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MARKETING MAKEOVERS TURN PUBLIC SCHOOLS COOL

Reading, writing and rebranding?

City public-school principals are turning to outside agencies for marketing makeovers — including splashy logos and interactive Web sites — in the face of increased competition for students.

While much of the work so far has been pro bono or privately funded, some schools have set aside as much as $25,000 in a year to advertise for students.

“It’s very necessary for us to get out there and let people know who we are,” said Jason Griffiths, headmaster at Brooklyn Latin.

Susan Green, principal of the Alain Locke Elementary School in Harlem, said a campaign that employs new logos, uniforms and a Web site designed for free through a partnership with a nonprofit called PENCIL helps her compete against charters.

“The logo for the children provides a visual representation of who they are,” said Green. “I want them to have pride in the school they attend.”

Fueled by the dying practice of automatically assigning kids to their neighborhood school and by a new funding system that assigns dollar values to each student, the campaigns have already started to bear fruit.

Directors at Pisarkiewicz Mazur & Co. said their free campaign for the Greenwich Village Middle School increased applications by 30 percent.

yoav.gonen@nypost.com