Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

I went to public schools, which I am thankful for. Had I gone to a Parochial school I would surely have a Number instead of a last name.I had no problems with authority, but I was only struck once by a teacher in 7th grade, in a reflex action I struck back, trip to the Principal's office, Next day Mom had to take me to school, I had to see the school quack, clean bill of health only missed one day of school, no more problems.
While in fourth grade a playmate of mine at a parohical school was hit up side her head with a ruler for crying in class , three days later she was dead, we later found out she had had an inner ear infection, which ruptured when she was hit. That was around 1952/53.
From that day forward I had no respect for the Parochial Schools, still don't!!!

bamfordr Loc: Campbell CA

Did you have to use the wrap-around-the-top method of writing so you could keep your paper slanted to the left and wouldn’t drag your hand through the fresh ink?

HamB

Yes, very awkward writing on a tablet....

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

My start was a little different in rural WV. I went to a one room school with one teacher and 7 grades my first 2 years. There was only one or two kids per grade and there was a routine where the teacher would give you an assignment and when you completed it, you could go outside and play until it was your classes time for more instruction. In the 3rd grade they took us to a new school and we rode a bus and life seemed so much more modern. I think my first 2 years was only chasing girls at recess and rough housing with the other boys and the whole world was a play ground!

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

I hope you meant corporal punishment, otherwise class sizes would have diminished rapidly...!

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I was in Catholic elementary school during the same time period. The boys wore a white shirt and a blue necktie and the girls wore a blue uniform. What surprised me most in this photo was that the teacher appears to be a lay person as opposed to a nun. St. Paul’s didn’t have lay teachers for another ten years.

sgt hop Loc: baltimore md,now in salisbury md

me too...had a nun in the eight grade that used to punch the boys....she was vicious....feel same about the church also....this was in 1948....

gleneric Loc: Calgary, Alberta

I don't have any pics of my old classrooms but I don't recall them being anything unusual or special. I did, however, uncover some old photos of my mom in two classroom settings.

The first one ("Class of 49") photo was very badly torn/cracked/scratched with lots of dust/water spots ... it needed a lot of TLC, including many hours of retouching. She was born in 1939 so would have been 10 yrs old (+/-) in this picture.

The other one was simply labelled "Grade 8" so maybe early teens (early 1950s). It too had a good helping of cracks and scratches but a lot less work was needed in that regard. Biggest issue on this one was/is a light area on the left side ... I can't tell if it was there from when it was taken, or when printed, or if it faded over time. Whatever the origin, I did not feel qualified to try and fix that aspect of it.

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2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Started kindergarten in 1948 and went to public schools all my life. I never saw a teacher raise a hand to a pupil because we were made to understand by our parents that the teachers were in total charge once we walk through the school doors. We had detentions and most of the time it was the whole class because no one would rat out who the culprit really was. One teacher could control a class of 40 pupils with no need for aids because we'd had respect for our elders drilled into us at home and you did not, under any circumstance, talk back to your parents or teachers. Parents today think that all they have to do is pop out babies and call themselves parents while they go off to work and employ nannies or childcare to raise their children. Granted, some single parents have no choice but to work and use whatever resources available for child care. It is rare today to find a kid who is courteous and respectful of anyone, including their parents.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes, of course I remember elementary school. I was in Greensboro, NC, 1961-'67, 1-6. It was nothing like what you endured in parochial schools.

First Grade:

My earliest recollections were of being separated into three reading groups — cardinals, redbirds, and bluejays. Only we cardinals could read well enough to recite... The redbirds were slower, and the bluejays didn't wrap their heads around reading that year. I remember the "first grade flasher" incident... I remember the kid who threw rocks at me during kickball getting sent to the principal's office to meet her mother. I remember the inherently cruel competitiveness of the playground. I remember the horrible smell of over-cooked cabbage, collard greens, and broccoli wafting down the hall from the lunchroom. I remember diving under desks to practice "duck and cover" in the event of a nuclear attack. I remember the first Mercury space launch.

