Tell me about American high school

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi,
I live in the UK. My dad's just been offered a job in the US, the company has several offices (in TX, CA & MA) so I'm not sure where we'd be going. He hasn't decided whether to accept it yet, but I thought I'd ask about your schools anyway.</p>

<p>I would be going into 11th grade & I have so many questions!
How long are your school days? What are school lunches like? How many electives do you get? How many school holidays (vacations?) do you get? What are honors & AP classes? How are new students normally treated? And anything else... sorry, I don't have a clue</p>

2

<p>I’m just gonna speak based on my experiences (east coast state, public school). These really vary county to county.</p>

<p>My first period begins at 7:25 am. The last class ends at 2:10. I have 7 classes that are around 45 minutes, and a 40 minute lunch in the middle of the day. At my school no one used the cafeteria; instead they just sit in the hallways and eat. I never even get to have lunch with my friends since clubs meet at lunch, and teachers are available for extra help or whatever. Some schools have open lunch (meaning you can drive out to eat and come back if you have a car), but my school sadly doesn’t allow that. Lots of seniors especially drive to school where I am, so that’s awesome.</p>

<p>Schedules are very different from school to school. Another school near me had block scheduling, which means you have certain classes on certain days (so less classes a day), but they’re much longer.</p>

<p>In terms of courses, I’m in the IB program. Basically the most rigorous classes to take in high school are IB or AP. Only some schools offer an IB program, so you can look more into that depending on where you go. Electives vary depending on your course rigor.</p>

<p>We have breaks (or holidays) for summer from early June to late August, for Thanksgiving [usually a much shorter break that’s basically like a four day weekend, and mine is ending right now :(]. There are random days off here and there, especially for snow (we had a 2 week break last year and the school year had to be extended by a few days). Anyway, then there’s winter break (2 weeks around Christmas) and Spring break (a week around Easter).</p>

<p>At my school new students usually shadow another student for a day to get a feel for the school and the schedule. New kids are treated very nicely, and it’s easy to make friends if you’re sociable. Aside from the anxiety of starting school in a new country, I hope you’ll like it here very much!</p>

3

<p>It varies from state to state, but in Georgia it’s about from 7:45 am to 2:45 pm (7 hrs) ; the food ranges from stale to resturant-like, depending on the school budget; we have a relatively short 2 month summer but many breaks, like fall break and winter break in addition to national holidays; we get 3 electives; honors and AP classes are more rigorous and closer to an international/national curriculum than the school’s conventional classes (take them if you can) ; and usually they’re pretty friendly but you’ve gotta be smart and watch your back because no one else will. </p>

4

<p>All great questions. I hosted several exchange students so I can tell you what they usually consider different here, and try to answer your questions.</p>

<p>In mainland Europe (don’t know about UK) it is common for students to go to different levels of high school based on their abilities and plans to go to university or not. In the US, students typically attend a local school that has students of all ability levels and with some planning to go to university and some not. The honors and AP courses are for students who plan to go to university and want more of a challenge. AP classes are considered university level courses that include a national standardied test at the end, and for which you can get credit when you do start university, so you are starting ahead and get your bachelor’s degree faster. If you apply to competitive high-ranked universities, they will expect you to have taken the hardest curriculum available at your school, which means as many honors and AP classes as possible.</p>

<p>Other differences are that you will change classrooms for every subject. Teachers each stay in their own classroom all day, and students change classrooms and come to them. In many countries it is the other way around.</p>

<p>Lunches vary depending on the school, but you usually only have a very short time to eat – it can be less than 15 minutes after you are done standing in line in the cafeteria. Many students bring their own lunch from home.</p>

<p>Your junior year you would typically have five classes in core subjects (math, English, history, science, and foreign language) and two electives. Some universities want to see that you have taken classes in those core subjects every year for four years of high school. Senior year can vary. Often there won’t be a lot of courses left that are required for you to graduate from high school. Some students may fill their day with fun electives, and others may take some college classes by dual enrollment at a local university. Keep in mind though that requirements to graduate from high school and requirements to get into a top university can vary, so I recommend taking high level courses in the core subjects your senior year as well, unless you choose to dual enroll.</p>

