Chelsea Clinton went to her new school Monday for the first time since the choice of the pricey private school drew criticism to her education-conscious father.
Chelsea didn't use the main entrance to Sidwell Friends school. A White House aide told a small group of reporters outside the school that Chelsea had already arrived.White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers had said Sunday she didn't know whether President Clinton or Hillary Rodham Clinton would accompany Chelsea, 12, to her first day of classes.
"The last conversation I had with them they sort of lamented the fact that junior high school students don't want their parents to drive them to school," Myers said. "It's bad enough to have your parents drive you to school, but it's worse when your dad travels with sirens blaring."
Clinton or his wife frequently took Chelsea to her public school in Arkansas. Chelsea, who turns 13 next month, was an eighth-grader at Mann Junior High, a magnet school with more black students than whites.
Clinton and his wife chose Sidwell with input from their daughter, the president has said. The choice of the exclusive northwest Washington school drew criticism to the Clintons from several quarters, including former President Carter, whose daughter attended Washington public schools while he lived in the White House.
"I did what I thought was best for my daughter. I couldn't make (the decision) for any other American, not a former president or all the teachers I care so much about or anybody else. We had to make the decision just for our daughter," Clinton said recently.
The former Arkansas governor made education the cornerstone of his tenure.