The head of a Texas Islamic group that rented out a taxpayer-funded waterpark for an event that was advertised as “Muslim only” runs a childhood education center with the exact same unfortunate ‘Learing Center’ typo first seen at an infamous daycare in Minneapolis.
The “Excellence Early Learing Center,” as its misspelled website header reads — located in the Fort Worth suburb of Hurst — offers a variety of programs for youngsters from infants to pre-K, and promises to provide children with “the loving, personal care that they need to thrive and feel confident.”
The center boasts “multiculturalism, small classroom sizes, healthy eating and a warm, loving environment that feels like home” and staff with degrees in “education, accounting, biology, pharmacology, science, nursing and mathematics from their home countries.”
Its owner, head operator and curriculum designer is Aminah Knight, who boasts a master’s degree fro the University of Southern California and a doctorate from Vanderbilt University.
Earlier this week, Knight and her DFW Epic Eid organization drew massive criticism for a flyer advertising an event at Epic Waters in Grand Prairie billed as “Muslim only” and requiring modest swimsuits for all attendees.
Epic Waters, a sprawling, 80,000-square-feet indoor waterpark opened in 2017 at a cost of $88 million — funded by a 0.25% sales tax hike residents approved at the ballot box in 2014.
The FAQ for the third-annual event, which was being held to celebrate the Muslim holiday Eid, initially proclaimed “the entire waterpark has been exclusively reserved for Muslims.”
After the backlash, Knight modified the advert to omit the exclusionary language, and acknowledged to The Post in an email that the original messaging wasn’t intended to bar non-Muslims.
“The core intention behind this event is to create a space where individuals and families who value modest dress and a modest environment can come together and feel comfortable enjoying a recreational space that often doesn’t naturally accommodate those preferences,” she said.
But by the time the uproar reached critical mass it was too late, and the event was subsequently scrapped after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to yank $530,000 in public safety grants from the city of Grand Prairie if it didn’t cancel the event by May 11.
“A city-owned water park in Grand Prairie openly advertised a “MUSLIMS ONLY” event – closed to the general public,” Abbott fumed in an X post Wednesday.
“After further review and in the best interest of the City of Grand Prairie, the June 1 Eid event at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark has been canceled,” a city spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
Knight didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Post Thursday seeking comment about the typo.
