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Secondary Schools in USA

USA school system includes education from age 5-6, from Kindergarten to 12 th grade.
Grades 6-7-8 are considered Middle School and as of 9 th Grade, High School starts. There are
state public schools and private schools. Private Schools are mostly “Independent” private
schools, which are funded by its founders and managed by them. There are also some Catholic-
Jewish-Presbyterian affiliated schools and in some of them, there are some religious
obligations. Public system has district schools where children attend their home designated
school, as well as some charter and magnet schools which assess students or have lottery
system.
On the contrary of some beliefs, there are quite scholarship and grant opportunities for
secondary school, especially high school in USA. These scholarships are mostly academic and
athletic some artistic based. Furthermore, the neediness of the student income wise for the
scholarship is another huge factor and there are some very good Independent Private Schools
accepting students with 100% scholarship on need-based. At that point, the fact that the
student is international and not a US citizen, can be advantageous especially in cases where the student shows academic excellency with a good extra-curricular record. In cases where the
student holds dual citizenship with a USA passport, family’s income status plays an important
role and every family contributes to the tuition as much as their income, even though parents
are not US. Citizens. Given the fact that Turkish economy and lira devalued extremely and
general income of most families diminished, it is undeniable that many US. Born students will
receive some kind of aid. These independent schools that we can try to apply are all over the
U.S., with intensity in New England area, California area, Mid-West area and South-East area.
One of the top schools which gives 100% scholarship for a yearly income of 75000 USD and
below is the school that Mark Zuckerberg graduated from, Exeter School. Also, I would like to
mention that these schools offering aid, are boarding schools and aid includes boarding as well.
Another alternative is try to be an exchange student with a J visa the last year of high
school and graduate from a US. School. In that way, applying for college within the USA, is
much easier. There are many programs for exchange that I can assist you with. I would
especially recommend for athletes, swimmers-basketball-volleyball players, to be accepted by
high school to US. School and apply for athletic scholarship for college from US. School. They
can have more chance. Moreover, public secondary schools in USA are tuition free; therefore, the only expense would be the room and board. We can discuss all, arranging room and board with a family or at boarding schools, or some community centers etc. Another choice would be renting a small place, in some cities where the public education system is good, living expenses are still low, especially in small places even in suburbs of New York, etc.

 

Secondary Schools in Canada

Canada has very good public education system. Canada has been divided into provinces
and each province funds its public schools. Secondary School in most provinces are required to
complete and it is until Grade 12. In Quebec Province, the education language is French,
whereas in all other provinces is English. Most public-school attendance is designated through
address and is tuition free, funded by government. Moreover, there are many private
institutions both secular and religious, and scholarships for these institutions are mostly
academic merit based. There are also exchange programs for High School students.
 

Secondary Schools in UK

UK has been a very popular secondary school destination lately, given the fact of its
excellent education system and proximity to Turkey.
Education system in UK consists of 4 parts, and we can consider secondary school from
stage 2, ages 9 to 11. Stage 3 consists of ages 11 to 14 and stage 4 consists of ages 14 to 16.
At age 9, students are given education based on GCSE exam preparation, which is a test taken
at last years of stage 2, year 10-11, a national test, which is the key for entry level to all schools. Students are answering questions for this test for subjects such as English, Math, Sciences,
Humanities and Language. Also, students choose some optional subjects according to each
school they choose. In UK system, the schools have several types. There are state funded schools, in which they are categorized as selective “grammar schools” which they choose students according to this above mentioned test or in lower grades according assessment, non-selective schools named “comprehensive” schools, in which they are also in divided in names such as “free schools” and “academies”. Finally, there are “Independent” schools, some of which call themselves “public” schools. These independent schools are either governed by board of
governors or have private ownership. Many of older ones, especially boarding ones, give full
scholarship especially to academically talented students who score perfect at these tests.
There are some athletic and artistic scholarships for outperforming students as well. Lastly,
some of the very well-known Independent Schools in UK, as well as in USA-although slightly
less, are still not co-ed; only girls or boys educated. They proclaim girl students perform better
that way without boy pressure and become more successful.
Finally, years 12 and 13, (age 16) students start preparing for A Level exams, which
consist of different subjects and which examine proficiency; especially required for UK
universities. IB education system and IB exam, which stands for International Baccalaureate, is
a system where students specialize in an area and focuse on written exams. Some independent
schools are offering IB Diploma and this choice. IB Diploma is more internationally recognized
and USA colleges are more familiar.

 

Secondary Schools in Switzerland

Switzerland, although a very tiny country in Central Europe, has top standards when it
comes to education. Education is compulsory in most cantons, (regions divided in Switzerland)
until 18 years old and it includes fluency in three languages, English, French, German or Italian.
Public education system is common and it is free to all Swiss citizens and residents with a
permit.
Moreover, private schools are known as the best in the world and many crème de la
crème of all universe are attending these schools. Some of the names include Institut auf dem
Rosenberg, Le Rosey, TASIS The American School in Switzerland. These ones are either
boarding or day schools and tuition mostly starts from 15,000 USD day school to 30-40,000
boarding. Limited scholarships are available to excellent students. For instance, For Le Rosey,
foundation grants scholarships especially for artistic abilities lately; academic excellency or
some extraordinary sports ability. Scholarships are given according to the need of the family
and it asks for a symbolic contribution in general. They also have a quota for nationality so it is
an advantage to be of an origin which is not represented at the school or a minority.
 

Secondary Schools in all other European countries, Northern Europe- Spain-
Germany, Netherlands and Asia

European countries tend to have good compulsory public, tuition free education system.
Their education is based on their native language although they give English perfectly and even
a third language. All also have International Private Schools but for many locals, it is not very
common to attend a private school unless you are an expat moving around the world. For
instance, in Netherlands, where I lived for year and worked and from where I have many
friends, it is totally common to attend a public school and by the time the student reaches even
1 st grade after preschool, he or she will be fluent in English. Thus, there are some very good
private International Schools also, for example, school specialized in equestrian as well
academics or farming; boarding schools with tuition can be an option.
Asia is known for its tough education. In Japan, school is 6 days out of 7 days of the
week. In South Korea, school and test system is so competitive. There are some very good
Private IB schools for expat children especially and most expat families send their kids to these
schools since Asian culture is not easy to penetrate within. However, I would recommend a
year of exchange to an Asian country, to Japan let’s say, for a totally different cultural and
visionary experience. I think in the near future; this type of experiences will have high note.
AFS for instance, has a special program, a semester at Japan for highly achieving students.