New Private Islamic School Gets Wayne Planning Board Approval

WAYNE, NJ — The township planning board has approved the application for a private Islamic school to move into an office building in Wayne Township.

Site plans for the Academy of Greatness and Excellence call for renovation of the two-story structure at 524 Hamburg Road into a mixed-use building, with the school and an existing medical office sharing it.

Plans also include the addition of a playground area, tennis courts, and a paved parking lot with possible space for electric vehicles. The private school would serve elementary and secondary school students, documents show.

The Passaic County planning board will also have to approve the application, as it is on a county road.

The Academy of Greatness and Excellence (AGE), which has campuses in Bergen County, also purchased the former Neumann Preparatory School property from the Catholic Diocese of Paterson last year. Currently, Al-Ghazaly Jr./Sr. High School is located at the former Catholic high school (970 Black Oak Ridge Road).

AGE leaders said they bought the Neumann Prep site to secure the property and building for Muslim students - as the Islamic Education Foundation's lease for the school was going to end, and the Diocese was looking to sell the property.

You can read more about that purchase here.