I'm curious as to what high school is like in the US?
Ok, here it is. I am always far too curious about how life works on the other side of the planet. I've just graduated from a private, girls only high school in Australia, and I realise that high school over here works very differently to the US. For example, at my school we wore uniforms with an incredibly strict dress code; one uniform for summer, and a different one for winter. I already mentioned it was girls only, so our year 12 ball meant we were to invite a male from a different shool, either a private boys' school or a public co-ed school, whichever we chose. There is quite a distinction between private and public schools in Australia; firstly the cost, then the co-curricular opportunities, the fact that private schools are generally single-sex, and the general higher academic standard set by private high schools. This varies, of course and there are good public schools too. Here, we have only one ball, in our final year of school, and it's the big social event of the year. Private schools have many many events ranging from parent/daughter social functions, year-group holidays and dress-up days (since we are in uniform every other day). My particular school had a 1000 seat theatre (large by Australian high school standards) and every year produced a state-of-the-art school production. We only have 150 people per year group (class), with an extremely selective admission process. I am deathly curious to know how high schools are in the US, public and private, both what I have discussed and more. Thanks for your answers in advance :) Our school year has four terms, as fairly common globally. At my school, we had five periods (classes) per day, and you must do 6 subjects (the same subjects) over year 11 and 12. After year 10, the only mandatory subject is English, which you must pass to graduate. All the other classes are electives, and can be Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, a variety of different maths levels. But all subjects vary from school to school, mostly staying the same though. After year 11 however, you have very little flexibility in changing your 5 chosen subjects, and it is very difficult to pick up a subject and learn the material after the commencement of year 11.
Primary & Secondary Education - 4 Answers
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1 :
First of all, I go to public HS, so I don't know that much about private school, but I have some friends that do. HS (High School) is not seperated into Year 9,10,11,12. Year 9 in HS is called your freshman year, Year 10 is your sophomore year, Year 11 is your junior year, and Year 12 is your Senior Year. Also, the school year is divided into 4 marking periods. Here in America, private schools wear uniforms but public schools do not. Each day we have about 11 classes. Some are mandatory (Algebra, English, History, Biology, etc.) but you also choose electives. You have a choice of many different classes you can take to fill up your 11 classes, and you take that class for 1 or more marking periods. We also have gym class, where we play sports and do other physical acticities. Two other major activities in HS in America are Clubs and Sports teams. Both are after school activities. Most HS have basketball, football, baseball soccer, volleyball, track and field, cross country (long distance running), and golf teams. Students are chosen to be on these teams via. tryouts. There are also many clubs, such as the enviromental club, the yearbook committee, and the chess club. Most private schools are strict, but in public schools many bad things go on (drugs, smoking, violence). Good Luck!!!
2 :
ok um. I have only ever attended a public high school so i couldn't tell you how the private schools work. But as far as the Public. There are all kinds of different people coming from different places different cultures and some have been adopted (my best friend for example) but every school is different. In my case it's wonderful. At my school all the teachers are understanding and nice and if you have a problem they will try to help you as much as they can. They go farther than what they get paid for just so we understand everything. We have plenty of dances:). We have homecoming (biggest dance of the year minus prom), then we have a holloween dance, valentine's day dance, back to school dances after we come back from a break, end of the year dance, casual dances. But the biggest dances are homecoming and prom only juniors and seniors can go to prom but everyone in the high school can go to homecoming. We have a big football game against the closest school. and even if we loose like we did this year we have a dance. you get all dressed up and you bring a date and it's wonderful. But in a public school there is more drama then there probably should be lol.. the entire school is basically made out of cliques. and no one wants to become friends with you unless you fit the clique like if you wanna become friends with someone who is in the populars they wont talk to u unless you date someone off the football team or become a cheerleader. its sort of ridiculous but for the most part there is never a dull moment. and its quite the experence like after going to a public school i wouldnt let my parents put me in a private school. its really amazing.
3 :
11 classes? yeah, not necessarily. the official name for years are grade 9, grade 10...grade instead of year. Most schools have a prom, which is either a 11th/12th grade event or and all high school event. If schools have a american football team they usually also have homecoming game and dance. Some schools have more dances that generally correspond with specific holidays. Homecoming often is proceeded by a week of theme days where students dress up to match the theme Most public schools do not have uniforms, though a few do if clothing is causing an in issue (like in Los Angelas one school uses uniforms to cut down on gang violence because different colors of clothing mean you are in a specific gang) Private schools either have strict uniforms or limit clothing to a certain level of niceness. I attended a private christian school (no particular denomination) and our dress code was basically modest collard shirts and pants/skirts no higher than the knee Depending on how well funded a school is they may or may not have a lot of nice stuff like a professional theater. Public schools are co-ed as are most private schools, but there are some single-sex private schools. Public school generally have several hundred students per class, but private schools are much smaller, i had 75 in my graduating class and that is big for a private school. I had eight classes a day, one for each hour of the school day, I think most schools are this way Public schools have a lot of behavior problems, but private schools do to sometimes, private schools just have more ability to expel students and be choosy about who they let in. And of course there are lots of clubs to join like art club and spanish club and others, and most schools offer sports.
4 :
High school in the US is less structured than you are describing. The metropolitan high schools range from quite poor to excellent. One needs 19 credits to graduate (more in some school areas depending on individual states requirements) then there are majors and minors. Majors are English - Math - Science - Social studies - language. Minors are mostly electives in shops - home economics office practices - typing - elective foreign languages - bookkeeping - art - music (choir and band - orchestra). Many of the metropolitan areas (New York City - Los Angeles - Chicago - Houston - Boston etc) have schools where competitive testing is used for selecting students. Larger high schools have many clubs open to membership for all of the students depending on their interests. The major sports are football, basketball, baseball, track and field, vollleyball (girls). Smaller cities have only one high school, and almost all of the students' school year activities are centered around it. The school year is 9 months with two semesters, and final tests follow each semester. Many schools have what are called AP classes which are Advanced Placement for the really bright students who usually go on to the university. Some schools have programs called "Shadowing" where the students can follow a professional in medicine - law - business etc. In the metro areas a large percentage of the students don't complete high school. Every state has certain tests that students must pass before they get a diploma. Some students get a certificate of attendence because they can't pass the tests for a diploma. Those that drop out of school often take a GED test or General Education Development which gives them a chance for a job that only a dipolma would get one in to certain jobs.
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