Comment by abalashov

For reasons better addressed in PG's timeless "Nerds" article (http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html) better than in most other places, I don't think many children, least of all intelligent children, really "fit" into the box of public school.

But that's part of the point, as I see it. Lots of modern institutions are a bit unnatural and require some contortion for humans to squeeze themselves into. Public school is valuable in teaching that, or at least it was to me and many other people I know, as we reflect upon it years later.