<p>We sent our kids to a private Montessori and one of the best benefits was that it was the diverse student, teacher and parent populations. I can’t even guess at percentages or proportions of individual races. (Not only were some kids of mixed races, one parent or the other was often mixed as well) The great thing about the school and the way it was run, is that everyone begins to ignore racial preconceptions. In the case of young students, they don’t learn the societal biases (e.g. blacks = poor, uneducated versus whites, Asians = smart, successful). There are millionaire parents in all races and ethnicities; there were less powerful and lower income families in all races and ethnicities; ditto for the exceptional students, class clowns, athletes, etc. In the end, kids can be themselves because everyone is so different and yet the same. The main downfall is the decreasing diversity in economic levels due to rising tuition. There used to be working class families.</p>
<p>If students aren’t making friends across races and ethnicities, there’s probably something the administration is doing or not doing. I suspect the students are being tracked along the same tired racial stereotypes. </p>