Of course, when you move to another country with children, a lot of issues and difficulties arise. One of them is the choice of an appropriate educational institution for your kid. After all, the future life and, in particular the career of your child, largely depends on education.
It is important to note that the USA provides free schooling. Furthermore, primary and secondary education in the country is compulsory for everyone.
School Enrollment Procedure
Before enrolling your child in school, you must contact your local school district office. You can do this on the website or by phone. There you will receive all the information you need, as well as a list of schools your child can attend.
In general, you can choose a public (free) or private school. Meanwhile, compared to public educational institutions, private schools offer a wide variety of programs for your child. You have the opportunity to choose a private school according to your personal preferences. By the way, there are even separate private schools for boys and girls.
In addition to this, there is a homeschooling option in the United States of America. Moreover, children with certain physical disabilities have the opportunity to visit special educational institutions (based on their needs).
What documents do you need to enroll your child?
First of all, the child needs to have a medical record, as well as a certificate of vaccinations. Besides, be sure to bring a birth certificate and a document confirming the place of residence of your kid.
Features of the school system in the United States
School education in the USA consists of 3 stages:
Elementary school. Children from 5 to 11 years old (up to grade 6) study here. In general, the curriculum includes subjects such as math, reading, writing, science, music, art, and physical education.
Middle school. Typically, students are between 11 and 14 years old (grades 6-9). In middle school, children continue to learn math, English, science, social studies, and physical education. In addition, each student can choose a few more subjects to study.
High school. At the age of 14-18 (grades 9-12), students have the opportunity to choose the majority of subjects for study.
If your children have already attended school in your country, then the grade of schooling is determined by their age and educational level.
Grading system
The grading system in the United States is alphabetic (A, B, C, D, F). At the same time, an “A” is the highest grade for academic performance. Therefore, “F” is the lowest.
In order to assess the level of knowledge, students write standardized tests.
What if your child does not speak English?
Unfortunately, this is one of the most common problems for immigrants. After all, immigrant children do not always know English at a sufficient level for learning.
However, in the United States, this issue is regulated by the government. Based on the law, the school district is responsible for providing the children with free English language learning assistance. But you need to inform the school district about your situation.
