h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why on Earth have you changed your name to Brightly Coloured Track Shoes from 7th Grade? I have to hand it to you, it's original.

I changed it because notreallytrillian is pretty stereotypical, and I have a pair of track shoes from seventh grade that still fit (no, I haven't grown since seventh grade), and I didn't like them because they were too white, so I took my friends markers during a free period and they became my suddenly brightly colored track shoes from seventh grade. I will admit that they are origional, so origional that my parents grounded me for it, but I like them a lot, so I changed them to my screen name. I just hope that I am never wearing them in the rain

Interesting...Could you explain the American system of Grades to me? In England, the school year runs from September to July, which is split into three terms. There is a week's break for 'Half Term, you guessed it, half way through each term. We have two-week breaks for Christmas and Easter, and a six-week Summer break. Some schools are considering having five terms, with two-week Half Terms and a shorter Summer break. We have Primary School instead of Grade School. You normally start in Year 1,when you are four or five years old, and after a year you move up to Year 2, and so on. Years 1 and 2 are called the infants. In Year 2 you have some tests called the Key Stage 1 SATs. Years 3-6 are called the juniors. In Year 6 you have the Key Stage 2 SATs. After that you move up to Secondary School, our equivalent of High School. In Year 9, where I currently am, you have to choose your GCSE courses. They come in later. Also, you have to take the Key Stage 3 SATs. In Year 10 and 11 you go on the Key Stage 4 course, culminating in Year 11, when you are about 16, with the GCSE exams, the most important exams you'll probably ever take. You then have the choice of quitting school, or staying on for two years in what is known as the Sixth Form, until you are 18, where you can take further exams. You can then go to college or university, or both. Then maybe you'll actually get out there and get a job. Damn, this should be an Entry! It's a lot more complicated when you actually have to sit and write it all out.
Billian

Alright...American system. And why do you want to know this?
Here's how it works. We start school in kindergarten around the age of 5. Then you enter Elementary School, which is grades 1-5. Here is where things get a bit complecated. After 5th grade you can either enter Middle School or Junior High School. If you enter Middle School you stay there for grades 6, 7, and 8, after which you go to High School for grades 9-12 (we only have 12 years, instead of 13 like you.) If you enter Junior High you stay in elementary school until sixth grade, attend Junior High for grades 7, 8, and 9, and then go to High School for grades 10-12. The only advantage that I can see for going to a Junior High School is that you only have 3 years to keep up your GPA in High School, wheras, if you attend Middle School, you have 4 years of High School to keep up your GPA. Anyway, once you get to 11th grade you can choos to take an Advanced Placement class. The more of these you take (and do well in) the easier it will be for you to get into the college/university of your choice. Also, in 10th grade you take the PSAT's, which helps you to prepare for the SAT's that you will take in 11th grade. The better you do on your SAT's, the easier it is for you to get into college because colleges in the states really look at the SAT scores. After 12th grade you graduate and have the option to go on to a college/university. In America we about a 2 and a half month summer break, whith the school year divided into four quarters, or two semesters. In the middle of each quarter we get progress reports to let us know how we are doing in our classes, at the end of each quarter we get report cards, and at the end of each semester we get a report containing both our quarter grades, our semester grades (an average of the 2 quarters), and our GPA (grade point average). At the end of each semester of High School we take mid year exams, which count from anywhere between 10-30% of our grade, and at the end of each year we take final exams, which count for the same percentage of our grade.

I wanted to know because I'm tired of watching American programmes and hearing them going on about 5th Grade, etc.