American School System

***Every region, state, city, and school has the potential to be different. This is merely an example of what a High School could offer in the United States. Numbers of schools and students are based upon the statistics of Topeka, Kansas (pop. about 130,000) public schools.***

Kindergarten: generally included in elementary school. Ages 4-6

Elementary School: grades 1- 5. Ages 6-11 (600 students/18 schools)

Middle School: grades 6-8. Ages 11-14 (500 students/6 schools) 

High School: grades 9-12. Ages 14-18 (2,000 students/3 schools)

There are four ‘grades’ in High School. Each grade has a name: Freshman (9th grade), Sophomore (10th grade), Junior (11th grade), Senior (12th grade).

• There are two semesters for each school year. 
• One unit represents a class in which takes two semesters to complete.
• Some classes consist of 1/2 unit and only take one semester to complete.

The following is a list of required classes each student must pass in order to graduate:

Four units in English and one in language arts. 

Potential languages offered: Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese, ASL, and Italian. Languages offered can depend on the region of the United States. Latin is rarely offered. 

Three units of social studies, which must include one unit U.S. History and 1/2 unit of U.S. Government. The U.S. Constitution and State history and government are generally expected to be covered. Other examples of ‘social studies’ include: world history, geography, economics, etc. 

Two science units, one must be a lab course. Science classes include: biology, human anatomy, chemistry, and physics.

Two mathematics units. These classes could include algebra, geometry, calculus, etc.

One physical education (P.E.) unit 

Nine elective units. 

Elective units are classes that a student can choose by themselves, often with the help of a teacher or academic counsellor. Many of these types of classes consist of 1/2 unit. Here are some examples of elective units.

Music: marching band, concert band, jazz band, choir, etc. 

Art: drawing, painting, ceramics, printing, jewelry design, etc. 

Hand-On: auto-mechanics, wood shop (carpentry), metal shop (metals), further P.E. classes, etc.

Failing and Succeeding

Student A Example: Student A is a new High School student this year and loves math. Student A either takes an entrance exam for math or has great grades to show from elementary school. Student A is so good at math that s(he) is already at a Sophomore level upon entrance. Student A definitely wants to use two of his/her electives so that s(he) can continue building his/her math skills all four years. Here are the classes that the school generally offers to students that take math all four years:

Algebra

Geometry

Either Advanced Algebra or Geometry

Calculus I

However, student A is so advanced that his/her schedule will look like this for four years:

Advanced Algebra

Advanced Geometry

Calculus I... and then what?

A lot of High Schools will have a partner university for advanced students like student A. In student A’s fourth year of High School, s(he) will take a university level math course and upon completion will earn both High School AND University credit. 

Student D Example: Student D is not very good at English. S(he) enrolls in Freshman English for the first year of High School. Student D does not do very well in English and as a result, student D fails Freshman English. Student D decides to go to summer school to try Freshman English again. Student D is still having trouble and eventually fails the summer course as well. What happens now? 

Student D did well in all other areas of school and passed all other classes the previous year. Student D will be allowed to move along with the other classes and will take Freshman English again. Student D will more than likely have to forfeit one of his/her electives by the time Senior year comes around due to this. 

Essentially, electives award students that are doing well in school and helps students that are not doing so well to catch up and stay in school. 

Grades and GPA

GPA stands for Grade Point Average. Students are given grade points based upon the grades that they get. Some schools use a +/- system and some use strictly the A, B, C, D, F system. Here are the values for each grade:

A = 4 points

B = 3 points 

C = 2 points

D = 1 point

F = 0 points

Here’s a generic semester GPA:

Math: A (4 pts.)

Science: A (4 pts.)

English: C (2 pts.)

German: B (3 pts.)

P.E.: B (2 pts.)

Concert Band: A (4 pts.)

Auto-mechanics: B (3 pts.)

Total points = 21/7 classes = GPA of 3.0

All semester GPAs for all four years are taken into account when figuring a graduation GPA. The value of this GPA can determine if a student can get into certain universities or apply for scholarships at universities. 

Notes on American High Schools:

* Teachers have their own classrooms and their students have to move around to them.

• Each semester begins with ‘syllabus day’. This is when the teacher discusses all of the requirements and expectations the students are supposed to fulfill. This paper is handed out to each student and shows the percentage breakdown of their tasks. Ex: percentage of the final grade based upon homework, quizzes, mid-term exams, final exam, etc. The entire first class period is not always solely spent on reviewing the syllabus for each individual class. 
• Lunch is generally eaten in the school, but some schools allow “upper class-men” (Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors) to go elsewhere for lunch.
• School hours are roughly from 8:00 A.M. until 3 P.M., Monday to Friday.