Thank you for your responses, wrldtrvlr123 and PsyGuy!

I didn't know Directors had their own admin boards in which to badmouth teachers. The Director at my previous school has developed a dodgy reputation within the city. I'll take the advice to only provide my principal's contact information. He advised me to leave out any mention of the school.

I really like the city and the colleague-friends I have made there. The fact that they are leaving the school for other schools in the same city is testament to the degree the current Director is running the school into the ground. Plus, I have a lot of possessions in the city I was counting on returning to before being abruptly fired. That being said, I still want to return to teach in that city. My friends/contacts in that city have been sympathetic to my situation and keeping me informed about a number of other schools hiring.

As an aside, the school was sketchy in a lot of ways. Few resources, salaries paid under the table, and no work visas were provided so we were all working in the country illegally. (Reading around this forum this is sadly not uncommon)
Despite these things I developed a great deal as a teacher, and worked really well with students and colleagues.

As for my CV, I'm thinking of wording my last year of experience was spent tutoring in the city. If that gets my foot in the door for an interview should I mention the circumstances for why I'm not returning to my previous school or just stick with my "no classroom teaching experience" story?

I was recently let go after my first year of a two year contract. I fulfilled all the terms of my contract and did nothing to jeopardize my employment in the country. My principal and colleagues felt I did very well for a first year teacher. 80% of the staff are not returning to the school next year for a large number of reasons. I can only assume I was let go for cost cutting reasons/familiarity with non-returning staff/ or a "no comment" appraisal I gave of the current director. (Clearly I'm awful with admin politics)
I applied to another international school in the same city, only to learn I have been blackballed by the director.

I know I should simply remove my past school from my CV. Is there a way I can indicate experience on my CV without naming the school, but only giving my principal's reference?
I grew a lot as a teacher this year and don't want it to be in vain experience-wise. I'm hoping there is a way I can sell my experience to future recruiters but omit out that my contract was terminated, as that is instantly a big red flag for recruiters.
Should I start from square one and pretend like I was never a teacher?

I'm really at a loss here and could use some advice :-(