Second Grade:

I had a young, strict teacher who might as well have been a Nazi. She could have been a nun. We couldn't sneeze without getting called out for it.

I was always a tech nerd, and played around with battery-powered electric motors. I'd discovered that I could put a pen eraser on a small motor and use it to erase graffiti off of the desks. Without thinking, I did that one morning before class. My Mom had to come get me and have a conference! She took my side, as I was only trying to help. The teacher did not like that. I can't remember anything else from second grade but how cruel the b*tch was.

Third Grade:

Mrs. Harrison was the kindest and wisest lady in the school. Against Federal law guaranteeing separation of church and State, she read Bible verses to us each morning, but no one complained, since we were in the Bible Belt. She accommodated the two Jews in the class by restricting the scriptures to the Old Testament... She became a family friend. I narrated the Third Grade play that year. My central Illinois "neutral" Mid-Western accent and ability to read coherently with expression got me the job, and I see that as the start of my interests in drama and radio broadcasting.

That was the year we all lined up in the cafeteria to get the oral polio vaccine. EVERYONE got it. No one got sick from it. They put drops on a sugar cube and let us eat that. The next day, we saw a dental hygiene movie...

Fourth Grade:

They tapped the smartest of us for an accelerated learning class. It was the first of its kind in Greensboro, and they moved about 15 students from another school into ours. It was great to be among peers I could respect... We were all misfits of sorts in our earlier years. The teacher believed in project learning, independent learning paths, group learning, and other non-conventional methods. They worked.

Fifth Grade:

The same class was together with the same teacher. We continued from the previous year. With two months to go, the teacher had to go on leave to deal with family issues. The lady who took her place was another strict disciplinarian who didn't believe in any of the methods we had experienced in previous classes.

Sixth Grade:

We got a male teacher who had a nervous breakdown during the last week of school. We were hellions that year, having been together so long, and having been whiplashed by radically different teaching styles since our first ALP teacher left. He had no concept of how to teach smart sixth graders. But we survived!

That summer, my family moved to SC. We regretted leaving Greensboro. South Carolina in 1967 was very backward, with only about a fourth of the population being able to read and write. I came to appreciate the opportunity we had had for three years... We had the same math textbook in 7th grade that I had in 4th grade in Greensboro!

I'll spare you the rest... It's the story of how I became a yearbook candid photographer as a coping mechanism to deal with environmental stupidity.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Ah yes, except there are so few kids in that classroom.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

I think you might mean ‘corporal’ punishment rather than ‘capital’ punishment, or did they actually execute kids who misbehaved?

Ratskinner Loc: Copalis Beach WA

My friends and I thought the kids experience in the Roman Catholic schools was weird and a bit cruel. We
loved the greater freedom from the overbearing rules and laughed at the knuckle cracking discipline. It was with great surprise when getting to college that we learned how much better equipped these catholic kids were to meet the challenges of higher education. I felt that my learning experience required more than I had been prepared for. I had to almost start all over again. The increase in the work and discipline that the catholic kids were used too was a mystery to me. It was difficult to catch up and continue to get
the grades I expected. As result I wanted a better education situation for my children. For various reasons
it took awhile to put my own kids in a system to accomplish that. All four children did very well in school.
My hat is off to teachers at all levels but especially those allowed by the systems they operate under to
teach hard work, discipline, and manners.

Ratskinner Loc: Copalis Beach WA

I feel I need to add a bit to what I just said about my school experience vs. the experience of others others.
It does not hurt for God to be an integral part of that experience.

jiminnee

Never was in any parochial schools, but we were taught the basics as far as curriculum, kindness, politeness, all proper behavior, & occasional "correction" where necessary. Not quite as strict in high school, but by then we had learned a lot of what was proper decorum. A good time in life to be growing up & attending school. Sure wouldn't trade for what I am hearing about nowadays. I would probably spend a lot of time in the principal's office or whatever "correction" they use now......and I don't think it would necessarily be for improper behavior either.