Source: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

(Newser) – As the Obamas head to Washington, the locals are abuzz about which private school might land first daughters Malia and Sasha. The Quaker school Sidwell Friends, Chelsea Clinton's alma mater, offers a host of big Beltway names, including some Biden grandkids. But many of them are Clintonites. “Imagine the tension on back-to-school night” when the Obamas would see former Hillary strategist Mark Penn, writes Gabriel Sherman for the Atlantic.

The philosophy of Georgetown Day School, Washington's first racially integrated school, matches that of the “liberal Eden” the girls currently attend in Chicago. The Maret School boasts a number of Obama-linked parents. And there’s always the chance they'd make a statement by going for a public school. In any case, Michelle is the decider. “No amount of sway will matter,” says a Maret parent. But one Sidwell parent confesses to passing Michelle a hand-written letter from her daughter to Malia, expressing hope that they'd be classmates.