The Family Academy, an experimental school in New York City's Harlem section, is demonstrating how to motivate "at-risk" students through a combination of early reading skills, support, respect and concern.

Students at the school -- which is now in its seventh year -- enjoy a school day which lasts until 5 p.m., and continues for 11 months a year. One parent reported that she almost had to drag her four children away from the school at the end of the day -- they were so engrossed in their learning experiences.

While the school currently teaches children from kindergarten through sixth grade, it adds a new grade each year and plans eventually to graduate high school seniors.

Successes show up in test scores:

• About 40 percent to 60 percent of the academy's students read at or above their grade levels -- up from only 8 percent the first year of testing.

• Of students who go to other nearby public schools, only 20 percent read at those levels.

School officials say the key is the school's focus on developing reading skills at the earliest age. Students in third through fifth grades must turn in a book report each week -- drawing on the school's privately funded 20,000-book library and the Internet.

School officials believe that whatever students' backgrounds may be, they are able and eager to learn if given tough, loving guidance.

Last year, the school's programs cost some $2,300 per pupil in public funds, not including infrastructure. The academy also relies on private donations now totaling some $1 million a year.