Eight New Orleans Schools Start a New Year

Carrying a heavy book sack on his shoulders, 12-year-old Jermaine Gibson wasn't complaining a bit about the first day of classes Monday.

''The summer was boring. There was nothing to do. I'm glad to be back,'' he said as he arrived at William J. Fischer Charter Elementary School.

Fischer, one of the city's low-performing schools before Hurricane Katrina, was among eight public schools that reopened Monday, giving more than 4,000 students an early start on the school year and advancing a reform movement that blossomed after the storm devastated the city almost a year ago.

A uniformed sailor from a nearby Navy support station blew ''Reveille'' on his trumpet near the school entrance as students and parents walked down freshly painted hallways adorned with colorful murals and saw the new computer lab.

More than 40 other public schools are scheduled to open by mid-September for an estimated 30,000 students in what is planned as a rebirth of one of the nation's worst school systems, which had about 60,000 students before the storm.

from the NY Times