Shaheen Ali

I was born and raised in the Indian city of Agra (the land of Taj Mahal – one of the 7 wonders of the world). My husband and I moved to the Seattle area about 26 years ago. Originally, we came from Northern India where I did most of my undergraduate work at the University of Agra, graduating with a Master’s degree in Political Science. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Education and taught in India for a few years before deciding to move to the States. After I moved to the States, I earned my teaching credentials from the state of Washington with endorsements in Elementary Education, Math, English, and Political Science. Since my kids were small, I pursued further studies and earned an associate’s degree in Technical Support from Bellevue College and a certificate course in Software Testing from the University of Washington.

I started teaching at Medina Academy in 2004. In all my years of teaching at Medina Academy, I have taught Kindergarten except for one year when I taught Science in 5th grade & Kindergarten. I love teaching Kindergarten because it is such a fun and curious age; they are excited and eager to learn everything about the world around them. I feel very privileged to be able to teach kids at such a young age.

When I am not teaching and learning, I enjoy skating, biking, reading novels, and playing board games with my children. I enjoy cooking and I love entertaining friends with food. My favorite book (besides Quran and Islamic books) is Three Cups of Tea and I love traveling to my birthplace (India) to visit relatives and friends. Of course, I look forward to spending each and every day with my awesome Kindergarteners as it is truly a gift from Allah (SWT) to be their teacher at this time in their lives. It’s a job that allows me to teach and learn alongside my students. “Those of us who are in this world to educate – to care for young children have a special calling: a calling that has very little to do with the collection of expensive possessions but has a lot to do with the worth inside of hearts and heads. In fact, that’s our domain: the heads and hearts of the next generation, the thoughts and feelings of the future.”