<p>Some high schools are starting to offer classes online as an alternative to taking them in person at the school, but then you miss out on meeting people.</p>

<p>Student clubs usually meet before or after school. That can be a problem if you need to ride the school bus. You can get more involved in school with clubs if you can get there early or stay late for meetings.</p>

<p>Sports teams are typically competitive and perfomed at a high level – same for cheerleading and band. </p>

<p>Teachers usually have times before or after school where they are available to answer questions and help explain anything not grasped in class.</p>

<p>Classes in the US, especially AP classes and many honors classes, typically have lots of homework that all counts toward your grade. Your teacher will give you a syllabus that says exactly what will count what percentage of your grade. An example would be final exam may count 20 percent, classwork 30 percent, homework 40 percent and projects 10 percent. That breakdown will vary from school to school and class to class. </p>

<p>School day is typically from around 8:30 to 3:30.</p>

<p>There is no standardized curriculum or school hours or graduation requirements in the US. It varies across states, counties and schools.</p>

<p>Holidays include usually three weeks in winter and one week in the spring and a day off here and there, then about 10 weeks off in the summer. Dates of all these holidays vary by school.</p>

<p>Depending on your school and its size ( a high school can be from about 1,000 students up to 4,000 students typically) and location (big city or small town), you may get lots of attention or no attention as a new student. However, most Americans love all UK accents, so once you start talking that will get attention. :)</p>

5

<p>I live in southern California, school starts at 7:30 and ends at 2:30, so exactly 7 hours.</p>

<p>School lunch is pretty good at my school, they have different options, they have the full lunch which comes with an entree and juice , milk, fruit, and sometimes a bag of chips. They also have the “a la carte” type lunch (I think that’s what it’s called) where you buy each lunch item individually. It seems that many people at my school don’t even eat lunch, I guess it’s “uncool”.</p>

<p>This varies depending on the school, but my school has 6 periods, each about 50 minutes, not including lunch. Lunch is 30 minutes, break is 8 minutes and it comes after 2nd period. We also have an intervention period before 3rd which is 30 minutes. Therefore, there are technically 2 elective periods, but you need to take a foreign language for 2-4 years and PE for 2 years so the first two years we don’t really have electives. </p>

<p>We get Thanksgiving break (1 week), Christmas break (2-3 weeks), and Spring break (2 weeks). Then of course we have Summer vacation, about 8 weeks.</p>

<p>My school doesn’t have honors classes but others do, they’re just more rigorous than regular college prep classes and you get extra weight on your grade. AP classes are for college credit and are supposed to be harder than honors classes. At the end of the year you take the AP exam and get a score from 1-5. We also have IB classes, but I think they have those in the UK too.</p>

<p>I think people would think it’s pretty cool that someone from the UK would come to their school, I know I would. They’d probably be very welcoming.</p>

6

<p>I live in MA and go to a public high school.</p>

<p>Homeroom starts at 7:25 and classes start at 7:35. We have 7 periods on a day and run on a tight schedule. Each class is 45 minutes, approximately (depends on day). You are required to take one class of every subject, including a gym period. We have a 20 minute lunch every day. We finish school at 1:50 but clubs aren’t over until 4:00 and sports don’t finish until 5:00 to 7:00. Student Council is a joke, and they meet in the mornings as well.</p>

<p>The course offerings are not as diverse as I would love, but better than most public schools. We have Honors and CP classes in every class; half of the student body takes at least three honors classes. There are only two AP classes sophomore year and there are plenty offered junior and senior year. The classes are difficult in comparison to other public high schools and teachers teach very well (for the most part). Honors classes, to me, are easy and I don’t see why they aren’t CP classes but to a lot of people Honors classes are hard. There isn’t a lot of homework but sometimes you will get assigned an essay to do in a week thats 8 pages long. Its hell.</p>

<p>The student body is just like on TV except lunch isn’t as rowdy and bullying isn’t as severe. There is so much school spirit, its ridiculous. You aren’t made fun of if you are in Band or Chorus and its cool to be smart. There are, obviously, your sluts as well.</p>

