Common questions
Straight answers to the questions families ask
If your question is not here, write to us. A person reads every message.
The school
Is SII open now?
Not yet. SII is in its founding year, with a planned opening of Fall 2027. Our interest list is open now, and founding-family applications open once our privacy and security groundwork is complete. See where we are.
Is SII accredited?
No. SII is not yet accredited. We are pursuing accreditation, which usually takes a new school several years, because accrediting bodies want to see a school operate first. We will never say or suggest that we are accredited until it is true. Our road map, and what it means for your child.
Which grades do you teach?
In our founding year, the Full-Time Online School serves grades 1 to 8, and the part-time Islamic Studies Program serves grades 1 to 12. Kindergarten and full-time high school open in later years. Islamic Foundations, our free course for adults, is open to anyone 18 or older.
Can we enroll from any state, or from abroad?
We serve families living in the United States, US families living abroad for a time, and military families with an APO or FPO address. A few states ask more of an online school before it can be a child's school of record, so full-time enrollment is paused there for now; families in those states can still join the Islamic Studies Program. See the state table.
What happens if my child's grade does not open?
By March 15, 2027, every founding family hears whether their child's grade will open. If it will not, you owe nothing, and you choose whether we keep your application for next year or delete it.
Who are the teachers?
No teachers are hired yet; our first roles are listed on our careers page as they open. Every teacher is paid, cleared with a full background check before they reach a child, and trained every year. Qur'an teachers' ijazahs are shown only after we verify them. We will name staff on our site as they join, with their consent.
Is there a campus we can visit?
No. SII is based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and all teaching is online. Our old website described an in-person campus as open; it was not, and that claim is gone.
Will my child's credits and records transfer?
The school your child moves to decides how to place your child and which records it accepts. Because SII is not yet accredited, some schools may ask for more information, such as a placement test. We send your child's records to their next school within 10 school days of your request, whatever balance is owed.
Faith and teaching
Which madhhab do you follow?
All four Sunni madhhabs are respected. Each family records its madhhab, and practical worship lessons (wudu, salah, fasting, and the time of Asr) show your family's school, starting with Hanafi and Shafi'i. Your child is never marked wrong for following a recognized position of the four Sunni schools. Scholarship and oversight.
What creed do you teach?
SII teaches Sunni creed as the Athari, Ash'ari, and Maturidi schools share it. Our younger grades' creed units use the framing of the creed of Imam al-Tahawi, which all three schools share, and each one our review rules mark as teaching Allah's names and attributes, the categories of tawhid, innovation (bid'ah), or how faith and reason agree needs two signatures, from scholars of different creedal schools. No lesson in our Aqeedah (creed) course reaches a child until a scholar on our Scholarly Review Board signs it. Where the schools differ, including how to read the verses on the divine attributes, how innovations are classified, and how far reasoned argument may go in matters of belief, is taught fairly, in grades 11 and 12. Scholarship and oversight.
Can a teacher give us a ruling on a personal matter?
No. SII teaches Islam; it does not issue fatwas on personal matters. For a ruling about your own situation, please ask your local imam or a scholar you trust.
Are boys and girls taught together?
In grades 1 to 4, classes are mixed. From grade 5, Islamic studies and Qur'an are taught in separate groups for boys and girls, and from grade 7 all live classes are. Girls' groups are taught by women wherever our staffing allows. These rules are proposed for our Scholarly Review Board to confirm. Classes, cameras, and modesty.
Does my child have to be on camera?
From grade 5, no student is ever required to show their face in a mixed class, and attendance and participation are never measured by camera. Families may not record or screenshot classes.
Which Qur'an recitation do you teach? Is there a hifz program?
We teach the recitation of Hafs from 'Asim; if your child recites another riwayah, tell us and we will talk before placement. Every full-time student memorizes Juz 'Amma at their own pace. A separate hifz track opens when our Qur'an faculty is in place, with its own application and price.
Do you use AI?
Your child is taught and assessed by people. No AI grades, tutors, or listens to your child, and no AI ever sees your child's work or information. Some lesson text is drafted with AI help; every such lesson says so and names who approved it. Qur'an text and hadith text are never written by AI.
