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Khalil Gibran International Academy supporters outside the school on its first day. Via Flickr.

From February 2007, when the Department of Education announced it would open a dual-language Arabic-English school, until the end of the school’s first year last June, Khalil Gibran International Academy was wracked by bad news.

Now, partway into the school’s second year, Colorlines, which bills itself as “the national newsmagazine about race and politics,” has taken a look at KGIA’s progress. Sadly, the problems don’t sound like they’ve abated.

From the article:

This past September, many of the original sixth-grade students had not returned as seventh graders. The school has cut back on Arabic language instruction, is no longer set to become a high school and has moved twice in its first year of operation. The founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, was forced to resign following a media storm over the meaning of the word “intifada,” and the school is being led by its third principal. None of the original teachers remain at the school, and those who have left claim they were fired or forced to leave because of the stress. (more…)