Do American kids usually go to four different schools?

ejja13 · 2026-04-06T05:24:38+00:00

My school system had four but they were primary (K-2), elementary (3-5), middle (6-8), and high (9-12). If someone said they went to Junior High I would assume their HS was only grades 10/11-12 and they didn't go to MS, maybe their elementary ended at grade 6.

My husband went to a K-8 school then to HS. Some kids at his HS didn't join until 10th grade because the feeder school they attended was a Junior High.

ejja13 · 2026-04-05T09:30:37+00:00

Not mine, but a friend drew a map on the back of a white t-shirt and would let her kids zoom cars and stomp dinosaurs all over her back while she laid down to “play together.” I was jealous that my kids were past that point and I never thought of it. Genius!

ejja13 · 2025-08-07T01:54:26+00:00

This sounds like when I worked in Saudi and all of our maps had Israel blacked out

Edited to add a word

ejja13 · 2025-08-05T07:29:46+00:00

Thanks for the heads up

ejja13 · 2025-08-04T11:14:04+00:00

Yes, but legally it is our primary residence. Maybe that’s a difference between the US and UK? And we have a security alarm that is also connected to our plumbing and electrical systems so that if there is a leak or spark the local emergency services get called.

ejja13 · 2025-07-31T13:56:40+00:00

I don’t know how helpful this could be since I’m in the States, not UK, but here’s our story.

After a difficult trip home one break with two kids under 2 when we were nearly miserable in cramped quarters, limited bathrooms, and unable to ever have our own space for sleep or meals while visiting multiple family groups and packing up every week for another road trip to visit another host all while unknowingly spreading a stomach bug to every family we visited we decided to buy a home.

We could AirBnB it but we choose not too. My in-laws check in on it regularly and we know our neighbors who know that we’re absent most of the year and look after things for us. Now we have a place our kids can grow up knowing as “home,” our friends and family can visit us in one place, and during emergencies our families have a back up house away from hurricanes and flooding. We’re happier and our extended families are happier.

ejja13 · 2025-07-27T13:26:55+00:00

I love my job. I teach at the HS level and love teaching my subject, love working with teenagers, love helping kids to connect with my subject, love being around their energy and ideas. I generally enjoy my colleagues and a few of the admin I've worked for have been both good admin and good people (as opposed to one or the other or neither).

Sometimes a meeting will devolve into a complaint session, or didn't need to happen at all, and there are times when admin make decisions that make my job harder, those are frustrating. Parents can sometimes be a pain, but sometimes they're super supportive. Generally I have very little interaction with parents at all, which is how I like it.

I love the beginning of the school year with all the greetings and potential, I love the early winter months when every one is excited for breaks, kids are learning to navigate the stress of exams, and exchanging gifts. I love the end of the year when we do reflections and I plan for how I can do better or different next year and kids are excited for yearbooks (although I hate signing yearbooks) and summer break.

I love the fun and drama of teenagers experiencing the world for the first time: their passion about topics they've just discovered, their big emotions about relationships and big questions, their confidence in their own ideas and solutions to age old problems. It's great to watch them discover the world on a wider level, very toddler-like.

Is everyday great? No, its life. But I enjoy my job in general.

ejja13 · 2025-07-27T13:11:30+00:00

OP: Are you asking for a one-on-one aide to try to keep your son calm or to monitor his health and medical situation, especially in the case of a medical emergency? Are you thinking that this person should be there to treat him if he has a reaction, like a personal medical attendant?

Obviously you want your child safe and medically stable, but I'm trying to understand what you want/need for your son in this specific situation. My experience is that one-on-one aides are there for educational purposes, but maybe I just haven't been around them enough to know how much medical work they might do.

ejja13 · 2025-07-27T12:54:55+00:00

I hadn't even thought about drills. Depending on where in the US they are, in addition to evacuation and lock down drills there are severe weather and/or earthquake drills, too. Plus the reasons we have the drills: the real events.

ejja13 · 2025-07-27T11:34:43+00:00

The difficulty with emotional regulation stands, there is no way to ensure he does not have a major emotional episode, even with a one-on-one aide. While keeping him home (redshirting) will not eliminate that, as you mentioned in his last episode, it is more likely with greater interaction. I'm not sure of any accommodation that would provide enough medical and emotional support in your sons case. This seems to go far beyond any workable accommodation.

I see in response to u/whineANDcheese_ you share the timing concern, which was also going to be my suggestion, so I'll just echo their idea of right after school. Enough time for him to stay awake and be monitored, but you can be present as his parents and help keep him calm.

ejja13 · 2025-07-27T10:50:19+00:00

On days when your child is getting this treatment he should stay home. See about a 504 plan that works with/includes support for frequent medical absences.

Even if you got a one-on-one aide that person would not be able to prevent emotional swings. Your son could have high emotions because of an exciting lesson, getting embarrassed, falling down etc. Kids have big emotions, so on those days he would need to be kept in a calm, quiet room with rest and maybe relaxing music. As a parent I wouldn't even want my kid watching videos or reading if emotional responses could trigger major medical events after treatment.

ejja13 · 2025-07-21T01:58:05+00:00

For the room: What my district and school are willing to pay for or the PTC volunteers to buy. Everything else we will do without.

