What’s it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school?

[Anonymous]

My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

[Anonymous]

OP, this was the whitest thing you could have done.

I have secondhand embarrassment for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this was the whitest thing you could have done.

I have secondhand embarrassment for you.

OP, gently, this is not a thing you need to worry about. Diversity is a good thing. Your real issue is the fact that SSIMS is about to be closed by MCPS - worry about that and what programs Northwood might have after this mess of a regional program plan goes through.

[Anonymous]

My white kid spent 3 years in a 65% Hispanic elementary school.
He started wishing he had dark hair.
Invited to only 2 birthday parties in all these years.
Bad admin at school happy to discipline a white kid, which I didn’t realize for the longest time.
Street smart kids setting up naive middle class kids to be punished by riling them up. Stolen food at lunch.
Finally switched school for 3rd grade and it was night and day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

[Anonymous]

Honestly SSIMS and Northwood also have a lot of white kids, and they kind of stick together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is heading to SSIMS and probably Northwood after that.

What is it like being white in a mostly Hispanic school? Are there any cultural differences to be aware of?

I am Latina and grew up in almost entirely Latino public schools. I'll be honest, I perceived the few white kids as economically privileged (they usually were) and sometimes there were cultural things they didn't understand but they often caught on to those quickly and were quick to joke about them. No other significant differences and most of the time we never thought about it.

Like? What kind of cultural things?

[Anonymous]

Not a problem.

[Anonymous]

SSIMS? With the 30% white kids learning French? Lol they'll be alright! Not like they'll be going to MVMS.

[Anonymous]

My dd is at an 80% Hispanic school 65% farms. No big issues but there are some different cultural issues. No hispanic kids will come to her birthday parties and she’s never invited to theirs. I even asked one of the friend’s moms and she told me weekends were for family. The only other girls who we have playdates with and go to birthday parties for are other white, Asian and one AA girl. Kind of stung for a while and I felt like we weren’t being inclusive but it is what it is. We did invite them.

About 1/4 of her K class spoke little to no English so that was challenging friends wise too.

My dd has no idea that many of the kids are lower income. Most have better clothes than her and definitely better shoes. Teacher buys extra snacks for kids who are hungry and I told her not to take food she doesn’t need. I sent some boxes of snacks in too and any supplies the teachers need. We often have brand new teachers and there’s a high burnout.

[Anonymous]

Don't take Spanish as a foreign language. The classes are filled with kids who already know Spanish and it makes the classes unreasonably difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't take Spanish as a foreign language. The classes are filled with kids who already know Spanish and it makes the classes unreasonably difficult.

This has not been the case for us at all at a school with very similar demographics to SSIMS and Northwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly SSIMS and Northwood also have a lot of white kids, and they kind of stick together.

This. It’s a non-issue.

[Anonymous]

Depends entirely on the school, the location, the students, the guero in question, and how they handle it.

Too many variables. Could be a celebrity, could be an outcast, could be well liked, could be killed.

[Anonymous]

I dunno about being white in an actually majority Hispanic school, but our elementary school is about 40% Hispanic and about 30% white, which looks very similar to the breakdown at SSiMS? So I can tell you about that I guess... but there's not much to tell. My white kids don't feel like they're in the minority although I guess they technically are. There does tend to be clustering of friend groups by race but that's not hard and fast. It's just a regular school with a regular mix of kids of all different races and ethnicities.