School in the Czech Republic is very different than school in the USA in a lot of ways. I've been super lucky to teach at my school for almost a whole year and talk to a bunch of teachers and students. I'm still learning a lot about how school works, but here are the basics!
How Czech schools work
Instead of going to middle school, students in the Czech Republic stay at their primary school (another name for elementary school) for nine years (kindergarten through 8th grade). If you go to a public primary school, you go to the one closest to you.
When students are in 8th grade, they have to apply to different high schools. Some high schools are similar to high school in the USA, where students keep learning all subjects like math, history, language arts, health, biology, chemistry, physics, and all the other classes. These schools are called gymnaziums, and I teach at one! But most high schools are very different from US schools. In high school, you can start training to be a nurse, dental assistant, construction worker, social worker, teacher, park ranger, logger, massage therapist, engineer, plumber, electrician, hotel manager, caterer and so many other things.
