As school assemblies go, this one has its share of giggling and
commotion.
The children, neatly attired in their uniforms, file outside under a giant
oak tree and take a seat on the basketball court.
There is banter and jostling until the principal walks out in his stocking
feet. Soon he begins chanting – in Arabic.
Welcome to the afternoon prayer at Universal Academy of Florida, a school
in Tampa founded by Hernando County Muslims.
Situated on Sligh Avenue, just down the street from the region’s largest
mosque, the academy is a school with Hernando fingerprints all over it.
Of the 320-plus students in prekindergarten through Grade 12, nearly 60
come from Hernando..