A descriptive study correlated depression in children with parental perceptions and with teacher report card ratings of school achievement and adjustment. Two hundred and twenty children, age six-to-12 years, and parents of approximately half the sample, were interviewed using the Children's Depression Rating Scale (CDRS). Symptoms of depression were discovered in 10% of the children. Sixty-eight percent of parents were unaware of their child's depression. Parents were most aware of sleeping problems, physical complaints, and academic achievement and least aware of social withdrawal, tiredness, depressed feelings, and suicidal ideations. Most depressed students achieved at grade level in reading and math, but they received lower grades for effort than nondepressed students. Depression was associated significantly with inability to work and play, both alone and in a group.