What I remember most about my first lecture in 10th grade AP World History at New Rochelle High School is looking around the classroom and thinking, “why is almost every student here white?” Moreso, I wondered why the fraction of students of color were sitting clumped together apart from the white students. Looking back on it, the reason for this separation went farther than who happened to be friends with who. These pre-formed social circles and friend groups were essentially determined by each student’s family’s socioeconomic status. School zones in the New Rochelle School District assured that students who lived in the same neighborhood attended the same Elementary and Middle school as one another. For the most part, the white students in the class had attended Albert Leonard Middle School, whereas the students of color had attended Isaac E. Young Middle School. Many students of color came from neighborhoods with less socioeconomic mobility. I realized that perhaps white students who came from more privileged backgrounds were the ones who were able to afford tutors, consequentially allowing them to achieve higher scores on tests, to get better grades, and in the end to raise their chances of being selected for Honors and AP classes. I’m not doubting that the students in my AP World History class were all bright and diligent students. I simply question how many other students were as intelligent and deserving but were not given the opportunity to enroll in that course based on the color of their skin. 

 

Though I identify as ethnically Jewish, my skin is white. I believe that this greatly affected my social and academic life as a student in the New Rochelle School District. Fortunately, I learned from my friends at school about our socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial differences, and more importantly how those differences don’t have to define or prevent friendships. However, not all New Rochelle students have the freedom to experience diversity if they are only exposed to people just like them. In order to truly create diversity in New Rochelle’s school system, we must recognize that there is something wrong and actively change the way we educate our students.

 

Sophia Peister

NRHS Class of 2017