In the fall, Magdalena will attend the same school as Miriam, so I'll have two children there (huzzah for coordinated schedules!). Every spring, we parents get to talking about schools again and when asked, I am always happy to share how pleased we are with Miriam's school. But I'm also careful to couch my opinion in terms of what's best for our family. That's what I learned two years ago, the first time around.
That said, consider this: when we signed Miriam up for this school two years ago, I didn't know a single soul who currently sent their kids there. This year, I could easily name half a dozen families in the neighborhood who will be sending their kids there next year. Some of this may actually be due to my own word-of-mouth efforts, but I think it goes to show something else: this school fills a need in the community.
Before this school, there was one school where almost all the Westerners sent their kids, and a different school where nearly all the Arabs/Iranians/Pakistanis sent their kids. As I wrote about in the post linked above, this was sometimes a source of division in the community because the lines were so clearly drawn.
I just love what I am seeing this year: parents of all nationalities sending their kids to this one school. I don't know if the school, when its founding principles were being drawn up, consciously recognized what a need there was for an institution of learning that would welcome all nationalities, but that is the niche it is filling. And I am so happy to be a part of it.