My across-the-street neighbor, Ms. Hitchcock, ran a preschool in her basement. It was called "The Musical Kindergarten," and went from 9-12 noon. I attended for two years.
Elementary School
I attended Decatur Elementary, in the Seattle Public Schools from K-3. It was within walking distance from my house, and I was placed in the "Horizon" program after 1st grade. Entrance to the Horizon program was based on scores on a standardized test. I loved school for K-2, but did not enjoy my 3rd grade class as much; it was a combined 2nd-3rd grade class, and I did not feel challenged. 
After Decatur, I was bussed to Leschi Elementary for grades 4-5. Leschi was a 30-minute ride from my home, in a predominantly African-American part of Seattle, and I was bussed there as a part of a district-wide program that sought to integrate schools by race. Seattle's efforts to integrate its schools were the subject of a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court Case. In my case, there was only one African-American student in any of my Horizon classes, so the level of true integration achieved by busing was questionable. Ms. Raymer, my 4th grade teacher had us read and Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist. Although I imagine she may have killed half of my classmates interest in reading, I was in the other half that benefited from the challenge. I tested at a 12th grade reading level at the end of 4th grade.
Middle School
In sixth grade, I lived in Norwich, England, where my father was doing a sabbatical. For me, this worked out quite well, as 6th form is the last grade of elementary school in England. I was able to be in the oldest (and thus, coolest) grade two years in a row. I also towered over everyone, and had 9 girlfriends. Interestingly, it seemed to be more acceptable in England for teachers to berate their students publicly. I particularly remember Mr. Dignum lambasting one of my peers for being an "imbecile."
In 7th and 8th grade, I returned to the Seattle Public Schools to attend Nathan Eckstein Middle School. Somehow the district temporarily lost my records, and actually insisted for some time that I had never been a student at any district school. Fortunately, they figured out what was going on before too long. Eckstein was a massive middle school of 1,300 students that drew primarily from affluent neighborhoods. Again, students were bussed to Leschi to try to balance racial demographics. At Eckstein my Horizon classes were slightly more diverse, although still mostly White and Asian-American. I was aware of affluent peers being involved with alcohol, drugs, and sex. There were also several girls at the school who became pregnant. In another example of truth being stranger than fiction, my 7th grade science teacher's name was Richard Bone. I had a great Social Studies teacher in 8th grade, Mr. Fabian, who was an early teaching role model.
High School
I attended 1,100 student Nathan Hale High School, which at the time was a school with a reputation problem. The common joke was some sort of play on words that took advantage of "Hale" sounding much like "hell." A great deal of marijuana was sold at the school. Some students at the school were involved with gangs, although gang drama was not typically present during the school day. I never felt personally in danger at my school. In fact, the school had been improving for several years, but school reputations can be hard to change. Math and science instruction was, however, generally poor. Recent test scores indicate blahblah. My English and History classes were generally good, although my relationships with my History teachers were always complicated by their past histories with my older brother. He was an arch-conservative in high school, mainly to be contrary, and I resented the fact that the teachers often seemed wary of me at the beginning of the school year.The school's racial composition at the time was approximately 35% Asian-American, 30% White, 30% African-American, and 5% Hispanic. "Horizon" gave way to "Honors," but the racial demographics remained the same; the school was internally segregated between a smaller population of primarily Asian-American and White students from middle and upper-middle class families, and the larger group of students taking regular classes. The single "Asian-American" demographic belied the diversity present within that category. We had first, second, third, and fourth generation Asian-American students from places as different as Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and India. Some students came from families that had voluntarily migrated to the U.S., while others were refugees.
In high school, however, I had more occasion to interact outside my "Honors" bubble as a result of my participation on school sports teams. I played football, basketball, and baseball. This was the first time I remember questioning the racial composition of my classes. Many of my non-honors teammates seemed like pretty smart guys. So why weren't they in my honors classes?
