NEW YORK, NY September 04, 2007 —Along the route to the city's Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn, students and administrators are likely to encounter school security and NYPD officers, and possibly a protester or two.

The new Arabic language and culture-focused public school has survived months of opposition - from parents who didn't want their school buildings to house extra students; from critics who oppose the idea of public schools with a single cultural focus; and from pundits and bloggers who have raised questions about whether the school will violate the separation between religion and state by promoting an Islamic, or even Islamist curriculum.

In spite of it all, this week, 2 full classes of 6th graders will begin instruction. WNYC's Marianne McCune reports.