...es beteen the single schools, so that you even cant pass any general statements about the exams, compulsory subjects, etc.Nationide school alays begins on the Tuesday after Labor Day thats the first Monday in September and it alays ends mid.June. In the rest of the year they have only very short holidays at Christmas and at easter. In the summer holidays theres a so called Summer School, in hich you can repeat exams and courses. The timetable of one student is every day the same. The pupils choose their courses ith the advise of their Guidance Counselor.Normally the lessons start at 8 oclock and finish at 3 oclock in the afternoon. In this time you can have beteen 6 and 8 lessons 60 min. ith short breaks 5 min. and one big break 12-34 h. After school you can take part in several school clubs and activities.The students spend most of their freetime at such schoolclubs and so they identify themselves ith their High School. They can join the sports clubs American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Cheerleading.., hobby clubs, the chorus or the school band.These activities are usually in the afternoon. In the evening there are often meetings, concerts, parties or balls. In the High Schools in the eleventh grade the students have to decide either to take sports or Airforce.Its like an army and the students getdrilled in the Drill Team. On one day of the eek they are alloed to ear their uniforms and even a revolver. Some students make every year a so-called Yearbook. They rite articles sho photos of all the important events of the last year. They often cost 30 and they are very important. That means you get better image if there are more photos of you in the Yearbook. So sometimesstudents join many clubs a short time before the photograph comes to take pictures of the clubs for the book.The pupils can choose beteen many different subjects, often beteen more than 100. There are the regular ones like English, maths, languages, history, etc. but there are also subjects like jazzband, drama, journalism, dance choreographie, child development, psychology. Some courses are very practical for life, for example typing, drivers educationn, life skills gutes Benehmen. There are extrem graduations beteen the single courses of one subject, for example the Seniors can still learn the basic kinds of maths. Because of the high number of the curses, there are often students of different grades together in one course except English and advanced classes. In America its like in England the pupils have to change the rooms to get to their teachers and not, like in Germany , the other ay round.Sport is also very important at High Schools. There is also a high competition beteen the single students to become member of a special sport team. There are often sport events beteen the single schools in one city.The grades in America are not very different than the German ones. Instead of numbers they have letters. hat is an one in Germany, is an A in America, and hat s an six is F failed.-------------------------------------------
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ade Grade Highest number GradePoints to reach in in Germany-------------------------------------------
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rior A 4.0 S 95-100 1A- 3.7 B 3.4 Good B 3.0 S 85-94 2B- 2.7 C 2.4Average C 2.0 S 75-84 3C- 1.7 D 1.4 Poor D 1.0 S 70-74 4Fail F 0.0 0-69 56------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------At the end of one school year the teachers calculate your average grade out of the grade points. This is called grade point average GPA.Your mark is put together from the tests and exams, the extra credits and the tardies. In the tests or exams youll never have to rite more than one page. The rest is a sheet of paper, here you only have to mark the right anser.Sometimes the teachers give extra credits for a very good homeork or a report. But if you come to late or youre absent thout an apology, you get a tardy. At the end of a school year the teachers count all your points and the result is your mark then.You can also lose points if you say bad ords. This different from teacher to teacher. These ords can be shitthis is the orst ord, fag, Oh god, Jesus...At many schools in the US there are so called Dress Codes. That means you are not alloed to ear for example shorts, sun glasses, hats or short skirts.The teachers say that sorts or short skirts ould disturb the concentration of the students. Thats often very hard, especially in the south here its very hot 40 degree in the summer. If you dont observe the rules maybe you have to stay in the guidance office for the hole school day. To get your diplome after the 12th grade you have to get a special number of so-called credits or units.The number of those credits is different from school to school. From the 9th till the 12th class the pupils havs to take part in different courses for half a year or a hole year. For every year you get one point and for every half year you get a 12 point. At the end of the 12th class the highest number of points credits, units you can get is 24, because in every of the four school years you can only take part in 6 curses.If you decide to have an leisure hour in your time table you have to take Study Hall.In this lesson you can do hat you ant, hen you dont disturb the other pupils ith loud noises. Most pupils try to sleep a little during this hour, if this is possible at little ooden desks in one room ith 100 !!! other pupils.Because in America there are no classes and hat e call Klassenlehrer , the pupils are divided into groups according to the alphabet and to their grade. They meet once a eek or at some schools even every day to organize things. This is called Home Room Period or Administration Period.The teachers in the US are very lo paid.ith 20000 brutto a year they earn little more than half of the money a truck driver earns. If you get 35000, you earn more than the US average. Often the teachers start ith 18000 a year, so they are the orst paid College absolvers in America. Because of their lo salary they often have to ork after school, for example in drugstores.Drugs are alays a problem in the High Schools. Many students sell marijuana or cocaine. They sell them at school as ell as on parties. At the many schools started anti-drug campaigns.Every Mai there is the graduation of the students of the 12th grade.Its a very big event like the german confirmation. In the evening hen the director, parents and students deliver their orations, its a bit like the Abiturfeier in Germany. But all the pupils have to ear these long capes and the hats called gon. It is customary that the students give the principal something to buy the graduation, for example smarties, forkes, chocolate...After your graduation its possible that you get a scholarship if youre good enough. There are many scholarships hich the government distributes, because its very expensive to visit a college. But many stud...
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