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"Bakersfield Elementary" is just a made-up proper noun for any specific school.

I've read posts on "in school" or "at school". But those don't seem to help me.

ChatGPT 3.5 says:

No, it's not natural to say "Lily is in Bakersfield Elementary" when you mean she goes to that school. A more natural way to express it would be to say "Lily attends Bakersfield Elementary" or "Lily goes to Bakersfield Elementary."

I get the "go to" and "attend" usage here. I am just curious if "in + a certain school" can mean the same thing.

KillingTime
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Chao ZHANG
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    As a British English speaker, I would say "She is at X School". American usage may vary. – Kate Bunting Oct 01 '23 at 13:25
  • Australian usage is same as British here. Note that "attends" seems quite formal to me, and would not be natural in a casual setting. – Peter Oct 01 '23 at 13:55
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    It's perfectly natural in American English; "goes to" is also natural, but I agree with the other commenters that "attends" seems quite formal, – Peter Shor Oct 01 '23 at 14:31
  • I would prefer "at" also (speaking American English), though "in" is perfectly comprehensible. – alphabet Oct 01 '23 at 15:57
  • It's not clear what you mean by "natural": other options are more common or idiomatic, but nobody's going to look at you like you're a freak if you say "in", it's just that "in" is more commonly used of individual classes, years, sets, groups, etc or "Lily is in elementary school". – Stuart F Oct 01 '23 at 16:02
  • go to a school, attend a school, be in a school. – Lambie Oct 01 '23 at 16:12
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    If there's only one elementary school in town, no need for "Bakersfield". In a context where grammar schools are being discussed, no need for "elementary". – John Lawler Oct 01 '23 at 16:20
  • @alphabet "at" seems more appropriate to refer to where she's located now, i.e. the answer to "Where is Lily?". Unless it's a boarding school, I wouldn't use it to refer to which school she's enrolled in. – Barmar Oct 01 '23 at 16:50
  • @JohnLawler Consider the answer to the question "What school does Lily go to?" Although in that context, the preposition issue may be moot, since someone would likely just answer with the name. – Barmar Oct 01 '23 at 16:52
  • @Barmar But in that case, the answer "Bakersfield Elementary" would be equivalent to "Lily goes to Bakersfield Elementary," with the preposition to. – alphabet Oct 01 '23 at 17:52
  • There is almost always some specialized context for any utterance that it will be comfortable in. That doesn't make it odd or ungrammatical, just rare in context and consequently a mark of differentness, like not using an idiom idiomatically. – John Lawler Oct 01 '23 at 18:50
  • I think, from a BrE point of view, that 'in' is used where no specific instutution is mentioned and 'at' where one is, having said that 'at' can be used without a specification but 'in' cannot be used with one. For instance "She's in primary school", "She's at Bakersfield", "She's in/at school this afternoon" and "She's at Bakersfield this afternoon". – BoldBen Oct 02 '23 at 13:12

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