Daily life
How much screen time is there?
Each grade band has a daily ceiling on on-screen time: live classes, live Qur'an, and the self-paced lessons done on a screen. Part of each week's self-paced work happens away from the screen (reading, handwriting, math on paper, and Qur'an practice from a printed mushaf), is not screen time, and counts toward the school day when a parent confirms it. Each band's table shows both numbers, the planned on-screen time and its ceiling. The numbers for each grade band.
How much of my time will it take?
It depends on your child's age. Grades 1 and 2 need an adult nearby for a good part of each school day; by middle school it is a daily check-in. A Week at SII gives the hours we suggest you plan for, by grade band.
How does the school day fit around salah?
Live classes are grouped by time zone and scheduled so they do not fall in the first 30 minutes after Dhuhr or Asr begins, or across Maghrib, for any family in the class, and there is no live class at Jumu'ah. Prayer times come from the prayer location each family sets once in the Family Portal (until then, from anywhere in the family's state). Asr is protected at the standard time for everyone, and at the later Hanafi time too for each family who records it. If a family's settings or a class change, we are told and move the class. Both Eids and the day after each are holidays.
My child has an IEP or special needs. Can SII help?
We provide accommodations such as extended time, extra attempts, read-aloud, and breaks, applied automatically by our software from a plan a person approves within 10 school days. We do not provide special-education services under an IEP; your home public school district keeps its duty to evaluate your child. Learning support.
Does SII offer counseling?
Our counselor is an academic and college counselor. SII does not provide therapy or mental-health treatment. If your child needs that kind of support, your child's advisor will help you find a licensed provider near you.
What equipment do we need?
A laptop or desktop computer, a headset with a microphone, a steady internet connection, a quiet place, and a printed qaida or mushaf. The full list.
Money
How much does SII cost?
Tuition, payment plans, discounts, and a calculator for your family's total are on Tuition and Assistance. Every price on our site comes from one record, so it is the same everywhere. There is no application fee in our founding year.
Do you take zakat? Can our masjid pay our tuition?
SII does not collect or distribute zakat. If a masjid fund or another party pays a family's tuition, that is between the family and the payer, and we suggest they ask their scholar.
Do payment plans charge interest? Are there late fees?
No, and no. Our payment plans cost exactly the yearly tuition, split into parts, and there are no late fees. If a payment is late, we contact you and work it out. We accept card and bank transfer only; buy-now-pay-later options are turned off.
Does tuition renew automatically?
No. Nothing renews automatically. Each school year is a new enrollment that you choose.
Is there financial help?
Yes. Tuition Assistance is a need-based reduction funded by the school, confidential, and decided by a person, usually within 2 to 3 weeks. Founding families also have our promise that tuition rises no more than 3% a year while their child stays enrolled.
Can I donate to SII?
No. SII is operated by a company, Ameen Systems, and takes no donations, no zakat, and no sadaqah. Payments to SII are not tax-deductible gifts.
Privacy and safety
Who can see my child's information?
Your child's teachers and advisor, and staff whose work requires it. You can see who opened your child's record and why, in your Family Portal, with the child-protection exceptions our Privacy Policy explains. We never sell information, never advertise, and never send your child's information to an AI service.
How do you keep my child safe online?
Every adult is cleared first. No staff member is ever alone on video with a child: a child enters a live class only when the teacher is in and a classmate or a second cleared adult is too, and a child left alone with one adult is moved to a waiting screen. A class with a single student needs a second cleared adult or you, the child's parent or guardian, present (a learning coach cannot be that second adult, and in a girls' class from grade 5 it is always a woman); it is recorded, and it pauses when its second adult leaves. There are no private messages between students, and SII staff never contact a child outside the SII platform. A child can always ask our safeguarding team for help privately. Safety and safeguarding.
How do I report a concern about a child?
If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. Report suspected abuse to the child protection agency in the child's state, or call Childhelp at 1-800-422-4453. Then tell us at safeguarding@southernislamicinstitute.org. Reporting a concern.
How do I reach you by phone?
A phone line opens before enrollment. Until then, email us; a person reads every message.