THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995              TAG: 9512290280
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 
SERIES: 1995: YEAR IN REVIEW 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   49 lines

4 SCHOOLS TRY UNIFORMS FOR STUDENTS

Ask any parent about getting the children ready for school and their thoughts no doubt turn to the unceasing negotiations for the right clothes to make junior feel hip and accepted.

To be sure, there are countless parents who won't put up with these childish problems and select the clothes once and end the discussion right there. But untold other families wrestle each year with the problem, to say nothing of the creeping influence of gang culture and its insistence on conformity of a different sort.

These annual rites took a slight but significant blow this year when four Virginia Beach schools instituted voluntary school uniform policies after the Allen administration in Richmond backed a change in the law that allows districts to set the policy.

Seatack and Windsor Woods elementaries selected traditional uniforms - pleated jumpers and Peter Pan collars for girls and white shirts and navy blue slacks for boys. Thalia and Strawbridge elementaries opted for a more casual, unisex look with navy blue bottoms matched with solid polo shirts or turtlenecks.

Uniforms will be worn four days a week at these schools, while Friday will be designated as spirit day when students can wear their school colors.

Interviews with some parents found wide support for the policy while teachers also embraced the move as a means to focus the children's attention on learning and away from socializing.

``Whether we admit it or not, we all make judgments about people based on appearances - teachers included,'' said Caryl Felty, Thalia principal. ``That means some kids have to work harder from the start.

``We hope uniforms will undo a part of that for the benefit of the kids,'' Felty said.

- Tom Holden ILLUSTRATION: Clara Holman, 9, left; C.J. Holman, 6; and Lindsey Holman, 7,

try on their new school uniforms during a July shopping trip to J.C.

Penney.

Photo by

GARY C. KNAPP

KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH SCHOOLS UNIFORMS by CNB