Somewhere in the Middle

There are two types of schools that would best describe the type of education that I received. One would be the working class school and the  middle class school.  I attended a small private school that was located in the Lawndale area on the West side of Chicago.  Now anyone that is familiar with the Lawndale area can attest that this location is not the absolute worst area, but it definitely doesn't come in comparisons to Hyde Park.  This community had a mixture of social classes.  Most people living in Lawndale were either middle class, living in poverty or a pay check away from being impoverished . As I stated, I attended a private school, so you know my parents along with everyone else's parents  were paying tuition. The tuition was very expensive and with that being said, the majority of my classmates parents were considered to be middle class.  My mother was a school teacher, one of my classmate's mother was a doctor, and some of my other classmates parents were clergymen. The classroom size averaged around 12-15 children, so the teacher was allowed more time & energy to give each student equal amount of attention. We had homework almost every night, most weekends and even during school breaks. I think that it was structured that way simply because my parents were paying for my education. And I think that goes back to the saying, "You get what you pay for".  During that time, the teachers were allowed to give us spankings, so discipline was a major factor .  Not only did I have to worry about my teacher spanking me, but I was even more terrified of what my mom would do to me. Now that I look back, I am glad that I had teachers that were more of a mother figure to me, and they instilled a certain level of fear in me to strive to do better and also do what was necessary in order for me to pass with good grades.