I found the discussion last night about Social Class interesting and it brought a lot of clarification to my mind that I've been trying to sort through for some time as I've sat through the diversity class, and this class. I don't work in a greatly diverse school. There are no black students in the entire fourth grade. My only Asian child moved about a month ago, and I have 4 Latino students over the course of the day. All have been in this country since at least kindergarten. My classes are almost 50/50 male/female. There is some diversity in social class, I guess the largest diversity of all, yet there's not much of that either. I went to this elementary school growing up. We had more African Am kids then then we do now. I certainly want to keep my mind open and be prepared for the day when great diversity hits Central Elemetary. But I can understand why some teachers in my school don't lie awake at night worrying about it. At this particular point in time, it is not our biggest problem. I'm curious about other schools? Are your populations greatly diverse?

Penny you are not alone. My school (Happy Valley) has one Black child in the whole school, two biracial children, and two children from India. Go figure that 3 of the total 5 are with Dawn and I in the 4th grade. I don't think our school is even tremendously diverse in social class. We range from poverty to middle class (lower end). Most of our students are "poor" and we are a Title One school. I see almost no diversity. I guess I am lucky that I went to a high school that was almost 50% African American. It gave me a better basis for the world and diversity.

Penny,
I am on the other end of the spectrum than you and Jill. At my school we have a very diverse population. Just in my class alone I have 4 African Am, 4 Hmong, 2 Hispanic, and 12 White students. It is like this in the fourth grade as well. The entire school is populated in this way. (with exceptions to some classrooms) This is one of the most diverse schools in Burke County.

Nancy- It's strange that Whitnel is so much more diverse than Sawmills and our schools are so close in proximity. Our Hispanic population has grown unbelievably this school year. I don't know what is happening. This is our first year back on the traditional calendar. Our school population seems to be growing more now anyway. We are a Title I school, and I agree that socio-economics is an obstacle in my school as well.

Penny,

I think our minority population is about 30%. Most of our minority students are African American. Even though Statesville's Hispanic population is growing, our school's Hispanic population is fairly small. Perhaps this is because they do not understand that our charter school exists, or maybe they do not understand how to enroll their children. Perhaps, this is a need we should address.

Penny, I too am very naive when it comes to racial diversity. My school is predominately white with very little African Americans and Hispanics. I have an Afrian American principal but I still think that I may be very narrow minded at times. This is not done on purpose but from the simple fact that I have been very sheltered. I am very fortunate that I have been able to have an eye-opening experience through these master's classes.

Shannon