Hi, all. I'm Jacqui, and I'm sixteen years old. I'm currently in tenth grade at my high school in Sydney (it's a selective one, which means you need to sit an exam to get in. I guess it's kind of like your AP [?] classes, except it's the whole school). Recently, my dad got a job transfer from Sydney to New York, so starting 2007 I'll be living in the US. I just have a couple of questions about your schooling system.
1.) My birthdate is October 12, 1990. In Australia, that means I'm in Year 10, however the school years here are different from those in America. Our school year starts February and ends December, but yours...doesn't. So, if I were to start school next year, around what time/month would I start and what grade would I be going into? Would I go into tenth grade again, or eleventh?
2.) What subjects are compuslory? This may be a weird question, I don't know. In Sydney, for our HSC (equivalent of the SAT) the only compulsory subject we have to do is at least two units of English. We get to pick at least eight other units. In the US (or, more specifically, in New York) would I get that kind of freedom? Or are Sciences, PDHPE and Mathematics compulsory?
3.) I read somewhere that you need to do 1 year of PDHPE, four years of English, etc in order to get your high school diploma. As a new international student, would this apply for me also? Would the rules be completely different, or could I take years of study I did in Australia and include them for the diploma (if that makes any sense)?
If anyone could help me out, that would be much appreciated.
I'm sorry if I didn't explain myself well; I guess I'm just anxious at the thought of doing Maths next year (I was so relieved I would be dropping it, too!)
Thanks in advance! I look forward to talking to you all on this forum!
Jacqui
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1.) My birthdate is October 12, 1990. In Australia, that means I'm in Year 10, however the school years here are different from those in America. Our school year starts February and ends December, but yours...doesn't. So, if I were to start school next year, around what time/month would I start and what grade would I be going into? Would I go into tenth grade again, or eleventh?
2.) What subjects are compuslory? This may be a weird question, I don't know. In Sydney, for our HSC (equivalent of the SAT) the only compulsory subject we have to do is at least two units of English. We get to pick at least eight other units. In the US (or, more specifically, in New York) would I get that kind of freedom? Or are Sciences, PDHPE and Mathematics compulsory?
3.) I read somewhere that you need to do 1 year of PDHPE, four years of English, etc in order to get your high school diploma. As a new international student, would this apply for me also? Would the rules be completely different, or could I take years of study I did in Australia and include them for the diploma (if that makes any sense)?
If anyone could help me out, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance! I look forward to talking to you all on this forum!
Jacqui
xx