Amira Al Sarraf

Amira Al-Sarraf has devoted over 30 years to New Horizon in various capacities including elementary classroom teacher, Religious Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Islamic Studies teacher, and Middle School Director. She assumed the role of Head of School about 14 years ago and has led the school towards many important achievements over these years consisting of earning the National Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education, overseeing the design and installation of the Nature Playground and Peace Garden, and propelling the school forward towards a robust strategic vision. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies from UC Berkeley and an Master’s of Science in Education in Educational Leadership from Walden University. With over 30 years of experience in the field of education, she is passionate about serving the academic, social, emotional, spiritual, and creative needs of students as well as building a culture of collaboration and coherent pedagogy among faculty. Believing in the critical need for interfaith work, she has been actively involved in interfaith projects with the Skirball Cultural Center, Weizmann Jewish Day School, the Interfaith Peace Academy, and Sinai Akiba Academy. Currently, she is a member of the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health Interfaith Clergy Roundtable Project in Arcadia, and she serves on the Board of Trustees of the Western Justice Center as well as the Council on Spiritual and Ethical Education. She also served on the Board of Trustees of Alverno Heights Academy, an all-girls’ Catholic school. She has also been actively involved in the development of the Islamic Studies program at New Horizon from the beginning and designed an updated Islamic Studies curriculum for the Bureau of Islamic and Arabic Education that takes a dynamic approach to teaching Islam, incorporates comparative religion, integrates California social studies and science standards, and emphasizes the application of universal moral values and critical thinking skills. With a love for nature and the outdoors, she sought to give students at New Horizon a sense of the importance of environmental stewardship through a recent project at the school: the building of the New Horizon Peace Garden. She initiated this project in 2011 and worked with the NHS Garden Committee to fulfill the vision for the garden as a place of community-building and garden-based learning. She has attended conferences and workshops including American Horticultural Society and Living Schoolyards and seeks ways for this extraordinary outdoor classroom to touch all the learning at the school.