Obama daughters prepare for new school

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- School officials say they will do what they can to help U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's daughters fit in at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington.

There will intense media pressure on Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, as they start next week at the renowned Quaker school where the children of U.S. presidents have attended classes since President Theodore Roosevelt. School officials say they're experts at trying to help such famous youngsters fit in, the Washington publication Politico reported Saturday.

Ellis Turner, associate head of school at Sidwell, told the publication that "every student has an opportunity to feel comfortable" at Sidwell, with an added bonus that Malia and Sasha already have friends there -- grandchildren of Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Former classmates of Chelsea Clinton, who started at Sidwell when she was 12, said there initially was pressure on her by classmates who competed to be her friend, but that faded after awhile.

"In the beginning, tons of people wanted to be her friend and they were in it for the wrong reasons so she had a little bit of distance in the beginning because of that," an unnamed former Clinton classmate said.