Well, I went to a private school until I finished the first semester of tenth grade, then I went into another private school to finish the 10th grade. After that, I went into a public school where you needed to test in, I think those are called magnet schools? Then after that, I finished my senior year at a military boarding school. So yeah, I kinda went to a different school every year of my high school career
so I can kinda speak to each of these in some way
Honestly, I liked the public school the best, but each school had it's ups and downs.
Private school, it had a semi loose uniform, and had some pretty good, and expensive equipment. Definitely a better environment coming from an assets standpoint, and a smaller class made teaching a lot more focused. However, the kids there had one mindset essentially. There was little room for those who thought differently. Those who did were kinda exiled from from the already limited cliques. Plus, at least 70% of the student body were way above middle class, so there was a lot of snobbish and entitled characters that the teacher couldn't really stop, cause parents. Also, the parents were a lot more involved in school business, so.... for us scholarship kids, we were, for the most part, pushed to perform better. The things that separated people here were the amount of wealth they had and how well they could socialize.
Public school, very competitive and open minded. There was a lot more opportunities that stemmed outwards. (This school had like, close to 100 clubs, different job experience programs, and was a lot more diverse.
1) The courses here also promoted open-mindedness and tearing down prejudice. Which is why the school was named "School Without Walls" I guess.)
2) There were also some pretty motivated kids here. Like, one sophomore had said in their introduction that they wanted to become the prime minister of Candada. I almost laughed, but then they proceeded to plant 100 trees, become the student body president, (yes as a new sophmore, our school opened it up to whoever), start a protest when the principle was "laid off" for a pretty unfair reason, and lead a few other events. So yeah.... they're just uber motivated.
3) Other than the select few that are that motivated, it was the same as other's experiences.
4) There were definitely a lot more teachers who cared for the students there. I never really liked English as a subject, but my language and composition teacher made me love it.
5) The things that separated people here were mainly interests, but the lines were really well respected for the most part.
Aaaanddd Military school, yeah. I would say that it was a very, very different experience. I guess to sum it up, sports were glorified, guns were a huge topic as well, and kids were generally more..... (direct/aggressive?) In their approach to things, except for hiding contraband.
1) Literally, almost everything that gave pleasure was contraband. Phones, computers, recreational substances, etc. So a bunch of kids essentially took it as a challenge to sneak some things in. (Me and my roomate almost got in big trouble cause they found recreational substances behind our mirror. The saving grace was that they were all expired, and our reputations were good enough.
)
2) A lot more fights broke out. Literally, there were at least 13 full on fights that I have personally witnessed, (full on as in blood, stiches, and maybe hospital.) maybe more if you count the ones in the rumors. Essentially, a lot of big egos butted, cause this was also a type of "reform" school.
3) The school also had a student "government" system and promoted leadership by taking a hands-off approach and letting the higher-ranking kids lead. So yeah... Me and my 118 lb self had to try and stop some fights cause I didn't want to go to the commandant (the principle essentially) and say that I didn't step in, as a leader, and lose rank, which was a significant loss, cause it meant that you get a lot more privileges taken away. (Higher rank gets your devices back, a better room with a bathroom in it, late nights, town pass, etc)
4) Also, for the previous reason, some kids were "rank hungry" and would do anything to get a higher rank/position, so there were a few opportunists and sycophants, which meant that the school had a good information system, if you know what I mean.
5) I also hated uniforms. They were all stiff and scratchy, and you had to put all these unnecessary ornaments, and we literally had to go to class in dress shoes. Yes, dress shoes. and the school expected boys to keep them shiny all the time.
6) Everything was scheduled and blocked out, and a lot stricter. Teachers were almost always retired military personal, or part of the state militia, so there was a lot of "tough love" going around.
7) However, there was a lot of comradery despite all of the problems that occurred, and you'll definitely find some good buddies to hang around, (after you get all your problems out in a fight, it seems
). I, for one, liked it more than I thought it would, and it's definitely a big confidence booster. It's where I met my best friend as well.
8) The things here that separated people were your performance and behavior. (Good performance and behavior meant higher ranks, and you were not the reason the corp had to "drop and do 24" cause you said something stupid during morning formation, LOL.)