When it comes to pint-sized patriotism, nobody beats this.
The city’s oldest public elementary school rolled out the red carpet for the Red, White and Blue yesterday in one of the longest-running celebrations of Flag Day in the city.
It was the 63rd consecutive year that Old Glory got the royal treatment at PS 34 in Greenpoint — a tradition that started after day was marked as a national commemoration by an act of Congress in August 1949.
The day, which is not officially a federal holiday, celebrates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
“We really don’t get to think about the flag often, except when we say the Pledge of Allegiance,” said fifth-grader Carolyn Gorski, 10. “Today is a good day that we get to think about it, talk about it and celebrate it.”
As hundreds of parents looked on, kids from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade touted the borough with “I [heart] BK” signs and gave props to the rest of the country by bearing flags of each state.
They wore American flag visors while dancing to Neil Diamond’s “America,” belted out “You’re A Grand Old flag” and “God Bless America,” and concluded a Texas square dance with a loud “Yeehaw!”
“This is a very special day in the life of our school,” said Alicja Winnicki, principal of the A-rated school. “I would credit the tradition to the tight-knit community.”
In the school’s courtyard, a flag-draped sign-in book dated back to 1949, while the main office holds an admissions log that documents enrollment — in meticulous, cursive handwriting — back to the school’s founding in 1867.
Retired school aide Edith Schkrutz, just two days shy of her 90th birthday, has been attending the annual Flag Day celebration every year since she was hired by the school in 1960.
She said the traditionally Polish neighborhood has changed and diversified over the decades, but the celebration has stayed largely the same.
“It was smaller [then], but still very patriotic,” said Schkrutz. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”