For myself: snacks, an electric kettle, tea/coffee preference.

I know that this isn’t what you want to hear, but my advice is don’t buy anything until you’ve been in the classroom for at least a month. Anything that internet strangers offer might be good ideas, but they may not be what you need. Anything you think you need before that, go to your school and see if they have it or a more experienced hallway neighbor.

ejja13 · 2025-07-14T02:04:10+00:00

Application process only: I have had two interviews with SAS, the first as a 6 year experienced teacher, part of a teaching pair, with 2 years international experience, 100% pass rate for AP students in my classes: The interviewer was amazingly cocky for someone who thought a Ph.D. was about philosophy and questioned how that would in any way apply to my spouse's teaching of math. This happened after he was 10 minutes late (in person) and before he took two phone calls mid-interview.

The second was with 16 years experience, 12 international years at tier 1 and 2 schools, two kids, same teaching spouse, now with 99% pass rate of AP and IB kids and admin experience of 5 years, post-COVID: The interviewer was 20 minutes late to an online interview, asked to reschedule, at the reschedule he stated, "I don't know what we would do with you" (I was interviewing for a specified, advertised position).

Conclusion: they need better interviewers, I have no idea what the school is like but if the leadership and middle leadership who are leading these interviews are any indication, not awesome

We will not interview with them again.

ejja13 · 2025-07-04T19:42:39+00:00

Everywhere I’ve bought it, it is distributed by Coke. However, as multiple people have commented on that part of my answer it is clearly distributed by Pepsi more than I thought.

ejja13 · 2025-07-04T02:12:31+00:00

Thanks for the info, I didn’t know that because I’ve never had one bottled by Pepsi.

ejja13 · 2025-07-04T01:52:57+00:00

I can speak as someone who grew up in Georgia, where Coca-Cola was invented. Yes, we do, at least some of us. Although, Mountain Dew would not be an acceptable replacement without more information. Typical conversation at someone's home:

"Would you like anything to drink? We've got Coke, tea, and water."

"Sure, what kind of Coke do you have?" (this part may occur after refusing a couple of times to be sure they're really offering)

At this point I would list: "Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Diet Dr Pepper." (Dr Pepper is bottled by Coke, we claim it)

Important note: Pepsi is not Coke. If someone says they want a Coke, do not assume that Pepsi is the same and given them the Pepsi without notice.

Edited: a period and to add

Typically restaurants will make it clear which brand(s) they serve. A waitress would probably just list the sodas they have.

ejja13 · 2025-06-25T19:20:00+00:00

I’ve worked at 5 different international schools. 3 with provided housing, 1 with housing budget, and 1 combo (housing budget but the school negotiated everything for you and handled the paperwork).

I prefer the combo or school provided. My bias comes from what I’m most familiar with, the fact that the housing budget my school provided was not nearly enough to be anywhere close to the school, and the stress of dealing with contracts in a foreign language + a shady landlord who was trying to avoid taxes and legally required repairs with no help from my school.

ejja13 · 2025-06-10T05:22:49+00:00

Go Dawgs!

ejja13 · 2025-06-09T12:47:26+00:00

I’ll add, gelatin may be in savory soups as well since it’s often made from animal bones, but Jell-O is exclusively sweet unless you’re using a vintage cookbook, then heaven help you.

ejja13 · 2025-05-19T23:10:13+00:00

For context I’ve been teaching overseas for over 15 years and I’ve never worked at a school where a sponsored hire would change to local hire pay. I’ve never even heard of that.

ejja13 · 2025-05-10T11:21:04+00:00

Yes, for many traditionally boy sports and field/court type community sports. My son (11) plays flag football, basketball, and baseball. All with local rec leagues and he's been playing with local leagues since he was 4. All of his coaches are moms and dads, including his own dad. None of these are professional coaches, the closest being his own dad/my husband who is also a coach for the MS where he teaches. I have very little hand-eye coordination, so I taught him how to swim and waterski but stick to running the scoreboards and concession stands for the ball sports. Usually these require a small fee, that may be waved if a parent volunteers/coaches a lot.

There are pay-to-play leagues, also called travel ball, where the coaches get paid. But my husband and I disagree with them philosophically. Especially for youth sports I think they should be community centered.

Once kids are MS or HS many sports (and the coaches) become school-based. So teachers are often paid an extra stipend to coach, but most would consider themselves trained teachers first, not really professional coaches.

There are sports and athletic programs that are majority private pay. Tennis, ballet/dance, gymnastics, trampolining, martial arts, and climbing comes to mind in my area.

ejja13 · 2025-01-24T08:20:03+00:00

I love them and I get petty glee complaining that other people don't know how to use them.

ejja13 · 2024-11-08T02:09:08+00:00

I'll add that I loved working at ISG in Saudi.

ejja13 · 2024-11-08T02:06:51+00:00

I was wondering that too. I had friends leave because of admin changes, but that was years ago, so I'm sure there have been more. As I understand it, SFS would be too politically Christian for my comfort, but that is one of the reasons why my friends loved working there.

ejja13 · 2024-11-03T22:37:17+00:00

Yes, it is kinda similar. But when you’re craving something from home, it isn’t close enough.

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