An elementary school in Harlem is the first in New York City to offer regular Arabic-language instruction.
City officials are joining founders of the program at Public School 368 for an official announcement Wednesday.
The program is sponsored by the educational nonprofit Global Language Project and by the Qatar Foundation International.
Second-graders at P.S. 368 have been learning Arabic in a 10-week pilot program. All the students in the second through fifth grades will learn Arabic starting in the fall. They will have two 45-minute Arabic classes each week.
Global Languages Project founder Angela Jackson said the Arabic classes will be a draw for parents.
Several New York City high schools teach Arabic, and the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn offers Arabic instruction to seventh- and eighth-graders.
