Don't Teens start high school at 14
Okay I am not from the US but don't kids start high school in 9th grade. Stacey is 15 in the beginning of the film starting High School. Can anyone tell me this or is it different between schools and states.
shareIt is different. I grew up in California (where the movie takes place.) I started high school at 15. 10th grade is the first year of high school. I live in Illinois now, my kids will be starting high school in 9th grade
shareThanks. I would think it would be better to have the kids start at 15, Three grades in Junior high and then three grades in high school but what would I know.
shareNot sure how old you are, but back then, and still in some places here, high school starts at 9th grade. There was junior high, which was 7th and 8th, and senior high, which was 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades.
I started 9th grade at 13, but I turned 14 in October. Also back then, as long as you turned 5 by November 30th, you could start kindergarten. So my neighbor was born November 29th, 1968 and he started kindergarten when he was 4, and graduated high school in 1986. My brother and sister were born December 14, 1968 and had to wait until the following September to start school, so they graduated in 1987. Only 2 weeks apart, but separated by an entire grade.
I was also born in 68. In San Diego, grade school went to 6th. 7th, 8th and 9th were junior high and 10th, 11th and 12th were high school. I graduated in 1986 myself.
I'm not sure how it works out here in the midwest, but my son just finished grade school in 5th. Now he's starting something called 'middle school.' If I recall correctly (I need to double check the school calendar) it's 6th, 7th and 8th - then high school for him (9th through 12th.) No junior high at all.
There are all sorts of different ways of classifying grades. The first school I went to had K-8, and while there was no specific "Jr. High", the 6 - 8 grade classes were at a different wing of the school.
When I moved to a different town, the next school was K-6, and then you went to a specific, "Jr. High" school with kids from other schools in the area. But, there were also schools in that town/school district which were K-8.
A cousin of mine in another part of the same state went to a school that was K-5, then 6-8. A guy I met in college went to a school that was K-6, then Jr. High was 7-9 & High school was 10-12.
What is the best? Who knows? I can see having 7-9 together, but that also gives the 9th graders another year to be immature. And, while I don't like all of the ridiculing 9th graders got in High school, they also had to grow up instead of being little turds.
I've heard some criticisms of middle schools from those who think 6th graders are too young to be going to the same school as 8th graders.
When I was in elementary school, the 6th graders were the oldest, so they were the "top dogs," so to speak. But in 7th grade, it was back to the bottom of the pile, while the 9th graders were the "top dogs" in that school. But now in the four-year high schools, 9th graders are back at the bottom.
IMO, having 6th graders with 8th graders isn't a big deal. In a small school, they've seen each other around for enough years they know who they are - especially if they are involved in any kind of sports or school activities.
In a bigger school, there is probably enough separation that the kids don't interact all that much. I know some schools "force" interaction, but I would think that there would be enough kids of the same age to keep from having to be together all of the time.
I remember hearing of some schools - and this was a while back in smaller towns - where "high school" was actually from 8th grade up. I don't see where that would work at all, especially when it comes to PE / locker rooms. 8th graders can be 11 or 12 years old - should they really be showering with 17 & 18 year old's? Even if nothing happens, how many 12 year old's are comfortable with their bodies - then put them there with older guys? Ugh!
Gotcha. I was born in 71.
I guess it's different around the country. I was sent to Catholic school, and that was K-8. But my friends that went to public schools, they only went K-6, then junior high from 7-8, and then high school 9-12.
Maybe 10 years after I graduated high school, they started the whole middle school thing here in NY, putting 6-8 together in one school. Now I think they call them "secondary school". I still just call it junior high. My daughter is going into 8th grade and I just say junior high.
Where I live (South Texas), high school for many of the school districts begins with the ninth grade and runs through the twelfth, just like in most other places. As for kindergarten, prospective students must be 5 years old on or before September 1st in order to be able to enroll; if a kid's fifth birthday falls after that date, s/he won't be eligible for kindergarten until the following year. At least that's how it happened with me. My fifth birthday fell after September 1st of '74, so I was not able to start kindergarten in the school district right that year. My mom, however, still wanted to get me started in school, so she found a kindergarten program at a Methodist church--and that marked my first year in school. I did become eligible to enroll in the district's kindergarten program the following school year, so I actually had TWO years of kindergarten. The result of all this was that I graduated in 1988 instead of 1987. And all because of a single date that came two weeks too late. Oh, well. . .
shareIn the valley where the movie took place 9th grade is the first year of high school....I grew up 15 mins away
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