Primary and secondary education

School grades

The U.S. uses ordinal numbers for naming grades, unlike Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom where cardinal n umber', are preferred. Thus, when asked what grade they are in, typical American children are more likely to say "fourth grade" rather than "Grade 4." The following are the typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools. ^; Many different variations exist across the country.

Standard educational pattern

Level/Grade	Typical age
Preschool
Various programs such as i lead Man	Under 5
Elementary School
Kindergarten	5-6
1 st Grade	6-7
2nd Grade	7-8
3rd Grade	8-9
4th Grade	9-10
5th Grade	10-11
Middle school
6th Grade	11-12

7th Grade	12-13
8th Grade	13-14
High school
9th Grade	14-15 (Freshman year)
10th Grade	15-16 (Sophomore year)
11th Grade	16-17 (Junior year)
12th Grade	17-18 (Senior year)
Post-secondary education
Tertiary education (College or: 'imcisiiO	ages vary
Vocational education	ages vary
Postgraduate education
Adult education

Preschool

There are no mandatory public pi e.-ci>< •, A or aech.i programs in the Un ited States. The federal government funds the!_!cad_Sian preschool program for poor children, but most families are on their own with regard to finding a preschool or child care.

Head Start is a program of the I inked Num.:, Department o f Health a n d Human S en ices that focuses on assisting three- and four-year-old children from low-income families. Created in 1965, Head Start is the longest-running national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. As of late 2005, more than 22 million pre-school aged children have participated in Head Start. The $6.8+ billion dollar budget for 2005 provided services to more than 905,000 children, 57% of whom were four years old or older, and 43% three years old or younger. Services were provided by 1,604 different programs operating more than 48,000 classrooms scattered across every state (and nearly every county) at an average cost of $7,222 per child. The paid staff of nearly 212,000 people is dwarfed by an army of volunteers six times as large.

In the large cities, there are sometimes upper-class preschools catering to the children of the wealthy. Because some upper-class families see these schools as the first step toward the lv\ Leayuc, there are even counselors who specialize in assisting parents and their toddlers through the preschool admissions process.

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Primary and secondary education

Schooling is compulsory for all children in the United States, but the age range for which school attendance is required varies from state to state. Most children begin primary education with krsikr/aiki! at the age of 5 or 6, depending upon eligibility requirements in their district, and complete their secondary education at the age of 18 when their senior year of high school ends. Typically, mandatory education starts with first grade and many times in kindergarten. Some states allow student* to leave school at age 16, before finishing high school; other states require students to stay in school until age 18.' '■'

Most parents send their children to either a public or private institution. According to government data, one-tenth of students are enrolled in private schools. Approximately 85% of students enter the public schools,' largely because they are "free" (tax burdens by school diMric.is vary from area to area). Students attend school for around eight hours per day, and anywhere from 175 to 185 days per year. Most schools have a summci bjcak period for about two and half months from June through August. This break is much longer than the one students in many cii;.,:>.m^c-. receive. Originally, "summer vacation", as it is colloquially called, allowed students to participate in the harvest period during the summer. However, this is now relatively unnecessary and remains largely by tradition; it also has immense popular support.

Parents may also choose to educate their own children,11 home; 1.7% of children are educated in this manner. ^; Proponents of home education invoke parental responsibility and the classical liberal arguments for personal freedom from government intrusion. Few proponents advocate that homeschooling should be the dominant educational policy. Most homeschooling advocates are wary of the established educational institutions for various reasons. Some are religious conservatives who see nonreligious education as contrary to their moral or religious systems. Others feel that they can more effectively tailor a curriculum to suit an individual student's academic strengths and weaknesses, especially those with icanun,: ds-al'iimcs. Still others feel that the negative social pressures of schools (such as bullying, drugs, crime, and other school-related problems) are detrimental to a child's proper development. Parents often form groups to help each other in the homeschooling process, and may even assign classes to different parents, similar to public and private schools.

Opposition to homeschooling comes from varied sources, including teachers' organizations and school districts. The \:,uou.iiI jjiu.abon Wiv-iai!..;., the largest i.iboi naum in the United States, has been particularly vocal in the past. Opponents' stated concerns fall into several broad categories, including fears of poor academic quality, loss of income for the schools, and religious or social extremism, or lack of socialization with others.

Elementary school (Kindergarten through Grade 5/6)

Hie it-...-!,!! •> -chool, "grade school", "grammar school", and "public school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin with kindergarten or first grade and end either with fifth or sixth grade. Elementary school provides a common daily routine for all students except the most disadvantaged (those with learning disabilities menia l illnesse s, or those students who do not speak bnghsh). Sometimes gifted or advanced students receive separate education as well. Students do not choose a course structure and remain in a single classroom throughout the school day, with the exceptions of pinsjeaUdiicjition ("P.E." or "gym"), music, and/or an classes.

Education is relatively not standardized at this level. Teachers, most of whom are women, receive a book to give to the students for each subject and brief overviews of what they are expected to teach.¹''' In general, a student learns basic ai uhmeu c and sometimes rudimentary algebra in niatjjematies, English proficiency (such as basic grammar, speJHn;.!, and vocabulary), and fundamentals of other subjects.

SqcjitLstudjes and sciences are often underdeveloped, largely because most elementary teachers have a degree in English or education. Social studies may include basic events and concepts in American and world hi story and, in some places, state or local history; science varies widely.

Middle school (Grades 5, 6, or 7 through 8)

It is common in the United States for old High School campuses to be turned into middle

schools, as is the case with I com a Middle School

"\hikik.etiooi", "junior high school", and "intermediate school" are all interchangeable names for schools that begin in 6th or 7th grade and end in 8th, though they sometimes include 9th grade as well. The term "junior high school" and the arrangement beginning with 7th grade are becoming less common. Intermediate schooling in some locations is known as something that precedes the middle school and follows the elementary schooling.

At this time students begin to enroll in class schedules where they take classes from several
teachers in a given day, unlike in elementary school where most classes are taught by the same
teacher. The classes are usually a strict set of sdence, main, Lodish, andyaJaj ^mkv courses,
interspersed with a reading and/or tech nolog y class. Every year from kindergarten through ninth
grade usually includes a mandatory p!w_sacaLedjjartion (P.E.) class. Student-chosen courses,
known as, are generally limited to only one or two classes.

High school (Grades 9 through 12)

(Mi cinnil runs from grades 9 through 12. Some school d istricts deviate from this formula. The most widely seen difference is to include 9th grade in middle school, though it is a relatively old practice which is disappearing. Also, many districts will use an older high school as a separate campus for 9th grade, allowing these students to adjust to a high school environment. In high school, students obtain much more control of their education and often may even choose their core classes.

Miami Springs High s. "o, in Florida.

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