Parents of a child who has Down syndrome often feel that the school years are--to paraphrase Charles Dickens' famous words--"the best of times, the worst of times." They are the best of times because mothers and fathers can count on having 12-15 years of legally mandated, familiar, continuous, programming for their son or daughter. These same years, however, also can be the worst of times. The secondary schooling years in particular are those during which intellectually demanding tasks and peer pressure magnify the presence of the child's special needs (and perhaps vulnerability). This article presents several interviews with parents revealing a few of their challenges of the schooling years. Based on the interviews, two recurring quandaries emerge from parents' comments: (1) Should they argue for a strong and continuing academic emphasis?; and (2) Should they seek a lot of mainstreaming or a little of it, should they seek out its most challenging or least challenging forms? This article also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these two alternatives. (Contains 21 notes.)