This research investigated the development of interracial interaction patterns among peers in a new open enrollment desegregated middle school. The student interaction analysis conducted for the study attempted to answer the following questions: Is race a significant determinant of the amount of student interaction? Does grade level or sex influence the amount of interracial interaction which occurs? How does sex compare to race as a grouping criterion within the three grade levels studied? Finally, does the amount of interaction between black and white students increase over time? Seating patterns in the cafeteria were observed during the school's first year of operation. Analysis of these patterns for racial aggregation suggested that race was an important grouping criterion for students who have chosen a desegregated school. In the sixth and seventh grades, sex was more important than grouping. Girls showed more racial aggregation than boys. Racial aggregation decreased over time in the sixth and seventh grades but increased in the eighth where there was a predominately white accelerated academic track and a predominately black regular track. (Author/JP)