<p>Students are treated based on your ability. If you show initiative, you are held up to a higher standard. Teachers love it when kids participate (and I love to talk) so its good. They call on people a lot. Classes are normally better if you know the people in the class because there are a lot of discussions, especially in humanities classes.</p>

<p>Some classes are “flipped” where you learn at home and do the work in class… on IPADS. its quite hard to learn from those videos (cause they are bad)/</p>

<p>Sports are super intense, with 80% of the student body participating in at least one sport during the year. Most students are tri-athletes, meaning they play a sport each season. Our school wins a ridiculous amount of championships, especially in soccer and gymnastics.</p>

<p>We have a newspaper and magazine, math and science clubs, red cross club etc. like every school does.</p>

<p>Teachers are available before and after school, except on Mondays and Fridays (so basically its useless).</p>

<p>Lunch. ugh. It costs $4 to buy a lunch and in that you will get something (like 6 chicken nuggets) and vegetables (that is usually rotting). There is also a subs section and usually those are cleaner. The salads are pretty bad. The pizza is normal, like all other pizza. Lunch is also a great time to go to the library and catch up on homework or study for a class in the last two periods of the day.</p>

<p>EDIT: </p>

<p>BY THE WAY, MASSACHUSETTS HAS A LOT OF OFFERINGS AND ITS A GREAT PLACE TO BE. </p>

<p>EXCEPT FOR THE SNOW…</p>

<p>But seriously, its great. There are great malls and people hang out and have parties each week (that I don’t attend because, you know). Sports is great and you live next to Boston (hopefully), you will be near Fenway and next to so many opportunities to research and do interesting things.</p>

7

<p>Regular classes are the easiest.
Honors/Accelerated classes are a little harder.
AP/IB are the hardest and can be accepted for college credit.</p>

8

<p>Wow, you guys start early.</p>

<p>The HS I graduated from starts at 8:15, ends 3:15, with a 40-minute lunch break. Our school year starts early-mid August, ends mid-late May, and we get winter and spring breaks, and other holidays (e.g. Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, MLK Day).</p>

<p>School lunches were overpriced and on average, not very good. I’d much rather order a few things off the dollar menu at McDonald’s.</p>

<p>My HS offers quite a few AP classes for a small school. We do have “honors” classes but I never really understood the point of “honors” classes - they are not much different from regular HS classes. AP credits can be used to fulfill introductory college requirements but it depends on the college.</p>

<p>After-school activities are pretty common as well. I was on my school’s math and robotics teams, and those were more fun than most of my HS classes imho.</p>

<p>And yes, if you go to MA, it does snow here (but not as much in the Boston area as further inland), and getting to school can be a hassle.</p>

9

<p>@MITer94‌ Unless you live in the suburbs! :)</p>

<p>Or you are very close to the highway. But it doesn’t snow until December-ish</p>

10

<p>I go to a school in the Bay Area (maybe you’ll move here; you should! we actually got a new girl from England recently).</p>

<p>Our school starts at 8:00; except on Wednesdays, when it starts at 9:00 because of Common Core or something.</p>

<p>We have six regular periods in a day; if you move to California, your school will probably be an outdoor school (I’ve never seen an indoor school in California–wait, I saw one that might count in San Francisco once?). We have one class that’s an optional 0 period, and two that are optional 7th periods (one is Musical Theater, since they’re all already in a choir during the day; the other is Marching Band, which is what band kids (and anyone else who wants to join Colorguard) use to fulfill their PE requirements). However, the regular six periods end at 2:58.</p>

<p>Everybody has the same lunch period; that’s 2300 people milling around the school (but I go to a very large suburban public, so it’s usually fewer people at other schools). We have ~50 clubs, all of which have meetings at lunch or after school. School lunch… well, let’s not talk about that. Lots of people buy, but I’ve always found it gross. </p>

<p>We have lots of sports teams; my school is mostly Asian, so we excel at those sports (our football team is pitiful, but our badminton, tennis, and swimming teams have been league champions for like, seven years straight). We also offer cheerleading (which is also horrible at my school, since nobody wants to join the squad), water polo, wrestling, soccer, track and field, cross country, golf, volleyball, gymnastics, basketball, and baseball. Many students participate in sports.</p>

