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THE CLASSES ARE CLASSIC AT BROOKLYN LATIN

There’s good peer pressure at The Brooklyn Latin School — where student leaders “prosecute” classmates who break rules.

“We recommend the punishment,” said Yvette Cole, an 11th-grader.

A student who cut class was removed from student government.

“The students take ownership of the school,” said headmaster Jason Griffiths, who nonetheless has final say.

Misdeeds are few and far between at a school that pushes a culture of character and excellence. Students are too busy learning at this oasis on the Bushwick-Williamsburg border, one of the selective high schools that opened under Mayor Bloomberg in 2006.

The kids must pass the city’s specialized exam to get in. A majority is black or Latino, reflecting Griffiths’ focus on getting students from minority neighborhoods to apply.

Modeled after the venerable Boston Latin, the school provides a rigorous, classical education. Its typical ninth-grader takes art, English, history, Latin, math, physics and Spanish. Public speaking is mandatory, as is four years of Latin.

Teachers and students say they like the small classes and the fact that teachers serve as advisers to the same students through graduation.

With the first Brooklyn Latin class set to graduate next year, nearly all of its 181 students have passed the battery of Regents exams. The school plans to more than double in size in the next two years.

Griffiths supports extending the mayor’s authority over education — and why not? Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Bloomberg helped make his school a reality.

“We changed 181 lives,” Griffiths said. “It would not have been possible without mayoral control.”