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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Smooglie][quote=Anonymous]OP, your post could have been mine a little over a decade ago (DCUM didn't exist yet, just playground chatter). Bought a house, then had a child, and, well, okay, let's see, I think that baby needs to go to school some place. People looked at us in horror that we hadn't considered that way ahead of buying a house and, God forbid, conceiving a child. The school nearby, we were told, short of tortured children and was absolutely abysmal. And didn't we know that, how BAD the schools are?! (Are you stupid or what?) Well, we went on to having two children, thinking it really can't be THAT bad. And, you know what, it wasn't at all. OUR kids did really well in that "abysmal" school, where by the way they were never tortured, not even yelled at ever. They grew up to be excellent students, cheerful, driven, playful, and really very smart and well educated. They've passed several reputed tests all around; we aren't just hoping, we know. And, because we both work and don't really spend that much time hovering over homework - no tutors and all - we know that school deserves credit.

All this to say, take a deep breath and proceed with confidence![/quote]

Thank you!!

My main concern with our local school is teasing.  The school is 0% white (we are about as white as it gets - and Jewish, to boot) and my sweet, sensitive boy looks like a beautiful girl.  Can you say DIFFERENT?!  I'm a big fan of diversity, but 0% white is hardly diverse.  If he was more like my daughter - very outgoing, confident, gregarious - I wouldn't worry so much, but he's shy and gets his feelings hurt very easily.

Here's hoping we get in *somewhere*.[/quote]

I'm the person who posted the above account. Yes, our school was 0% white as well, with our kids 100% fair and blond. DCUM isn't the place to go on tangents about these aspects (check out the new Human Development Exhibit at the Natural History Museum, just stunning); but I can tell you first hand the kids won't know the difference, namely as little as those who were raised in all white communities can distinguish between skin tones. And I cannot remember an instance where either of my kids reported teasing over appearances, or otherwise really. Curiosity maybe for a little bit but even not much of that. It's just really not on their mind at that age. They will start to develop stereotypes, as much as they do for boy/girl or any other differences they try to make sense of. And on that I'll say they'll grow aware of class differences or learning differences before they become aware of what we may see as "black and white". If there are remarks, don't shudder and grow quiet. Discuss them, probe, ask questions, let them make sense, by probing questions, help them add nuances. And before long you'll be able to recognize nuances as well. It's really quite interesting to watch and learn.[/quote]

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