<p>We get a week off for Thanksgiving, two weeks off for Christmas, and a week off during the spring. We also get various 3-day and 4-day weekends during the year, especially around MLK Day and Veteran’s Day. Our summer vacation usually lasts from mid-June to the end of August (although once it stretched all the way to the end of September).</p>

<p>Courses-wise, we get six slots; one is required for English, one for Social Science, and one for Math (until senior year). Freshmen and sophomores have to take PE (unless they’re in Marching Band); they also are required to take a science (and only one, since they haven’t fulfilled the requirements to take any others), leaving them with one elective space (usually used to fill their language requirement). Juniors and seniors get 3 and 4 electives respectively, though (but these are used for more academic courses, usually; one may be used for a non-academic course if they have space).</p>

<p>Honors courses are what are offered to underclassmen/in a few of the classes for which AP is not offered for juniors (H. English 11 and H. Precalculus). They are accelerated courses that can allow the person taking them to get into a more challenging course. They are often harder than the regular courses; but not by too much. AP (or Advanced Placement) courses are offered mainly for juniors and seniors at my school (although there are one or two that sophomores can take). They are a step up from honors, and are offered in many subjects. In May, students from AP classes take the AP test. AP classes are college-level classes that use college-level textbooks; they are very rigorous. They can be used to show colleges that you have a challenging courseload, as well as to show colleges what subjects you are interested in. At my school, juniors and seniors usually take 2-3 AP classes; although a few brave souls take 4 (like 5 or 6 per grade, though; 3 is generally a lot, especially if you’re taking challenging APs, since some are harder than others).</p>

<p>New students are usually treated well (especially if they’re from the UK; everyone loves the accent)! They’re integrated pretty quickly, since everyone wants to be friends with them.</p>

<p>Don’t worry (:</p>

<p>(keep in mind that this is about my school, not all schools as a whole.)</p>

<p>Also, Homecoming week is awesome. It is epic. It is amazing. I can probably find a description of my school’s homecoming somewhere, but then, my school’s homecoming is really, really good. I’ve heard descriptions of other schools’ homecomings, and I feel sorry for them.</p>

11

<p>I go to a public school in NJ.</p>

<p>School starts at 7:55 and ends at 3:04. We have A or B days, but the only difference is that A days have homeroom and B days dont. We still follow a regular 9 period schedule. Students typcially take English, history, science, math, world language, lunch, gym, and two other electives. Some have free periods because 3 years of science and math and 2 years of foreign language are required. There are many elective classes, ranging from accounting to band to photography to child development. </p>

<p>AP classes are offered to juniors and seniors here. Honors classes are for any grades, but some classes have regular classes or advanced classes. I take advanced US history, which is harder than regular but easier than APUSH. According to the gpa chart, an honors class is weighted heavier than an advanced. I am also a junior and this is my first time taking AP classes. My 2 AP classes (Lang/comp and Statistics) are my hardest classes with the most work.</p>

<p>Lunches are from periods 4 to 7. Period 4 lunch starts at 10:30, so some dont even eat breakfast. Period 7 lunch starts at 12:50, which in my opinion, is pretty late. Some schools separate lunch periods by grade, but my school doesnt do that. All 4 grades are in each of the lunch periods.</p>

<p>New students mostly make friends well. My school is large (imo); around 300 students per grade. Many students have their own groups, but most are still welcoming. One thing about my school is that students associate by ethnicity. Like Asians hang out with Asians, and etc. But of course, this isnt always the case. </p>

<p>Good luck with your transition! </p>

12

<p>I go to a small suburban school in NY, less than an hour from NYC, and here’s my view on my “American High School Experience.”</p>

<p>Like many others, it seems, school for me runs from 7:45 to 2:45. It’s divided up into nine periods of about 45 minutes, though we are given time to get from class to class. The school schedule runs on alternating days, so some classes you only have every other day. We get breaks for Thanksgiving, some national holidays, sometimes random days so the teachers can have district-wide meetings, Christmas, Spring break, which is the week before Easter, as well as a break in February. We start school in early September until late June. Midterms are in January, APs in May, and finals the last two weeks of school in June. At my school, for midterms/finals, you only have to go to school if you have an exam.</p>

