American Schools

Hello! In this article, I’m going to talk about American schools.

First of all, American schools have a lot in common with those in France and other countries in Europe, but there are also some big differences.

For example, in American schools, the students are most likely going to wear uniforms unlike the students in Europe.

Furthermore, students in American schools only have a very short lunch break. They also need to pay directly in order to get their lunch at the school’s cafeteria whereas in some European schools, the students have more lunch time but they do pay at the end of each semester for each and every lunch they had in their school’s cafeteria during the whole semester.

In fact, students in America can bring their own lunch if they don’t want to eat at their school’s cafeteria but in France (and other countries in Europe), eating at the cafeteria is compulsory, unless the students are extern.

Moreover, lockers are also provided in almost every American schools while it is not the case to those in Europe.

 

The Educational Structure

Around 6 years old, children begin primary school. It is commonly called elementary school. They normally attend around 5 or 6 years, then they go to the secondary school.

The secondary school consists of two programs :
The first program “Middle School”, which is also called “Junior High School” and the second program is “High School”. Then they receive a diploma or a certificate upon graduating from high school. After graduating from high school, the students can go to the university, also called college, of their choice. University is also known as a higher level of education.
The American school’s system is pratically the same to those in Europe.

Grading System

American students must submit their academic transcripts as a part of their application admission to college or university. An academic transcript is a copy of a student’s permanent academic record, from the first day of school to the current school year. It also includes the student’s grades and “Grade Point Average”, GPA for short.

Finally, to sum up, American schools are different and unique in their own ways.