The Fieldston Lower School in New York City has become a lot less white in recent years -- less than half -- making it one of the most racially diverse private elementary schools in the city, writes Lisa Miller for New York Magazine. This year, the school offered a pioneering curriculum to boost self-esteem and a sense of belonging for minority kids, while also combating racism. It's mandatory, built into the school day itself; it compels participation from all races, at first separated into racial "affinity groups"; and it starts in third grade. Apprehension around it rocketed through certain factions of (white) parents, but the school held course. The program reflects a generational transformation in how the broader culture approaches identity, Miller writes, now seen as more elective and performative. The ambitions of the Fieldston program are large, with some aspects better articulated than others, but at base the school hopes to initiate "authentic" conversations about race, which researchers say have been inhibited for decades by liberal "color-blindness." The school acknowledges the program might have been rolled out better, with more outreach to resistant parents, but the program took place as planned, with full support of the administration and board. Mariama Richards, who runs the program, points out that true integration can't happen if just half a student body discusses it. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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