I went to school in Harlem in the 1960s, first to PS 192, from kindergarten to 3rd grade. A bunch of us took a test for a new program called Intellectually Gifted Children at nearby PS 129, and I went there from grades 4 to 6. We took languages, which were not offered in regular public schools then, and I learned French; I also learned music and studied the violin.
It was a little embarrassing to be bringing home a violin where I lived so I used to time it so that none of our friends would be around when I came home. But one day they got me. They asked me to play it. And the funny thing is, they stood there and said I was good.
When I first got elected to the Supreme Court in 2001, I started out my induction speech by saying that the best decision I ever made was to be born to my parents. I grew up in an educated family; my father was a judge, my mother a public school teacher for 30 years. We used to play educational games such as reciting the capitals of the 50 states or learning and using in a sentence the 10 new words my father gave us at the start of the week. There was a good deal of educational competition with my brother and sister.
The beauty of going to PS 192 and PS 129 was that what I was learning at home was being not only supplemented but enhanced, every day.
One of the things I remember about Ms. Kirshner in 2nd grade is that you didn’t just get “excellent, good, fair or poor” on your report card. She would put down words like “superb,” “extraordinary.” As a young child initially you had no idea what they meant, and she wouldn’t tell you. You had to look them up. When you did, the feeling you got … It made you feel like learning more, like working harder. And most of all it made you feel excited that this was something you wanted to do.
I went to a private high school, Horace Mann, and to be honest I never would’ve gotten there without the base of public school.
We had great teachers in public school. At PS 129, the principal, Martha Froehlick, was a tough woman. Everyone was afraid of her. One day playing punchball, I punched the ball over the fence onto City College campus on Convent Avenue. I climbed over the fence to get it and when I climbed back, Ms. Froehlick caught me. She took me to the office and called my parents. I’m 10 years old, I’m petrified, and she tells me she is issuing a permanent citation, a red card that would always be on my school record.
Fast forward to 1997, when I got a letter saying to come back to PS 129 for an alumni of the year award. Much to my surprise — because I knew she had been retired for years — Ms. Froehlick showed up, and when my name was called, she presented me with the award and graciously told me that she was putting in to have the red card removed from my permanent record.
Those were some of the best days. When I became a judge, my 3rd-grade teacher, Ms. Commack, reached out to me; my teachers say they are proud of me. But not more than I am of them. There’s no way I’d be doing this today without them. I would like to say thank you to the New York City public schools. Without you, we are lost. You always have my support.
— As told to reporter Ellie Spielberg