High schools in U.S

There are 27,468 public high schools in US according to a recent study conducted by Newsweek. You can view all high schools in the country at High-Schools.com. In the United States a high school is defined as an upper secondary school responsible for educating children from grades nine right up to grade twelve depending on the state education laws. Prior to high school children in the U.S attend junior high school also called middle school. Various states in the US as well as school districts can choose to divide the various school levels as they see fit. Usually a good student can expect to graduate by their 18th birthday. However this can vary from one state to another as well as depends upon when the student was born.

There are various types of high schools in the U.S i.e. Vocational schools, ordinary high schools, and college preparatory high schools. There are also alternative and special high schools. The majority of high schools in the United States are however ordinary or general high schools as they are called. These high schools and their curriculum have been designed to cater to all types of students from every ethic and religious background. These high schools also offer classes that prepare students for college which in some states is mixed in with the regular curriculum. Students also have the possibility and option of mixing and matching various course levels based on their interests and natural abilities.

Student life

Now apart from the news of alcohol and drug use in many American high schools mixed in with the casual shooting of a few students and teachers every second year, attending an average American high school is an unforgettable experience. Young people in American high schools are exposed to people of all races, genders, and religious backgrounds. They are taught to be confident, articulate, enterprising and contributing members of society.

The majority of students grow up missing their old high school days simply because it was an out of the world experience. Every day meant that they learnt something new and that opened them up to so many new possibilities. The standard of education in many if not all high schools is so high that even dropouts become success stories something which is rare in other countries. The most famous dropout success storey being of Bill Gates who started Microsoft i.e. the gigantic software company we all are familiar with today.