Obama’s daughters begin new school in DC

PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama’s two daughters have checked into their new school in Washington.

Sasha and Malia Obama went back to school yesterday like many other children — with a hug and a kiss from their parents. But not many other children hit a new campus with their own Secret Service men.

The girls — aged 7 and 10 — began their new lives as students in Washington, DC, on separate campuses at the private Sidwell Friends School, the same Quaker academy where Chelsea Clinton studied.

Current tuition fees there are said to be $28,442 (€20,800) for Sasha’s elementary school, and $29,442 for Malia’s middle school.

Sidwell Friends School has been teaching presidents’ children dating back to Teddy Roosevelt.

Chelsea Clinton managed to have a relatively normal life at the prestigious Quaker school — a big selling point for self-described “mom-in-chief” Michelle Obama — but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a heady experience for the girls, if Chelsea’s experience is any guide.

On Chelsea Clinton’s first day, the press camped outside the school — yet missed it when the 12-year-old slipped in with her mother amid heavy security. The media focus has been even more intense for Obama’s daughters, who already are being called role models for a generation of young black girls.

Yet, at Sidwell, former students said, the girls won’t be treated like little princesses. The school will try, as it did with Clinton before them, to help them simply fit in, along with the children of well-connected Washingtonians.

Ellis Turner, associate head of school at Sidwell, said that “every student has an opportunity to feel comfortable” at Sidwell. An added bonus for the girls is that they already have friends there — Vice President-elect Joe Biden has grandchildren at the school.

Michelle Obama and her daughters arrived in Washington on Saturday after a holiday in Hawaii, while the president-elect arrived late last night. They are staying at the Hay-Adams hotel in suites that can cost as much as $6,000 a night. On January 15 they will move to Blair House, which is usually reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries, before taking over the White House after the inauguration on January 20.