three, Enadeghe is heading up a new school in the fall. The Al Wadood Academy is expected to be the area’s first school aimed at Muslims for students from pre-K through 12th grade.
Mimi Enadeghe poses in downtown Rochester on April 23, 2024. A single mother of three, Enadeghe is heading up a new school in the fall. The Al Wadood Academy is expected to be the area’s first school aimed at Muslims for students from pre-K through 12th grade.

Emigrating from Nigeria in the 1990s, Enadeghe’s path led her from California to Rochester roughly a decade ago. This single mother of three said she’s faced significant adversity, including a period of homelessness.

“This has definitely been a journey,” Enadeghe said of starting a school from scratch. “From a person who went from being homeless with my 2-year-old, relying on God and only God himself, I’m a walking testament that you must live in a way that is pleasing to God.”

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New school set to open in Henrietta NY

  • The school will be a first-of-its-kind. Set to open in September if all of the permits and approvals go through, Al Wadood would be the Rochester area’s only school for Muslims that carries students from pre-kindergarten through high school.

  • With an estimated 25,000 Muslims in the area, Enadeghe believes her school is positioned to fill a gap in the public education system.

  • More than 150 students are already on the school’s waiting list and Enadeghe expects that list of initial applicants to swell beyond the 210 students Al Wadood to begin classes in the fall.

  • “Students don’t have to be Muslim; we are open to anyone looking for a moral-based education.”

Enadeghe, who’s pursuing her bachelor’s in public administration, hopes the school’s legacy is forged in its beginnings and that its future “extends from generation to generation.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Meet the woman behind proposed school for Muslims