My kids are in public school, and last night my 5th grade son and I attended a middle school expo to gather information about our options in District 2, which covers a big swath of Manhattan (from the Upper East Side, south to the Financial District, and back up the West Side to 59th Street–except for the East Village, which is in District 1). There are a lot of families in District 2, and the expo, held at Stuyvesant High School, was the helpful madhouse I expected, having done it a few years ago with my daughter. But the experience also had a wonderful and unexpected personal twist that was classic New York living.
Wow, I ran into a good number of people from many periods and parts of my life, and some people I hadn’t seen in years: a mom whose daughter went to nursery school with my son; the art director I worked with at a magazine 20 years ago; and parents from my son’s camp, among others. I’m very lucky in this regard: within the circles of my social experience, the city rarely feels like anything but a town of friends, love, and gossip.
I have a foot-in-the-mouth anecdote about catching up with the mom from nursery school, but my co-editors tell me that would be just too much gossip. Alas.
You often hear how middle school is a rough passage for so many kids. Even more than administrators and teachers, I spoke to a number of children last night who were representing their schools, and I loved listening to them talk about their passions and experiences. Like my daughter, they’re starting to mature beyond the kid years—and some of it may have even rubbed off on my son.
In a way that was considerate, not jokey, he said: “You know, I’d like to go to a school where they make you work really hard, but not too hard.”
I’ll take it.
Eric Messinger is the editor of New York Family. He can be reached at emessinger@manhattanmedia.com