<p>Lunch is optional, and I opt not to take one in order to take more classes. I bring lunch every day, and pretty much always had (and it’s also easier since I’m a vegan!), but many of my friends eat the school lunch and say it is pretty decent. However, there’s been some complaints recently about how the food is getting worse because of some new governmental reforms, sadly! But at my school if you’re a junior or senior, you are allowed to leave campus during your lunch period.</p>

<p>My school, although it is small (120 kids per grade is a large grade!), does get a large amount of foreign students, and I’d like to think we’re super accepting! We got 3 new kids this year in my grade alone, one from London, one from Paris, and one from Japan (she may actually be from Tokyo, but I’m not sure!). In my opinion, with smaller schools like mine, the student body seems to love new kids, as it adds diversity, since you’ve known most of these other kids since kindergarten.</p>

<p>For electives/classes in general, it’s mandatory to take a math, history, and English class every year, as well as gym every other day. You have to take a total of three science credits and three foreign language credits, though you may continue further. My school is on the AP program, and APs open up in sophomore year, with kids usually taking just one (AP Euro). There are also honors classes for math and English, and if you’re on the advanced track for science, you just take the class with upperclassmen. One you’re in junior year, more APs open up. You can now take AP Sciences, and your honors English turns into an AP, and there are also options for AP Histories. Senior year is when your math becomes an AP as well as your foreign language, in addition to your other courses that can also be APs. For electives, there are a variety in the arts, both more of a fine/studio art as well as performing arts. We have band, of course. There’s also classes like journalism, programming, video technology, and sociology. Sometimes kids elect to take additional APs, like AP Stat, Computer Science, and Psych. There are the study halls that you may see on TV, also, though teacher’s are treated with the respect they mostly deserve!</p>

<p>Socially, I think for some, it plays out like what you may see on TV, minus all the teenage pregnancy scares and crazy limos and galas that are seen on shows like Gossip Girl. There’s parties on the weekend every so often, though I’ve only even been to one high school party (not connected with prom), and it was a fairly low-key affair this past Halloween. For me, lots of my social interaction outside of school comes from clubs. Our school has a variety of clubs, from International Club to Key Club, which is a service club. Also, many students are involved with the high school’s theatre productions, like the fall play and the spring musical. (No, not all people break into song in the hallways like in High School Musical. At my school, only a couple do!) Many clubs have weekend gatherings and trips, to nearby restaurants or to NYC, since we are so close.</p>

<p>But be warned, there are cliques. People gravitate to a certain type/group of people, and some of the more well-established friendships/friend groups may be sort of difficult to become a part of. Generally, though, people are nice. To your face, at least. (It’s always good to have a friend that will tell you the gossip if you’re not one to totally gossip, but make sure you trust them enough to talk to them about your life!) Yes, sadly, people do spread rumors around, and sometimes they are particularly nasty.</p>

<p>Sports are big. Really big. People often play sports year round in club organizations that run outside of school. It’s hard to find kids who are not involved in any sports. Soccer, football, basketball, baseball/softball, and lacrosse are popular ones. For high school, there are two levels of sports, Varsity and Junior Varsity. In general, 9th and 10th graders are on JV and upperclassmen on Varsity. Homecoming, however, isn’t a big deal at my school.</p>

<p>Then there is prom. A big deal. A huge deal. The crowing point in many an American teenager’s high school experience. I’ve been talking about prom with my friends since 10th grade! Although it varies from school to school, some may have only a senior (12th grade) prom, some have both a senior and junior (11th) prom, and some, like my school, have a combined junior-senior prom. Underclassmen may be invited to the dance by an upperclassman, but that is fairly rare. Overall, prom’s a great experience. You get to have fun with your friends and wear pretty clothes. Maybe even ride in a limo! There’s after parties that can get pretty wild, so if you’re not looking for something sloppy, plan something more wholesome with your friends! We also have a semi-formal dance in the winter for all grades that is not as fancy as prom by any stretch of the imagination. It’s held in the cafeteria!</p>

