[Anne1377]

Hi Friends,

I just wanted to see what others' thoughts on this are. Annie will be six in a few months. In the town we live in, kindergarten is housed in one building, grades 1-6 in another, 7 and 8 in another and then off to high school for 9-12. Right now she is in kindergarten and doing very well.


I am not sure if I want her to remain in the public school system in the town we live. The reason for this is because my town is not at all racially diverse. I mean..not at all. Last year when my son graduated from high school, there was not one latino/latina in the class and only one african american child. So my thoughts....

Annie is very happy and has wonderful friends and she would move on with them if I kept her where she is. However, she would be the only one who is not caucasion. She looks different from her peers. Now..this is not an issue now but it might be someday. When I approached a person in the school with my concerns I was told, " But Annie thinks she is caucasian so she will be fine." Huh??????? Annie doesn't THINK she is caucasian...she KNOWS she is Guatemalan!!!

There are some magnet/charter/private schools with much more diversity a few towns over. I just don't know what to do. Would you keep her where she is with her friends ( school district is excellent) or move her next year to a school with more diversity??

We do much to keep her heritage and culture known to her (annual trips to Guatemala, ongoing contact with people in Guatemala, books, etc) so I am not afraid she will lose that if she stays where she is.

I am just looking for some thoughts.....

Thanks,

Diane

[DPline]

How do you think she would react to changing schools? Of my three kids, each would react much differently to changing schools and having to make new friends. From one for whom it would be devastating to one who would be fine with it and jump right in to the new school. Have you asked her what she would think about changing schools? Or how she feels about being the only non-white child? (I realize she is only 6, but my impression is she is a very mature 6.)

Also, is the district becoming any more diverse? Do you know anything about the demographics of the 1-6 school? Our high schools are not diverse at all, but with each new class of kindergarteners our schools are becoming much more racially diverse. I worry much less now about my younger two than I did a couple years ago. The number of different ethic backgrounds and number of internationally adopted children in our district has skyrocketed in the last couple years.

Now the comment 'But Annie thinks she is caucasian so she will be fine' is scary though! Was this from a teacher? Administrator?

I don't know what I would do, but those were the things that came to mind.

[hbrown22]

I think if it were me, I would keep her where she is. It is not an issue now and you don't know if it will be or not in the future. My guess is it wouldn't be. If it is though, you could move her then if she wants to.

[keirasmom]

I would keep her where she is. If you are doing other things to keep her Guatemalan heritage alive and exposing her in other ways to diversity (play groups, dance classes etc) then I don't see a need to move her. It's always nice for kids to go to school with the other kids in their neighborhood, and have you thought how wonderful it is that your dd brings diversity to her the school she's in now.

[asauer]

I know moving schools can be very difficult, logistically if not emotionally. Can you investigate other ways to get her exposed to a diverse community? Playgroups, mom's groups, meetup groups?

[Disneycrazed]

I was thinking that it is interesting that the private and Charter schools are diverse but not the public schools. I think I might try and talk with some of these parents and see why they chose the Private schools and if diversity was one of the reasons.
Maybe check and see if you could meet with some of administrators at the private schools and get some more information. They also may have some parents you can talk with.