Necva Ozgur M.Ed.

Necva Ozgur is a founding School Head of New Horizon School in Pasadena, California and served the school from 1993 until 2005. Necva obtained a Master of Science degree from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Istanbul and, later, a Master of Arts in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College in California, where she wrote her thesis on Strategies to Achieve Excellence in an Islamic School.

Necva played a pivotal role in establishing New Horizon School Pasadena and led the school to get its accreditation from WASC, Western Association of Schools and Colleges and CAIS, California Association of Independent Schools. With the leadership and guidance of Necva, New Horizon School Pasadena earned the Blue Ribbon recognition from the Department of Education. In addition to managing New Horizon School Pasadena, Necva chaired the New Horizon School Principals’ Meetings once a month. She was also instrumental in launching New Horizon School Irvine—now in its fifth year—through training, guiding, and supervising the directors of the school. Necva served as a trustee of several non-profit organizations, including the New Horizon School Board, Islamic Center of Southern California Board, California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and Council of Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE), and was a member of Non-Profit Executive Forum, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Middle School Association (NMSA).

As a dedicated community member, Necva has been a pioneer in creating educational, religious, and social programs for youth and adults at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles. She coordinated a leadership training camp for youth, retreats and Sunday programs for adults, parent education classes for families with children in grades K-8, and seminars for teachers from the Los Angeles educational community. Necva believes strongly in promoting interfaith discussion, and as a result, she has hosted interfaith Ramadan Programs at New Horizon School and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium for more than 200 religious, civic, and political leaders and organized a workshop called “Conversation About Islam” for over 200 independent school educators to learn about Islam.

Necva has prepared and presented numerous papers in seminars, workshops, and conferences on topics like How to Create an Effective Board, Professional Development for Student Achievement, Strategic Marketing Plan, Blueprint for Success, Challenges of Islamic Schools, Character Education, and Financing Schools Symposium.

After serving New Horizon School Pasadena for twelve years, Necva is currently the founding director of MERIT, a resource center which promotes excellence in American Muslim schools and empowers Muslim educational leaders. This organization plays a vital role in raising future generations of Muslims by strengthening and serving American Muslim schools. It provides professional growth opportunities to boards of directors, administrators and faculty; it develops professional and educational resources, provides opportunities for cooperation, and networking among Muslim educators and serves as a voice for Muslim educators. MERIT also fosters excellence by encouraging school improvement through accreditation.