Well, maybe my school back in the 60's was better than most, but I learned a heckuva lot there. I think I was taught the Bohr model back in grammar school, but by high school, we were way beyond that in Physics and Chemistry classes. Never mind that the models have changed further since then. Maybe I just had good teachers.
Your school in the 60s was better than mine in the 80s, which in turn was better than what we're putting kids through now. Good teachers help, but remember the model is how teachers are taught to teach. It took new math a while to phase in because when hey first came up with it none of the teachers had learned it so that's not how they taught, but eventually all of the teachers had learned that's how you're supposed to teach, and shortly after that the high school of our nation lowered the math requirements necessary for a degree.