<p>Overall, my American high school life is pretty nice. But it is a lot of work, especially if you take a lot of classes! I wish you the best of luck with your possible future move! :)</p>

13

<p>good luck :’)</p>

<p>lol but seriously, these are all great descriptions, but if you want a closer look I suggest you take a look on Tumblr B-) </p>

14

<p>I think this is so interesting! I’ve actually really wanted to explain how American high school works ever since I started high school :)</p>

<p>School days are usually 7 hours. My school goes from 7:45 to 2:45, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays it starts at 8:10. Oh, and there are also different types of bell schedules. Some schools have around 7 periods a day (not including lunch), but some have around 4 periods that are twice as long, but you finish a year-long course in the semester.</p>

<p>For transportation, you can either ride the bus, drive, or walk/ride your bike. Most people ride the bus, but it comes so early x_x Since you’ll be a junior, you can probably find a friend to drive you to school, or maybe drive yourself if you have a car! :smiley: </p>

<p>Most public schools (I mean almost all) don’t have uniforms :3 They have dress codes, but they’re pretty lenient and you can wear anything you want, really.</p>

<p>School lunches depend completely on the school :o But at my school, almost everyone buys lunch. There’s an a la carte line, and I usually get my food from there since it tastes good xP</p>

<p>There are 3 season breaks: fall break (usually just 2 days and then the weekend), winter break (2 weeks) and spring break (1 week). Those are how long they are at my school, though, it probably depends on the school system or state :o Winter break starts the Monday of the week of Christmas, and I really have no idea when the other two start :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>Honors and AP classes are classes that are more advanced than regular classes. Generally, Honors classes are versions of graduation requirement classes that are more difficult and challenging than the regular version. Teachers assign more homework, you move at a faster pace, and tests are harder. Most people take these classes to academically challenge themselves, because they’ve just been in honors all their life and that’s how it is, or to impress colleges.</p>

<p>AP stands for the Advanced Placement program. They’re all college-level classes. Each May, the AP exams take place, and they test you on everything you learned throughout the whole course. It’s seen as equivalent to IB, and I’ve heard they’re similar as well. You can get a score of 1 through 5 on the exam, and most public universities accept 3 or higher for college credit :slight_smile: Except, you do not need to take the actual AP class to take the exam. You could either take the regular version of a class and try to learn the extra material, or completely learn it on your own. Some AP classes also count as graduation requirements. For example, instead of regular US Government you can take AP US Government.</p>

<p>In America, you have a LOT of freedom in choosing your classes. How many electives you take completely depends on what you’re previously taken :slight_smile: Your senior year could be completely filled with non-academic electives, if you got all your graduation requirements out of the way. Typically, you need to take English every year. You actually don’t need to take math every year, but you’ll need Algebra 1 (9th), Geometry (10th), and Algebra 2(11th) at the minimum. However, some people are ahead in math because they started taking high school math in middle school. And Geometry and Algebra 2 can be taken in any order since they’re unrelated, but at most schools you have to take them in the order I said above. After Algebra 2 comes Pre-Calc/Trig (some states include Trig in Algebra 2 though) or Probability and Statistics or maybe nothing at all. You need a “qualitative reasoning” class every year, so basically a math or a science that uses math (like Physics). Generally, for science, you need Biology and either Chemistry or Physics. But a lot of people take both Chemistry and Physics.</p>

<p>Your schedule is also REALLY flexible. Basically, as long as you take the graduation requirements, you’re fine. You can take them in any order, as long as you have the prerequisites done. And in a lot of your classes, there will be people from other grades. In my AP Human Geography class, there are people from every grade! :D</p>

<p>If you fail a class, you won’t get held back, and you won’t even need to take summer school. You can just repeat the class next year/semester :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Students are treated pretty well, I guess? :slight_smile: If you stay out of trouble and don’t interrupt in class, your teachers will like you and you won’t have any problem at all. But some students are just awful. They will make fun of teachers in class and talk back. So disrespectful smh .-. </p>

<p>When you first enter the school, there will typically be a huge room and that’s called commons. Most people hang out here when they’re not in class.</p>

