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December 21, 2015

Virginia County Closes School amid Protests over Arabic Calligraphy Homework
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Officials in Nashua, New Hampshire, have shut down all public schools
for the day after receiving a "detailed threat of violence." This comes
after schools in Augusta County, Virginia, closed Friday amid outrage
over a homework assignment on Arabic calligraphy. The assignment asked
students to copy an Islamic statement of faith, known as the shahada, in
order to gain "an idea of the artistic complexity of calligraphy." But
angry parents accused the teacher, Cheryl La Porte, of trying to convert
their children to Islam. After a torrent of phone calls, emails and
social media postings, officials closed schools, citing the "tone and
content" of the messages.


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