The 10-year-old ringleader pushed her to the floor. Two boys held her down by her arms while the ringleader straddled her. Two other boys kicked and hit her while the sixth pulled her face toward his groin, the 9-year-old girl said.

The ringleader and two of the boys who are 10 were later arrested and face several charges in juvenile court, including simple, aggravated and indecent assault. The other boys could not be charged because they are younger than 10.

School administrators moved the 10-year-olds to another classroom. But the girl's family is outraged that all six boys involved in the Feb. 19 attack still attend Daroff.

"I asked for the guys to get out of the school, and they're still at the school," said Artelia Berry, the girl's stepmother, who reported the attack to police. She said the girl was afraid to be in school with them. "I kept her out of school for maybe four days, but she has to go back to school."

The incident comes at a time when the Philadelphia district faces a 13 percent increase in assaults on students amid allegations that those numbers are low because principals are afraid to report everything that happens in their buildings.

Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman, said a report of the incident mentioned four boys, not six. He said the four received three-day suspensions.

He said Principal Robert Rouse was looking into moving the 10-year-old who led the attack out of the school. That child has been referred for weekly counseling at the Joseph J. Peters Institute, a nonprofit organization that treats offenders and victims of sexual abuse.

Gallard said the decision to transfer the other students would be based on "whatever the principal finds in the investigation."

Rouse declined to be interviewed. The school is at 5630 Vine St.

It was not clear Friday whether the attack at Daroff was included in the district's violent-crime index released a week ago.

After recent cases of principals waiting days and weeks to file violence reports, district officials have reminded them that all serious incidents must be reported the day they happen.

State law and the federal No Child Left Behind law require schools to report violence and all drug and weapons violations.

District violence data show a 2.8 percent uptick compared to the same period a year ago, but some categories had larger jumps: Assaults on students rose 13.2 percent, and morals offenses grew by 27.1 percent. The attack at Daroff would have been counted as an assault.

Most of the "morals offenses" involve inappropriate touching by young students, although there are reports of older students being forced to perform oral sex, sources said.

The increase in morals offenses followed a reminder to principals to report all incidents, including exposure and indecent touching, officials added.

On Friday, the 9-year-old girl described in an interview what she said happened to her. (The Inquirer does not identify victims of sexually-related assaults.)

A teacher who oversees dismissal had left the room with most of the children. The girl and a friend were gathering their belongings.

As she left the coat closet, the ringleader "pushed me out of the closet onto the floor." She described how the five others came over.

"There was two of them holding me down," she said. And while the attacker got on top of her, another "was at my head." She said he pulled her head to his groin.

The others, she said, "was just like hitting me, feeling my butt . . ." Her friend tried to pull the boys off the girl but could not.

The girl's regular teacher, who had been out of the classroom for her prep period, came back to the classroom when she realized some of her students had not left the building.

She pulled the main attacker off the girl and the rest of the boys fled. The teacher took the girl to the office.

The girl said her teacher was upset. "She was turning red, and she didn't know what to say," the girl said. "She was so mad."

Berry, who had been waiting outside, went into the office to find out why her stepdaughter had not come outside. She was stunned when her stepdaughter told her: "I got something to tell you. Don't be mad."

That night the girl had blood in her urine. Her family took her to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital the next day, and a physician examined bruises on her back. He prescribed ice and ibuprofen.

"Her back was hurting for a good two weeks," Berry said.

After conferring with a school police officer, Berry filed a police report on Feb. 20, and police went to the school.

Berry said the girl would now stay away from boys. "She don't even talk to boys."

The family has considered transferring the girl to another school but she has resisted. She is one of the top students in her class and she loves her teacher, the family says.

Berry said that when the principal asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted all six boys out of the building for the child's safety and peace of mind. He told her he could not move the 9-year-olds, she said, and they remain in the girl's classroom.

The district's disciplinary schools are for students in fifth grade and above, but the district has some special programs for younger students.

"I want them away from her," Berry said. "Any school she goes to, I don't want them to be in contact with her. Her father wants me to keep pushing it."