TheApple

 It was all parochial through high school for me - Mt. Alvernia Academy (Franciscan nuns k - 8) and Boston College High School (Jesuit priests.)

I attended ten schools during my pre-college years.  Why so many?  Because my father was a pipeline-construction engineer, and for much of my childhood my family had to move every time he was assigned to work on another project. 

I don't remember the name of the school where I went to nursery school, as pre-K was called then..  However, seeing as it was in Caracas, Venezuela during---well, never mind which decade, it must have been a private school.  The rest of my schools are as follows:

Kindergarten and part of grade 1:  Campo Alegro School, Caracas, Venezuela---private

Part of grade 1:  Dwight Elementary School, Russellville, AR---public

Part of grade 1 (a real year of confusion for me!) and all of grade 2:  Zuni Elementary School, Albuquerque NM---public

Grade 3:  MacDonald Elementary School, Opportunity, WA (where we learned to cook hamburgers---just kidding!)---public

Grades 4 and 5:  Mary E. Silveira Elementary School, Marinwood/San Rafael CA---public

Grade 6:  The American School of The Hague, The Hague, The Netherlands---private

Grade 7:  The International School of The Hague, The Hague, The Netherlands---private

Grades 8 and 9:  Gardner Junior High School, Russellville AR---public

Grades 10, 11, and 12:  Russellville High School, Russellville AR---public

As you can see, whenever my family lived in the US, and public schools were available, I went to them.  When we lived overseas in countries where English wasn't the native language, I went to private schools.

Which type of schools did the better job?  I can't tell by my experience.  I was looking at them simply through the eyes of a student.

public school all the way.

Went to parochial schools until 12th grade when we moved. I learned nothing my entire senior year that I hadn't already been taught in years previous.

I currently teach in the public schools in my area and I have to say that while this article sings praises about the public school systems, the truth of the matter is that our public schools are FAILING across the nation. This is just another sad example of how our media is so biased and "politically correct".

Wow, some people sure have moved a lot!  I went to public K, public elementary, and a public high school that was grades 7 - 12.  Three schools, public all the way.  And yet I did not meet a Jewish person until college. Hmmm.

Well let me try to one up John. I went to schools that were racially mixed but my mother really did not raise us to see color so it wasn't until 3rd grade at the primarily white private school that I realized I was different. I was black! What a shock!

I remember the minute the difference hit me. We were all lined up to take pictures and we were given little black fine tooth combs in order to get ready. Of course I didn't have access to perm back then and there was no way that fine tooth comb could do anything for me. So I just held it. One little girl asked me why I didn't comb my hair but I just shrugged my shoulders. It didn't matter anyways because back then, the photographer didn't make special adjustments for dark skinned folks...I was always just a black speck in the year book. Anyways, I thought I'm always the last to know everything!