Calling all Americans!

[Elvedans]

Can anyone tell me the equivalent school years in America?

In england these are the school years.

Age 3-4 Nursery school

(start primary school)

4-5 Reception
5-6 Year one
6-7 Year two
7-8 Year three
8-9 Year four
9-10 Year five
10-11 Year six

(start secondary school)

11-12 year seven
12-13 year eight
13-14 year nine
14-15 year ten
15-16 year eleven

(start sixth form, college or university)

16-17 year twelve (lower sixth)
17-18 year thirteen (upper sixth)

Anyone?

[HOBBIT]

um........

Preschool

Elementary School:
Kindergarten
Grade 1
2
3
4
5


Middle School/ Junior High
6
7
8


High School
9
10
11
12

[Ornelírë Mistë]

Yes, but Middle School is usually three years and Junior High is usually two. Which one you go to depends on where you live. I you go to Junior High then EleMentary School extends through 6th grade.

[HOBBIT]

"Middle School is usually three years and Junior High is usually two"

ok, I didn't understand that :P


Middle School and Junior High are interchangeable. In this part of the USA, Middle School is 3 years - 6th, 7th, and 8th.

In other parts of the country, elementary goes up to 6th grade and in others middle school goes up to 9th.

Doesn't make that much of a diff.

Usually kids start kindergarten when they are like 5 or 6, so you can figure out the ages. I'm a sophmore in HS (10th grade), and I'll be turning 16 in April. and drivers permit! yay.

[LuthienTinuviel]

here it's a bit defferent even from that..
preschool

elementary:
pre-k
kindergarten
(if you need it ) junior first
first
2
3
4

intermediate school:
5
6

middle school:
7
8

high school:
9
10
11
12

after that you can go to a college or university.. or you can live at home and sponge off your parents.

[Ruinel]

I think Elvedans also wanted ages too...
children start officially when they are 5 yrs old in public school. But there are programs available and private preschools that can start children earlier.

ages...grade level
5-6 ... kindergarten
6-7 ... 1st
7-8 ... 2nd
8-9 ... 3rd
9-10 ... 4th
10-11... 5th
11-12... 6th
12-13... 7th
13-14... 8th
14-15... 9th
15-16...10th
16-17...11th
17-18...12th
college after this

[Sheeana]

I take it that you don't have a standardised system for the division of years then? Is it state-decided?

Luthien, your system is almost like ours except that the intermediate would be tacked onto elementary. We only have primary (ages 5-11), intermediate (11-13), and High School (13-18) - sometimes intermediate and primary are squashed together if it's a sparsely populated area (and sometimes it's intermediate and high school that get merged.)

Preschool is anything before the age of five.

[HOBBIT]

i don't even know if it is state organized - its pretty random.

maybe by township, counties? that would make more sense. Or it might be state.......... ask JD He'd know.

[Ruinel]

I can't speak for all states in the US, but in most states it is mandated that all school districts provide a kindergarten class and that all children attending must be at least 5 yrs old. However, the date that the child must have reached 5 yrs old vary from state to state, and the compulsory age for school varies from 5 to 7 yrs old.

I don't know how reliable
this site is. I'm too tired to check.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by HOBBIT
i don't even know if it is state organized - its pretty random.

maybe by township, counties? that would make more sense. Or it might be state.......... ask JD He'd know.

It's by school district. Plainsboro - is broken down by - k-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12. We also have two high schools. It's just because of the number of students.

Generally in central NJ - we say Junior High. I never even heard the term middle school until I moved to Indiana. Although - now middle school also seems to be used. In Indiana - middle school was used - I never heard them say junior high - even when the school only had 7th and 8th graders.

I don't think that 6th graders shoud be going to school with 7th and 8th graders. Even though there is only one year difference - there is a big physical and mental difference generally.

For more information on Plainsboro's school district - which is shared with West Windsor - look at - West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District's official website.

[GrayMouser]

I don't know about now, but when I went to school in B.C., Canada it was:
Elementary
Grade 1: 5-6 years old
2
3
4
5
6
7 : 12-13

Junior High: 8
9
10

Senior High: 11
12

Do students in America generally say freshman, sophomore, junior, senior?


I never heard that in B.C.- in high school it's always the grade, and in college just 1st year etc.- but I see in movies they use both. Is it interchangeable? Regional?

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by GrayMouser
Do students in America generally say freshman, sophomore, junior, senior?


