Does someone want to help this poor home-schooler who's never been in public school ever in her life? Basically, what's it like? What's the schedule, the classes, what's mandatory and what's not, social clicks, all that jazz. I don't want to rely on stereotypes, so some help would be appreciated.
same
is it like mean girls?
heathers?
ned's declassified?
Well, a lot of stereotypes are not true any more, most "jocks" are not dumb, they are usually pretty smart. In high school the schedule is a block schedule, changing like every day.
In my school, you get given a schedule with a week a and week b but I just use the app. Also, there aren't 'queens' of the school as such, just the groups that get into the most beef with each other and start drama.
I get your pain, I used to be homeschooled too. This year was my first year in public school.
Schedules vary by school. For mine, we had 40 minutes each class period. After the 40 minutes, we had 4 minutes to leave the classroom, go to our lockers (if we needed to), and then get to our next class.
Bathroom breaks: either we went in those 4 minutes, or we got a pass from our teachers.
Passes: each of the teachers usually had their own, however we also got a small handbook planner type thing. It had a hall pass section that we could get signed, 7 a semester (so 14 a year)
Each teacher is different. I had one who would not tolerate ANY talking AT ALL. I had another who sold candy and cookies in his classroom and another who regularly let us play catch with her markers. So not all teachers are evil and strict; some are but most are people and care.
A typical day in most of our classes would have the first 2-5 minutes of the teacher taking attendance or whatever, then we'd have a lesson. Some teachers taught this by giving us a link to a website from google classroom, some showed videos, some did everything by hand on the dry erase board. Each teacher teaches differently. My history teacher often showed us Doctor seuss videos and comics! So not all teachers are "read page 42-59 and write an essay by tomorrow"
However, some are like that. Basically, don't treat your teachers as just teachers. They are people too and each are different. Some are amazing people, others aren't.
Groups, they're real but not so… extreme. Its not like you're a drama girl and if you even THINK about saying hello to the nerd you are banned from life and will now die. For the most part, people stick to people who are in the same groups as them because those are the people they spend the most time with. That's it.
That's my public school experience. But remember, not all schools are exactly like this.
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At my school, we took 8 classes per semester and were on A day and B day blocking, so we took 4 classes a day, and alternated A and B days. Each class was 1 1/2 hours, and we had 5 minutes to run across the building to the next class.
As for the teachers, of course there were some people that I loved. Amazing people. Some of them were great teachers, and others fell short. Usually, individuals seem to care, but the system as a whole does not, and makes you out to be just a number. Some teachers don't like the strict rules (especially in high school) and will not abide by school policy. Example: my school came up with a rule that you can't go to the bathroom during the first or last 20 minutes of class, which is awful, because the middle of class is when most instructional time occurs. Basically, from my experience, it's constant controlling and administration trying to prove its power, and most of the time, the teachers are on your side, but really they just work there and are only okay with stretching rules so far.
As for school conditions, my school was in a historical building with broken windows, old pipes, and lots of rats. The water in the fountains, we always joked, tasted like blood because of the iron in the pipes, and our school was way too poor to afford fixing things because a. good schools with high-achieving children get less funding and b. many repairs had to go through the historical society first because preserving history apparently matters more than students' safety and comfort.
Cliques? They're always exaggerated. Usually, you're either popular and in the middle of the drama, or you're not. Mostly you spend time with people who have common interests.
That's just my experience. Hope it maybe helps.
Oh yeah, so you asked about mandatory classes. That varies by state. I live in Georgia, where we are required 24 credits. We have to take at least 1 math each year. Mandatory maths are algebra I and II and pre-calculus, I believe? (I was advanced track, so my math schedule was much different) We have to have 3 science credits, I think (physics, chemistry, and biology), and at my school, a fourth science was required. We needed 4 English/Language Arts credits, including 9th grade lit and American Lit. Then, you have to take US government, Economics, US history, and World history. Then, a credit each for gym and health are required. Oh, and foreign language. The state requirement is 2 consecutive years of a language, and the school requirement is 3. There's a lot of room for electives, advanced placement, and other stuff if you don't go to a school like mine was. It's an arts school, so those classes were required too.
Honestly, movies play it up so much. My only advice would be: make sure you have friends, good ones because no matter what kind of shit you go through they will be the ones who will help you out. It might be scary entering this new environment but I was fine as long as I had my friends, it was also good because they had the same classes as me.
In my school there wasn't a lot of physical bullying, if any. Of course people were extremely rude and often talked badly about certain people, but no one gave anyone a "Swirly" in the toilet like you see in movies. There are no "Queen Bees." You can always tell which girls are more popular, hwever, based on who the sporty guys talked to, and even though these girls were so boring and pretentious, they weren't mean to everyone, just certain people and tend to have an overall negative air about them. There is a sort of hierarchy, but it can change based on drama and who becomes friends with who. You could tell they both cared too much and not at all. The drama kids are still weird (I was in drama for a while so I can say that lol), the sports kids were given too many free passes, and sexism is real. Girls are "sluts" and "prudes", and for whatever reason, the most important thing ever is who is dating who. You have to get to class on time, even if you're just trying to comfort your friend who is crying in the hallway. The bell is all powerful. Detentions don't mean as much as you think they do, but don't get a suspension cuz those don't look good on your record. Everyone wanted to be a class clown which is both fun for us and terrible for teachers. Some people can get away with anything, and sometimes someone can do exactly what that person did and get in trouble for it. Teachers hold grudges, but they can also be the best person in your angsty teenage life. Days go by super slowly or too fast, but overall, life goes on. None of it matters as much as we think it does. That being said, it's really not that bad or nearly as dramatic as movies.