Metro

Thousands of Charter school kids across the city return to class

They’ve already said so long to summer.

It was back-to-school time for thousands of city charter school students yesterday — a full two-and-a-half-weeks ahead of their public school counterparts.

All dozen Achievement First schools in Brooklyn welcomed students back as early as 7:15 a.m., while other charter networks — including Success Academy and Explore Schools — will resume classes later this week.

Among the early-to-open birds was Achievement First Endeavor Charter School in Clinton Hill, where scores on state math exams have shot up by 33 percentage points since 2010.

Scores in reading — while still relatively low — have increased by 22 percentage points over those years.

“The typical fifth-grader comes in at a second- or third-grade reading level,” said principal Tom Kaiser. “It’s not a magic formula, it’s about putting in time. And it’s high quality time.”

Achievement first is so concerned with maximizing instruction that kids are taught to use hand signals rather than interrupting lessons verbally or by raising hands.

There are signs for needing a pencil (put first finger in air), asking to go to the bathroom (put thumb in air) and asking for a tissue (put one hand over nose and raise other hand).

The emphasis on not wasting valuable class time has impacted the way students react to being the first of their friends to bid sayonara to the summer.

“Starting school early, I feel like I’m learning more than my friends that haven’t started school yet,” said Geneve Roachford, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at AF Endeavor. “I feel that all of the extra hours of school are good, and when I get older I’ll be able to get a good job. ”

Theresa Rowell, whose son is in sixth grade at the school, says she can’t complain about the early start because of her son’s progress.

“These two extra weeks just put him ahead two weeks from other kids,” she said. “He’s improved at math in this school. He’s improved at everything.”

The public schools, which can’t start the school year early without negotiating with the teachers’ union, don’t resume classes until Thursday, Sept. 6.

Charter schools are able to extend their school day and school year because they have greater flexibility when it comes to budgeting and staffing, according to their operators.

They said the early start is important to combat the minimum month’s worth of learning that kids typically lose over the long summer break.

“Historically, part of the reason why we have a longer school year is because of the ‘summer slide,’” said Morty Ballen, CEO of Explore Schools, a network that has replaced closing public schools with charters.

”We don’t want summer to be a big break,” he added. “We want school to feel like there’s an all-year round rhythm.”