come out as trans to students?

[didianebedeau.livejournal.com]

I have a question regarding coming out in a very small work environment. The situation is this:

I’m FTM trans-identified and plan to start hormones sometime within the next few months. My job circumstances are a little different than some, in that I’m not working in close contact with a boss or co-workers. I teach music at 2 small studios and have very little interaction with the store owners and co-workers—I say hello when I come in, pay a studio fee before I leave, and that’s about it.

I currently pass *none* and suspect it will take several months on hormones before I even reach the grey area. At this point, how others address me is a non-issue—I am keeping my first name, which is unisex, and I really don’t care what pronouns they use.
Given both the non-passing and the limited interaction with others at the studio, I’ve debated whether to say anything at all.

However, my contact with students—about half of whom are young children—*is* close, and at some point, the physical changes such as voice drop will be obvious and questions are bound to come up. To speak to each student in advance seems to be going overboard, but to say nothing at all could lead to an awkward, confrontational situation later on.

I want to take whatever precautions I can to make this go as smoothly as possible, but I also don’t want to create an unnecessarily awkward, uncomfortable environment for the students.

Any suggestions are appreciated.