<p>You’ll also get a locker :3 You can keep all your books, your coat, or whatever else (just not anything bad or illegal) in there :slight_smile: You might not have time to go there after every class, so you should try to find parts of the day where it’s best to go there. Or you could just not use your locker at all, quite a few people do that at my school.</p>

<p>Now I’ll try to just explain how my school day goes from start to finish :3</p>

<p>First, you go to school. Nothing really special there :stuck_out_tongue: Then, you go to your first period. You can enter at any time, really, as long as the teacher is there and it’s before class starts. Then, the bell rings and you walk to your second period. You basically just keep repeating that cycle until you get to lunch. Then, you can walk to the cafeteria and eat your foods :3 But you could still go to the cafeteria and not eat at all, or you could eat a snack in the commons, or you could just hang out in the commons. You might be able to roam around the school during lunch, but at my school you can really only stay in the cafeteria, commons, or library .-. And for me, lunch is yesterday night’s homework time \o/ Then you keep walking to your next period until the school day ends :stuck_out_tongue: Then you can do whatever you want. You can stay after school and literally do nothing at all, you can just walk out for no reason, you can go home, whatever :)</p>

<p>As for school supplies, you’ll usually be fine with just a pen or pencil and a notebook for each class. (Except typically you’re only allowed to use a pencil for math) All you really need on the first day is any writing utensil and a single notebook, because the teacher will tell you what you need to get on the first day. You’ll also get a syllabus for each class, which explains the general rules, what you’ll need, how you should behave, how grades are weighted, and all that stuff :3 </p>

<p>And 9th grade = freshman, 10th = sophomore, 11th = junior, and 12th = senior :)</p>

<p>Sorry if it sounded like I repeated a lot of stuff from other people x.x I haven’t read any of them, I promise I’m not stealing anything :3</p>

15

<p>Oh, and a lot of things you see from everyone on here might not pertain to you. Like one person said you have to take PE every year, while in my state you only need one year. Each state has different graduation requirements, and each school system is different, so don’t completely rely on us :c </p>

16

<p>7:25-2 oclock, on thursdays we get to come in an hour late, 7 periods a day, we have 4 lunch waves, I don’t eat the cafe food b/c its just plain gross, we have art electives including pottery, painting, design, and we have video game design, aviation, raquet sports and other cool electives. We probably get 30ish days off over the course of a school year, and of course a two month break during the summer. Honors classes are advanced/accelerated classes that are for advanced students. AP classes are advanced placement classes that are college level. We get college credit if we pass the AP exam at the end of the year, which is standardized country-wide. Also we get a higher weighted GPA for APs since they are extremely difficult. New students are usually welcomed as long as they’re not embarrassingly strange. High school involves a lot of social drama, cliques, etc. Sports are huge here too. </p>

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<p>topaz1116, what is an outdoor school? San Francisco is in California. I bet you knew that. Maybe I am misreading your post.</p>

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<p>@lostaccount I meant that I had seen an indoor school in California, which cancelled out my previous statement that “I hadn’t seen any indoor schools in California.”</p>

<p>An outdoor school is one that isn’t a single building; instead, it’s a collection of buildings that you walk outside to get between. Its land area is usually larger than that of a indoor school, which is why it’s usually found in suburban places. Its buildings are generally only one story; occasionally there’ll be a two-story building somewhere in there (a new building was built at our school last year, and it’s two stories). </p>

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<p>cool so would science be in one building and math in another-like that?</p>

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<p>I live in NY and go to a private high school. I have to be in homeroom by 8:10 AM, and after several minutes, we head up for our first class. There was a recent schedule change, so now instead of 8 periods a day, there are 6 for A through F day and 4 periods for G through H day. A-H Day is our cycle system. On A-F Day, periods are 50 minutes, and on G-H day, periods are 75 minutes. Period 4 on A-F Day is 1 hour and 30 minutes, with a 50 minute class and 40 minutes for lunch. G-H days have 3rd period as 1 hour and 55 minutes, and that allows for a 75 minute class and 40 minutes for lunch. Another change to the schedule is that there is a 40 minute community period after 2nd period on A-F Day and after 1st period on G-H day. This is used for activities and advisement periods for teachers and homerooms. I have a pretty high stress/high courseload schedule, so out of the 8 day cycle, I only have 3 free periods outside of lunch and community period. Some have around 10, though. In the past, there were bells signifying 4 minute interludes to get to your class, but now bells are only used for the beginning and end of the day, and teachers dismiss at reasonable times. My day ends at 2:40 PM.</p>

