Overseas Schools

[Captain_Pugwash]

I've been offered a tour in the States and would be grateful if anyone has any experience of state run and private schools in the US.

My main concern is moving back to England in 3 years time when my son will be about to start his GCSEs. If anyone has personal experience of this situation I'd be interested to find out how they managed the change of education system.

[Scuttled]

My son boards in the uk, but I know a few who's children don't. If you pm me your details and where you are bound I may be able to put you in contact with people in the know.

[Dan Winterland]

CP - check your PMs.

[Courtney Mil]

My kids were very much younger than yours when I did my exchange, but would say this. The US school system is pretty good (depending on where you are), but the biggest problem is the way curriculums don't match up. They may find their learning in the US leaves gaps in their GCSE foundation. When you say your son will be starting his GCSEs do you mean starting the syllabus or closer to the exams? If the former, he would probably be fine, especially if you can look at the key stages and help him fill in the gaps as he goes along.

BTW, the Americans label their schools the other way round - Public=Private, Private=Public (which makes more sense than our system).

Courtney

[airborne_artist]

Apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but the way most GCSEs and schools are run involves modules and coursework. It's pretty much vital that your son is back in the UK system for the September term of the year in which he will be 14, as that will ensure he has the full two years of the GCSE programme in the right place.

[Mach Two]

..or in a UK boarding school by then. My parents sent me to boarding school, but that was because they didn't like me. Never did me any harm.

Seriously, though, the experience of living in another country can be a great thing for kids and you do have the option - current allowances rules permitting - of starting boarding at the appropriate stage. Apart from anything else, that would give him two life-forming experiences.

[Airborne Aircrew]

State schools vary horribly here in the US. Two schools a mile apart can be run by different school districts and one can be brilliant while the other can be quite pathetic.

In general the religious schools here tend to guarantee the best education if you, (and the kids), can tolerate the heavy emphasis on religion. For pupils in grades 1-9(?) the Lutheran school that my daughter currently attends daycare/pre-school at charges about $200 per month per child for parents that attend a given number of services in the attached church per year and $400 per month per child for people like me who don't attend...

Hope that helps...

[Could be the last?]

You also need to check what allowances you will be entitled to for transporting your son to the school.....l. It isn't a given that the big yellow bus is free!!!

[Pitts2112]

As said here earlier, schools can vary wildly from one town to the next, usually in proportion to the affluence of the tax-paying residents. A good estate agent would be able to fill you in on towns with good schools, as would a little bit of internet research.

Curriculum matching would be an issue beyond age 14, I would think. Take science, for example. In a US high school, a student typically takes one science subject in a year but does it from beginning to end. In my case, freshman year was a general intro to laboratory science and chemistry. Sophomore year was biology. Junior was chemistry, senior was physics. In UK schools, students seem to get all the sciences every year so, by age 16 or so, they'll have had a bit of physics, bio, chem, earth science, etc; whereas an American student likely wouldn't have had any physics or chemistry at all yet.

I would check with the school principal in whatever town you're planning to live and compare the curriculum and base a decision on that.

[Robert Cooper]

The Artist at post 5 is spot on.

I did my exchange over here in 1979, which is a long time ago. But the problem is still the curriculm difference. I sent my two boys back in time to get into the GCE run-up.

Good luck!

Bob C

[Captain_Pugwash]

Thanks very much for the advice and information; Mrs P and I have a tricky decision to make!

[Paul Chocks]

Captain Pugwash,

Congratulations on the job offer. We spent 4 yrs in the States returning in 2008. It was absolutely fantastic, and I have would have no hesitation in recommending it. However, one of the big things to realise is that the USA is effectively a continent and despite being all of one nation, the standard of schooling varies markedly from state to state.

The general consensus is that the NE states have the best public (state run/free) schools. We lived in a state where public schools were generally known to be relatively poor. Additionally, we couldn't find suitable housing within the catchment of the better public schools and as such elected to send our boys to local private schools - The British Embassy recognise that continuation of education is important, and will contribute towards private schooling (at a similar rate to UK boarding schools) - certainly if you are in a poorer state.

My eldest was 13 when we returned and was about a year ahead of his UK peers on return in most subjects. He had no problems adjusting academically, and of course came back before starting all the GCSE stuff. My youngest, however, was probably a year behind his UK peers (he was nearly 7 on return) and is still playing catch-up with reading and writing. The American school system my boys were in appeared to start slowly and then accelerate rapidly around the transition from elementary (primary) to middle/high school (Age 11, as per UK)

Most Americans truly believe in the American Dream and are very positive and encouraging to all kids. There is a strong cultural emphasis in achieving the most you can and so being clever is much more cool than within the UK system. There are also tons of sporting and extra curricular opportunities too. These points appeared to apply equally well to those in the public schools.

Given the variation between states, the best bet is probably to speak to your predecessor, or his predecessor, if they have had similar age kids in school there.

Feel free to PM me if there's anything you think I might be able to help with.

[Geehovah]

Moved out to Texas with kids at 10 and 13 years old. Big challenge but they both benefitted massively in the end (2 x 1st Class Honours)

I can give you details for TX but its dependent on the State, the city and the Independent School District.

[Whenurhappy]

We use both systems - daughter in an American DoD elementary school and son boarding in the UK. We've found the US school to be very good but very 'process driven' and bureaucratic. Teachers are keen and class sizes small. We are disappointed that in spite of excellent sports facilities, they are hardly ever used - probably due to a lack of a PE teacher.

One thing to watch out for are the NEW rules on CEA (boarding allowance) for the last two years at school. Furthermore if you go down the boarding route (and we thoroughly recommend it) bear in mind that the slashing of LOA means that you will have to dig deep to pay for extra flight (eg half term etc). If you go down the US route, SCE should fund additional costs such as school buses and class fees (DOD is c $22K pa). Depending where you are, there might be an International School nearby, and many of these use the English syllabus (or the IB). SCE might fund day attendance provided you make a cogent case...