High school or univeristy?

On this particular morning we told the kids we were taking them to a high school so some Spanish students could practice Spanish with them and then we were going to the University of TN to tour it and Neyland Stadium. We went into the library of Hardin Valley Academy (a high school) and talked with the Spanish students and ate lunch with them and then danced Sevillanas for them. At some point during all of that one some of the kids asked me, "When are we going to the high school?" The school and the library were so amazing that they thought they were at a university!
Schools are just very different here. One of the teachers, after seeing 2 schools, asked me what I must have thought the first time I walked into their school. I was polite and just said that it was different. He asked me to be honest so I told him, "It looks like a jail." He laughed and agreed. Seriously, their school is so dang depressing...GREY and WHITE with bars all around the outside. If it had razor wire it would like like the state pen!