Talk to me about schools in the US

[SlouM]

As per my previous thread we have an opportunity to move to the US - so I'm looking for any opinions or comparisons of the two education systems..

For background I have 2 DC, one is 11 in yr 6, one is 8 in yr 4. They are at a good state primary and plan to go on to independent secondary schools (Surrey/ London border)

All comments welcome!!

I'll latch onto your thread! I have dc of the exact same ages!

There isn't really a short answer to this - it really depends on where you live.

There are absolutely loads of differences. My personal experience overall is that our US schools focus much less on things like uniform, hair colour, not eating/drinking in class, and much more on things like overall behaviour. You can wear ripped jeans and pink hair to school and no one bats an eyelid, but if you turn up drunk to a school dance you're in severe trouble.

Where I am at least the teachers are better paid, and much less stressed than in the UK. We have class sizes of 10-25 depending on the grade (and our schools are classed as overcrowded which always makes me laugh).

Kids are not streamed so soon, and to a great extent especially at high school they can choose whether to take regular or advanced classes. A really smart kid may end up going to a magnet school where they will be stretched much more - usually at no extra expense.

There isn't the pressure of GCSEs and A levels, but there is an expectation that not only will you work hard to keep up your average score (GPA) but you'll also have lots of outside interests - often it's those outside interests that get you into the best college.

You take a general education right up to 18, rather than specialising in an ever decreasing number of subjects.

There is much more sports, and also IME a much closer school sense of belonging and culture.

School acceptance is done strictly by catchment area at least where I live, and if the school gets overcrowded they will build more on it.

No one gets chickenpox, and it's very unusual to get measles, as they are much more aggressive with insisting on vaccinations.

Things like getting to school are easy because there are school buses and plenty of adequate parking. Out school day is 7.55am to 2.55pm, and there's after-school care, which makes it fairly easy for both parents to work.

OTOH they have VERY long summer holidays. But there are tons of summer camps.

I am only really speaking of our school system though.

This is really going to depend on where you are going, it varies hugely.
Our dc live in a city and go private. Pretty much all L1 visa level workers dc do. If we lived in the suburbs they would go state with very good local catchment schools.
That is just our area, others will be different, there is a lot of difference.

USA "public" schools are funded out of local taxation, local district controlled (property tax=1% of the property purchase price in California). So that means, places with high property values have good schools, places with cheap property (or general philosophy of not funding local services) have bad ones. So even within same city, some districts have great reputations for their schools while district next door has lousy rep. Even in a place where the typical home costs $500k, the schools may not be considered that good.

CA teachers are probably better paid than most; many districts in other states, the teachers are paid very badly (food stamps, buying supplies out of own earnings, etc.)

I went to school in CA (until age 24). (Yes, university is called school!)

Pupils take a broad curriculum all the way to age 18, and often after that in college. Nowadays, there is a big emphasis on getting pre-college credits from age 16-18, for the very brighest sparks (like my nephew). They may get 2+ years into college (so age 20) before they have to commit to specialism (like science vs. humanities). Applications to university are not that centralised from what I can figure out (when I was a teen, it was individual to each one, unless a shared system like UC).

Sch uniform is unusual but becoming more popular; a year-round timetable (like UK) seems to be replacing the traditional 12 week summer break. Districts next door to each other may have very different time tables. I dunno about Bay Area, but going to school on bus is very common from age 9 in SoCal (until age 15-16 when they learn to drive; few age 16+ on school bus).

Kids all learn to drive at age 16. Insurance is cheap (compared to UK). My nephew is an eco-freak for cycling to his high school (SoCal). Private schools most often are for religious people. Home-Ed is huge in CA right now. To attend any type of formal school (public or private) in CA, your kids MUST produce vaccination certificates.

ps: transferring betw schools is pretty easy as long as there is space & eligibility; you can do this all the way up to age 18 probably.

Your DCs would be middle school age and elementary age respectively.

Depending on where you live, you would have the choice of private school or public. There are more private options in larger urban areas. Public schools are entirely non-sectarian and secular. Private schools are run by a variety of groups, the biggest nationwide being the RC church. There are also private schools run by the Lutherans and other organised religions, as well as Montessori schools, academies, and others.

If you choose private you will pay directly to the school and also pay property taxes to support the local public system. If you choose public, you will pay local property taxes and may only have to pay a registration fee and maybe the cost of textbooks or a general textbook charge per family directly to the school.

If you are looking for a place to live, look for one in a good school district if you think public school might suit you as residency requirements are strictly enforced for the most part. Private schools generally do not have catchments.

Public schools are obliged by law to provide an adequate and appropriate education for all enrolled students including special ed students. While nothing is perfect, public schools in good districts are generally much better at catering for special ed needs than schools in the UK are in general. Testing can be carried out by in-district professionals and is free. Private schools do not in general have the resources to perform this role and are not under the same legal obligation as the public schools are.

Facilities, extra curricular opportunities, and also teaching and academic opportunities in good school districts, both elementary (incl middle schools) and high school, can often surpass what very expensive private schools in the UK offer. As with all schools though, what you get out is often equal to what you are prepared to put in.

You may want to look at schools offering the International Baccalaureate curriculum if you think you may back to the UK at some point, or if there is a chance you will be moving on again. Some private schools and some public schools offer the IB.

Private schools generally have uniforms, public schools generally do not. There are exceptions to this rule but they are few and far between where I live (midwest). Here, inner city public schools tend to have uniforms, and the perception of them is that if there are uniforms there must be a gang problem or lots of troubled students.

The advent of the common app means college applications are quite centralised lljkk*