I'd 'choose' whichever public we were districted for.

My neighborhood school is that large--and is culturally mixed. I thought most schools in the DMV were like this. I think your child would be quite welcome most places.

Choose private with intense, armed security. Nothing else matters.

What’s your personal life like and your neighborhood? If that’s diverse with other Bangladeshi influences, I’d be less concerned about the language so much. This area has about 200 different languages being spoken at home, so I would hope you could find weekend language classes or something similar to help expose your kid to language and culture.

But all other things being equal, I’d choose the more diverse school. Even if there aren’t other Bangladeshi kids there. The culture of diversity helps kids feel ok with being a little different and they will have an easier time feeling like they belong.

~ Mom of Arab Muslim kid in a school with no Arabs but with other non-Arabic speaking Muslims.

Anonymous wrote:Making sure he's in a school with other black and brown children. I don't like any of the options.

Those are the best options right now. We're considering private but it would probably be even less diverse than these schools.

Making sure he's in a school with other black and brown children. I don't like any of the options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Did he go to preschool and what is his learning style? I think all those are more important than biracial identity. I'm South Asian (Bengali Indian) and DH is white American. Our kids are in different schools according to their learning needs primarily.

I honestly don't know. He's only 3. We have a chance to go the preschool that's connected to the charter school in the fall. The schools are in different school districts and we're in the market to buy a house right now.

If you're looking to move, I'd choose neither. Look for something in between. Waldorf is a big commitment (even in a charter setting) and it's not right for every kid or family. I wouldn't want to go all in on a house near that school and then find out it really didn't work for your child.

Anonymous wrote:You would have to run both options through a tpe3 data modeling algorithm to determine the highest probability of DS becoming an investment banker.

Haha his father is a statistician

You would have to run both options through a tpe3 data modeling algorithm to determine the highest probability of DS becoming an investment banker.

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Did he go to preschool and what is his learning style? I think all those are more important than biracial identity. I'm South Asian (Bengali Indian) and DH is white American. Our kids are in different schools according to their learning needs primarily.

I honestly don't know. He's only 3. We have a chance to go the preschool that's connected to the charter school in the fall. The schools are in different school districts and we're in the market to buy a house right now.

Anonymous wrote:Are there any other options? Conceptually I'd choose #1 except 925 kids is massively huge (unless this is for high school?) If it's for elementary, I'd want something around 400 kids but more or less like #1 for a biracial child (although ideally a little more diverse, but that may not be an option where you live).

No it's just elementary school. Grades Pk-5. We're also considering Montessori private school. I don't have the racial makeup of that school. It's not listed online.

How old is your child? Did he go to preschool and what is his learning style? I think all those are more important than biracial identity. I'm South Asian (Bengali Indian) and DH is white American. Our kids are in different schools according to their learning needs primarily.

Are there any other options? Conceptually I'd choose #1 except 925 kids is massively huge (unless this is for high school?) If it's for elementary, I'd want something around 400 kids but more or less like #1 for a biracial child (although ideally a little more diverse, but that may not be an option where you live).

Public.

We're trying to decide between a few schools for our ds. He's south Asian and white. My husband is of Bangladeshi origin and he's teaching ds Bengali. There are not a lot of Bengali people where we live. The south Asians in public school would mostly be of Indian or Pakistani origin so they would not speak in Bengali.

School #1
Traditional public school about 925 students, of whom 55 percent are white, 14 percent are black, 13 percent are Asian and 12 percent are Hispanic. School grade 10/10

School # 2
Waldorf charter school. 100 students. 82 percent are white. Two or more races 9 percent. Hispanic 7 percent. Black 1 percent. Asian less than 1 percent. School grade 7/10

Which school would you choose? School #2 has a lot of mixed race students but zero Asians. Is that a big deal?