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I graduated 10 years ago and Desert academy was not good back then, so I am not sure what it is like now. I don't think I would want to move for my senior year, but I can say the high schools are pretty good in Santa Fe. At Santa Fe High I know they still have a big overcrowding problem. And at Capital( which use to be the Jock school) has gotten a little worse but I would say still better than Santa Fe high. As to any Ethnicity problems, I really can't say I know what anyone is talking about. The schools are mostly white and white-hispanic (yes, hispanics are white.) Everyone got along with no tension. I did see a problem only twice when African American kids try to go to school. At those points yes there was alot of racism. And those kids actually left school and there families left Santa Fe. Please excuse me when I say, but any tension would have been brought in from out of state ( usually californians) who live with ethnic and racial tension in their states. You may find locals sometimes not happy about "all the californians moving in." Please embrace the community and its culture, everyone gets along just fine.
I graduated 10 years ago and Desert academy was not good back then, so I am not sure what it is like now. I don't think I would want to move for my senior year, but I can say the high schools are pretty good in Santa Fe. At Santa Fe High I know they still have a big overcrowding problem. And at Capital( which use to be the Jock school) has gotten a little worse but I would say still better than Santa Fe high. As to any Ethnicity problems, I really can't say I know what anyone is talking about. The schools are mostly white and white-hispanic (yes, hispanics are white.) Everyone got along with no tension. I did see a problem only twice when African American kids try to go to school. At those points yes there was alot of racism. And those kids actually left school and there families left Santa Fe. Please excuse me when I say, but any tension would have been brought in from out of state ( usually californians) who live with ethnic and racial tension in their states. You may find locals sometimes not happy about "all the californians moving in." Please embrace the community and its culture, everyone gets along just fine.
I have never been in the schools and of course kids sometimes get into fights. But I have never seen ethnic tension around here -- it more seems like people take pride in getting along -- a very old tradition in New Mexico.
In WWII -- when the military was still segregated -- New Mexico contributed a National Guard Unit that was mixed Anglo, Hispanic, and Indian. Pueblo Indians with this unit were the first code talkers -- on Bataan.
I gotta say, having grown up in Santa Fe's public schools, TXSweetPea's description was my experience. The difference being we did have a black family attending grade school that didn't introduce any tensions or feel the need to leave. It might have been different because they started school with us. None of us ever knew any different, they were just friends and part of our classes.
Devin Bent:
Thumbs up for the nod to NM's WWII service. We're rightly proud and appreciative of it, especially the code talkers, who much like the aviators at Tuskeegee, had to wrestle with serving a country that didn't fully serve you. I'd give you reps, but sadly am restricted.
I really liked my schools in Las Cruces as i remember as they were great. Mesilla Park Elem and Zia Junior High and playing Little League Baseball and Football at Maag Park Fields were really cool memories.
Did you guys have decent fields? Our grass outfields in Santa Fe were always more like a bunch of grass tufts in loose formation. You always had to check your sight line when fielding grounders because people got clocked from the 'grass pop ups' regularly.
the nod to NM's WWII service. We're rightly proud and appreciative of it, especially the code talkers, who much like the aviators at Tuskeegee, had to wrestle with serving a country that didn't fully serve you.
And this unit had it very hard. The US abandoned them on Bataan with the other GI's -- a decision to focus US efforts on Europe. They were sent on the death march, then on death ships to Japan, and starved in Japanese factories which were bombed by the US toward the end of the war. The fact that any came home was a tribute to the unit's cohesion despite its multi-ethnic makeup.
zia ~ I had some rep points to give, so I contributed them to Devin's reputation for the wonderful posts on the Code Talkers.
Thanks Towanda. The Tewa code talkers have been overshadowed by the Navajos. There were simply many many more Navajos and they filled a wide-spread role that the Tewa speakers could not. But the Tewa code talkers were the first -- and that tends to get forgotten.
They did have the complete support of the Anglos and Hispanics in their unit, but were not accepted by the other units until after the war started. At Craig Field, before the war, The entire unit was forbidden access to the NCO club because of the frequent fights.
Or so I read. Even I am not old enough to have been there.
(sorry, somewhat off thread. BUT this does relate to the multi-ethnic tradition of NM and thus to the SF schools.)
Interesting that this thread is really about racial tension as it impacts non Hispanic "whites" a/k/a "Anglos". Also extremely interesting that it's posed by someone wanting to move from CA to NM, both states that used to be part of Mexico and have very significant (to majority) Hispanic and Native populations. I sympathize with a desire to give your kids the best- as most parents would. My family is Native American and hope to move somewhere where we can be around nature, other Natives -but just as importantly, diversity vs. separatism and friendships with peers from many backgrounds- and give our kids access to challenging educational experiences in a non-hostile environment. Having searched across the country, it saddens me to see just how evasive that combination is. I'm hopeful we may find it in New Mexico or Colorado. If you are looking for an "Anglo" dominant educational experience where you kids will be comfortable in the majority and have access to the best college prep.- rest assured, the world is your oyster, even if Santa Fe is not....
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An old tradition
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