By Vivian Sequera
Associated Press Writer
Friday, Sept. 1, 2000; 9:30 a.m. EDT

CARDENAS, Cuba –– This time, it was hard for Elian Gonzalez to stand out in the crowd: among schoolmates in school uniforms of red, white and blue, he was just one of 2 million other Cuban students returning to classes.

"My name is Elian," piped the six-year-old Friday on the first day of classes, when the teacher asked all the kids in his second-grade class to introduce themselves. There was no applause, no comments, until every child had said his or her name – and then they all applauded themselves.

Outside the classroom, photographers here in the boy's hometown of Cardenas held what many hope will be the final stakeout for Elian – possibly the world's most-photographed 6-year-old.

It all appeared so tranquil in comparison with the chaotic, 24-hour-a-day media camp that grew up outside the Miami home where Elian's relatives defied the U.S. government in a bitter seven-month custody dispute with the boy's father.

The 20 or so journalists on hand arranged themselves quietly on one side of the school's inner courtyard, as parents accompanied their kids into school on the first day. No security personnel were in sight.

There were few tearful scenes at the flag-decked school, as parents went up to a balcony to observe the traditional opening-day ceremony held at every Cuban school, while the kids chatted calmly among themselves in the patio below that doubles as a basketball court.

Elian came to the Marcelo Salado school in the coastal city of Cardenas, about 90 miles east of Havana, accompanied by his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, his grandmothers, stepmother and stepbrother, took a seat in the front row of his class, then went off to the patio for the opening ceremony.

There was no showing off of new clothes – all the kids wear white shirts, blue bandanas and red shorts for boys, skirts for girls – with only the brands of backpacks or sneakers marking a difference.

The first day of classes is traditionally lighter than the average four- to five-hour school day. Children meet their teachers, notebooks are handed out, and a wreath is placed in honor of the bronze bas-relief of independence hero Jose Marti that decorates most school here.

The school's director, Maribel Reyes, welcomed students to a new year of classes, and then a little girl sang a song that had become familiar here during the Elian custody battle: "Let the children sing, let them sing with love."

Elian's schoolmates have been encouraged to treat the shipwreck survivor "just like anybody else." The Cuban government also made it clear that reporters wouldn't be allowed to swarm the boy on the first day of school, or thereafter.

"We think we have been successful at preserving the greatest intimacy possible for this family that has suffered so much," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Thursday.

"Don't be hanging all over him. The poor kid has had a lot of problems, and everything should be as normal as possible for him now," said Luanda Leon, recounting advice given at a meeting this week among teachers and parents of Elian's 27 new classmates.

Leon's 7-year-old son, Ariel Cisneros, will be in Elian's class at the high-ceilinged old school.

Elian has lived away from the public eye, reportedly at a Havana boarding school, since he returned to Cuba on June 28. His first day at school was his first public appearance in months.

Workmen this week spruced up the Marcelo Salado school, named after a revolutionary youth leader. They put in new toilets and replaced bricks in the building, which holds about 900 students.

The school will have water coolers, TV sets and videocassette recorders in every other classroom – a wealth of equipment found in some, but not all, Cuban grade schools.

Elian was found clinging to an inner tube off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving after his mother and 10 other Cubans drowned when their boat sank during an attempt to reach the United States. He was returned to his father after U.S. authorities seized him from the home of his Miami relatives during a nighttime raid in April.

Snippets of video broadcast on state-run television have shown Elian playing with friends, riding in a small boat with his father and swimming among dolphins near an undisclosed beach location. He was also shown making up schoolwork, practicing cursive letters.

"He's been able to enjoy some vacations in privacy and with his family," Perez Roque said. "I think I can say that things have gone well for Elian Gonzalez."