<p>In the past 3 years, most activities were held after school, and I was generally able to fill up every day. 2 days a week I was in my school’s jazz ensemble, and for some part of the year, 2 days a week I travelled to a museum to take a class. Club meetings were generally held after school, but now they are held during community period and I have more time to pursue other extracurriculars after school, while Band is the only thing that takes up time after school.</p>

<p>Class wise, my rigor of schedule has varied. I was a full honors student freshman year, except my foreign language was not an honors course. My school makes it pretty tough to take honors/AP courses, and because I stumbled freshman year, I was taking fewer honors courses in sophomore and junior year. This year I am in 4 AP classes and one honors class, a good rigorous change from the past, and the work can be really really difficult. Some classes like AP Gov require a lot of writing. The Math/Science based courses, even the honors/AP ones generally only have about a half hour of homework a night because they don’t give much busy work for those subjects at my school, only work that enlightens the student of concepts. One should probably study for those classes past the homework.</p>

<p>If you score well on the AP exam at the end of the year, you can use that score for either credit once you go to college or placement into a higher level course. If you get a 5/5 in AP Calculus AB (Calculus 1), you will most likely be allowed to take Calculus 2 as a first semester freshman in college. Honors classes are just classes that are harder than regular classes, but you don’t have to take an AP exam at the end of the year. At some schools, you can opt out of taking the AP exam at the end of the year, but at my school, there is a policy that if you take an AP class, you are required to take the AP exam at the end of the school year.</p>

<p>There is a bit of hierarchy to lockers. Freshman and sophomores have lockers in the hallways, and freshman get the bottom locker while sophomores get the top lockers. Juniors and seniors generally get lockers near the commons, which is a smaller version of the gymnasium, and it’s all basically one room, and juniors get bottom lockers while seniors get top lockers.</p>

<p>At my school, you are required to take:
4 years of English,
4 years of Religious studies (I go to a jesuit high school. Freshman religion is mainly bible analysis, sophomore year is the history of the church, junior year is ethics, and seniors can take electives from philosophy, ethics, spirituality, or whatever. No one at my school is required to be Catholic, and I’d say the curriculum has probably encouraged many people like myself to question the teachings. My school is pretty open to any viewpoint and has a freedom of thought society and a gay-straight alliance)
4 years of History
3 years of Math
3 years of foreign language
3 years of science
3 years of electives (Not sure exactly, what my school means with this, but this is probably just any course to make sure you are taking enough courses per year)
2 years of Physical Education (This is somewhat of a lie. I have taken 4 years of physical education, well, 7/2 years because I did track for the first half of the year. I’m guessing you are only required to do 2 years of Physical Education if you play a sport)
1 year of fine art</p>

<p>I have done 4 years of English, History, Religious Studies, Mathematics, probably more than 3 electives, 7/2 years of Physical education, 5 years of science (I’m taking AP Physics 1 and Chemistry Honors this year), 3 years of Spanish, and 4 years of Instrumental Music and Music Theory and Audio Production Techniques.</p>

<p>My school is not that competitive with Mathematics. Most freshman take Algebra 1, which goes into Geometry, then Algebra 2/Trigonometry, and then Precalculus. I have gone from Algebra 1 Honors to Geometry to Algebra 2/Trigonometry to a summer course in Precalculus to AP Calculus AB. Some opt to take College Algebra in senior year, which is a slightly less advanced course than Precalculus. The highest level Math class that my school offers is AP Calculus BC, and they used to offer AP Statistics, but now they just have a Statistics class.</p>

<p>Overall I would say my school is a really great place. I have made many friends here, and alumni are almost always eager to come back to visit the school and all of the friends they have who haven’t graduated yet.</p>

<p>My school is a bit different as it is in Manhattan, New York, NY, so there are restaurants on basically every block. That has facilitated lots of great memories and experiences.</p>