This story was originally published on March 12, 2015.

Protests against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s harmful public education agenda peaked in New York City on March 12, when parents, their children and educators joined hands to form a human chain around their buildings before or after classes as if to protect them from the governor’s proposals.

The demonstrations at hundreds of schools, unprecedented in their scope and intensity, were the culmination of a week of school-based actions, which included leafleting, wearing the same color and all manner of creative protests.

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At PS 166 in Astoria, for example, educators dressed in blue and posed with guitars in their school’s music room to signify that they were “singing the blues” over Cuomo’s proposals. Educators at PS 160 in Jamaica filled the branches of a “wish tree” with their hopes for all students. And at PS 169 in Sunset Park, educators dressed in black and held a mock funeral, bearing a coffin that read “RIP Cuomo’s proposal.”

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One of the largest human chains was formed at PS 10 in Park Slope, where hundreds of parents, teachers and students circled their building, many wearing red T-shirts that read “Passion > Politics, #We are 10.” UFT President Michael Mulgrew and AFT President Randi Weingarten joined the morning demonstration.

PS 10 parents had already delivered more than 300 letters to Albany lawmakers, and members have taken to Twitter and Facebook to raise the alarm.

“We’re telling family and friends to wake up, open your eyes,” Chapter Leader Heidi Bookman said.

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Chanting “Ban Cuomo’s plan,” teachers at IS 24 in Great Kills on Staten Island formed a human barricade in front of the main entrance at 7 a.m. on March 11, a day early, in a symbolic gesture to protect the school from the governor’s proposals.

“Our fight against Cuomo is a big battle in the corporate reform war on teachers and education,” said Chapter Leader Mike Scarcella.

A group of 160 rallied outside PS 372 in Park Slope chanting “More teaching, less testing, support our kids now.”

“We have quite a few parents who are frustrated,” said PS 372 parent Erhmei Yuan.

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A group of roughly 300 held hands around PS 3 in lower Manhattan before the start of classes. The issues have “pulled the community together,” said Chapter Leader Jessica Harvey.

Staff at Edward R. Murrow HS in Midwood, owed $10 million in Campaign for Fiscal Equity funds from the state, put together a multilanguage video telling the governor what the school needs and have sent photos with the same message to the governor and sent postcards to legislators urging them to stand against Cuomo’s policies.

Mark Zink, the chapter leader at IS 2 in Staten Island, said close to 100 teachers, parents and students gathered outside his school at 4:30 p.m., holding hands and chanting “Fight Cuomo!” Many wore black T-shirts lettered in yellow: “Teachers and students are more than a test score.”

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Zink said his school has been through a lot. “We survived Hurricane Sandy, and we successfully fought a co-location of another school in our building,” he said. “We’re resilient. We fight back.”

Several hundred Brooklyn members from PS 58 and PS 261 marched together down Smith Street in Carroll Gardens after school.

PS 58 Chapter Leader Dan Lupkin said the governor’s attack on public education had spurred a level of protest that was new for his school.

“This is the first time this has ever happened at PS 58,” Lupkin said.

Some 250 people held hands around the school at PS 159 in the Morrisania section of the Bronx.

“We have to wake up and get out of our comfort zone,” Chapter Leader Evelyn Ortiz said. “We can’t wait for someone else to do it. We have to do it.”

Susan Stark, the chapter leader at PS 88 in Ridgewood, Queens, said more than 100 teachers, paras, guidance counselors, parents and students turned out to demonstrate in front of the school — wearing yellow hardhats with a sign stating “Caution: Protecting Our School Against Cuomo.”

“They were chanting ‘Show us the money!’” Stark said. “It was such a positive feeling of unity to protect our school — protecting our school from Cuomo’s bad policies.”

— Micah Landau, Ebony Martin, Cara Metz, Rachel Nobel and Linda Ocasio contributed to this article.