I never heard that in B.C.- in high school it's always the grade, and in college just 1st year etc.- but I see in movies they use both. Is it interchangeable? Regional?

In high school and college we generally do not say the grade - it's freshman, sophomore , junior and senior.

Also - unlike in England - we say that a person is going to college - even if they are attending an university. To us - there isn't a real difference between a college and an university.

[Elvedans]

Wow, I've never had so many replies to a thread i've started! I think Ruinel's was easiest to understand, America is so complicated, its a good thing I'm British!

[turtlelover]

well I live in the US and my distrct is way out of the US norm this is ours:

kindergarten

(grade school)
1st grade
secoond grade
third grade
fourth grade

(middle school)
5
6
7
8

(high school)
9 :freshman year
10 :Sophmore year
11 :junior year
12 :Senior year

thet you MAY go to college OR start a career

[Rían]

It's pretty variable in the US, even within a school district! It all depends on the size of the school and the number of students. I know in the district next to mine, the grade splits are different at the different schools, even within the district.

For my kids, it's K-6, then middle school is 7 and 8, then high school is 9-12. For the public schools in my area, it's K-5, 6-8, then 9-12.

Wow, turtlelover, yours IS very different, isn't it!

Then in college (yes, we always say "college" even if it's a university), it's freshman, sophmore, junior, senior.

[azalea]

I have a question for the non-Americans: what exactly is meant by "A levels" and all that? Does it correspond to our Freshman, Sophomore, etc.? Or does it strictly have to do with coursework?

[Elvedans]

They're examinations in Britain. In year two, six and nine you have exams called SATs (Standard Attainment tests or something like that.) In years 10 and 11 you study for and take your GCSEs (General Certifate of Secondary education) which involve coursework and written exams. You do about ten GCSE subjects and three SATs subjects. Then in in year 12 you have AS levels and in year 13 A2 levels. These AS and A2s used to be A levels. You do about three or four subjects in these and they are optional i think. You might want to refer to the age groups i posted a the beginning to see ages for the exams.

[jerseydevil]

Originally posted by Elvedans
They're examinations in Britain. In year two, six and nine you have exams called SATs (Standard Attainment tests or something like that.) In years 10 and 11 you study for and take your GCSEs (General Certifate of Secondary education) which involve coursework and written exams. You do about ten GCSE subjects and three SATs subjects. Then in in year 12 you have AS levels and in year 13 A2 levels. These AS and A2s used to be A levels. You do about three or four subjects in these and they are optional i think. You might want to refer to the age groups i posted a the beginning to see ages for the exams.

SATs are different. They're used for entry into college. They stand for (according to Websters dictionary ) Scholastic Assessment Test - although I always heard it as Standardized Applitude Test.

SAT I

The SAT is a three-hour test that measures verbal and mathematical reasoning skills students have developed over time and skills they need to be successful academically. Many colleges and universities use the SAT as one indicator among others-class rank, high school GPA, extracurricular activities, personal essay, and teacher recommendations-of a student's readiness to do college-level work. SAT scores are compared with the scores of other applicants, and the accepted scores at an institution, and can be used as a basis for awarding merit-based financial aid.

The SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800 (for math and verbal) and is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. The test is administered several times a year.

Learn about the SAT
The SAT is a standardized, multiple-choice test used by most U.S. colleges and universities for admissions and placement decisions. SAT scores can also be used to determine scholarship eligibility. The test is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and given nationally seven times a year.

The SAT is a seven-section, three-hour exam. Three of the sections are Verbal, three are Math, and one is experimental. The experimental section, used by ETS strictly for its own research, can be either Verbal or Math and is not counted toward your final score. The seven sections appear in a slightly different order every time the SAT is administered.

[sun-star]

SATS in Britain are different to the ones in the US. For one thing, it's said as one word, "Sats". It stands for Standard Attainment Tests, which are taken at the end of each Key Stage - ages 7, 11 and 14.

A-levels are optional exams, taken at the age of 18. It is possible to leave school at 16 after taking GCSEs, but many stay on to take A-levels, which you normally need if you want to go to university. You can choose as many or as few subjects as you want - but as an example, most at my school do four or five. The range of subjects is very large and the combination is up to you. Some involve coursework, but the result generally depends on exams taken at the end of Year 13. Results are graded from A-E.

[katya]

I've heard about the GCSEs. A girl I was talking to from Pakistan said she had to take them. They sounded hard.