5 Education in the Czech Republic, GB, Our school

If we don’t want to study in the sixth form, we can leave school and go to college. At college they offer you a wide range of courses (from cookery to electrical engineering). People often go to college because it prepares them for work. They don’t have to go to a college or stay at school in the sixth form, but they can do two years of a job training to complete their education (after two years they are ready to start working somewhere).

OUR SCHOOL

The Czech gymnasium was founded in 1909 in Orlové-Město at the same time as the Polish Real gymnasium. Ten years later, the Business Academy was also founded.

Nowadays Polish gymnasium is locaded in Karviná and since September 2, 1996, our gymnasium has been using the current building designed by architects Josef Kiszka and Barbara Potyszová. The building won the Grand Prix Architects competition for the best building of 1996.

In 2013, the school changed its name to Gymnasium and Business Academy Orlová, due to the merger of the Gymnasium and SOŠ schools.

In the 2019/2020 school year, the school celebrated the jubilee hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Business Academy in Orlová, and at the same time the 110th anniversary of the Gymnasium.

Our school is a modern building with many specialist classrooms like biology labs, chemistry labs and physics labs. We also have modern equipment in many classrooms (for example interactive whiteboard, computers, projectors, …) The school is barrier-free, has 5 floors with many stairs and lots of plants, so it can feel very open and welcoming place, it has two gyms, a fitness gym and a climbing wall.

EDUCATION IN THE USA

In the USA children can attend pre-k. It’s not compulsory and it’s for the children aged 3 or 4.

Then they start kindergarten when they’re 5 years old and finish it at 6.

After kindergarten they have to attend elementary school. There are six grades (first grade is for children aged 6 or 7, sixth grade is for children aged 12 or 13). Elementary school is usually in the same building as kindergarten.

Children aged 13/14 attend junior high school - it’s a transition between elementary and high school, there are two grades (7th and 8th).

High school is usually for children from the age 14 to 18.

There are four grades:

• 9th grade - freshman (14-15)

• 10th grade - sophomore (15-16)

• 11th grade - junior (16-17)

• 12th grade - senior (17-18)

When we are 16 years old, we can quit school, but only with our parent’s signature or permission. At 18 we can quit school even without parents’ signature. We can repeat our grade only twice (usually we have to repeat our grade when we have bad marks or because of a bad behaviour).

At the end of sophomore (year) we can decide if we want to go to the college prep or vocational school (mechanic, chef, …) or OJT - on job training)