3. There are five main types of schools. Public schools are free, and about 9 in 10 students go to them. Private schools charge tuition. Charter schools are public and free, but they are run independently. Magnet schools focus on one subject, like science or art. And some families choose homeschool, where children learn at home.
5. American education is almost 400 years old. In 1635, Boston Latin School opened as the first public school. In 1636, Harvard became the first college. In 1954, the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education ended legal segregation in schools. And in 1979, the US Department of Education was created.
6. Public school is free from kindergarten to grade 12, because taxes pay for it. But college is not free. A public university costs about 11,000 dollars a year, and a private college can cost about 40,000 dollars a year.
8. Students get many breaks. Summer break is the longest, about 10 to 12 weeks. Thanksgiving gives them 2 to 5 days off, winter break is about 2 weeks, and spring break is about one week. Schools also close for holidays like Labor Day, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day.
10. Teachers give letter grades from A to F. An A is worth 4.0, a B is 3.0, a C is 2.0 and a D is 1.0. All the grades are averaged into one number called the GPA.
11. Federal law requires state tests in reading and math in grades 3 to 8, and once in high school. For college, many students take the SAT or the ACT, but many colleges now make these tests optional. Students can also take AP classes to earn college credit while they are still in high school.
14. College is expensive, but there is help. Students fill out the FAFSA, which is the federal aid application. Grants and scholarships are money you keep. Loans are money you must pay back with interest. And work-study gives students part-time jobs on campus.
15. More than one million international students study in the USA. They apply to each college before its deadline, and they show their English skills with a test like TOEFL or IELTS. They need an F-1 student visa, and they must prove that they can pay for their studies.