mayy

We're moving to America, chicago to specific and I wanted to know as my daughter is 16 years old and finished her GCSE's. So will she get credits for the work she completed and finish high school on time. And what will be the enrolling process?

meauxna

Which school will she attend? Their website is a good place to start, and from there, the District's site.

"Chicago" is a big place & there may be more than one district.

Brat1

I can only go from my own experience with my daughter last year, but the High School took her GCSE's results and they were sent to the School Board here in the town. Took a while, but they then sent me a notice saying that my daughter had graduated and what score she got. She chose not to go to High School here but is now at College. They will probably need to do the same for your daughter so that they know where to place here in the High School. Don't know if this helps you at all, but good luck with the move

Brat1

Sorry, should have said, the enrolling process should be relatively straightforward. Make sure she has all her shots up to date, she will have to get a blue medical form filled out for starting school and there was a whole lot of forms I had to fill in for my other 2 daughters, but it really is pretty straightforward. Look to see what school she will attend, and they will have their own website. I contacted the 3 schools from the UK so that I knew what to expect and they knew we were coming. It was all relatively straightforward.

mayy

So it could be some time before she starts after we get there.

Mummy in the foothills

Not really, you can fill the forms out on the spot, and start that day. So long as you bring proof you live in the catchment area for that school, and all the bits of paper, like Birth certificate (proof of age) vaccination card, etc.
the last two years of high school will be a lot of fun and a great experience for her and she'll get her high school diploma, ready for US college, if she already got her GCSE's she could probably do all AP classes (advance placement)
If you know the area you will live in look up what school district it is and you can visit the schools web site, it usually has the calendar on there saying when the new school year starts. Many are September, our is modified and starts end of July. Our Ds goes into his senior year in July. Lots of activities, Swim team Water Polo, and lots of clubs to look into.
If she skips school and goes straight to college, you'll pay more she hasn't been in the area 12 months for local rates. High school she'll get to make local friends. and it's pretty much free, we pay for certain classes (for supplies) and year books, etc.

lisa67

Many high schools will not allow a student to start school until they've at least had the first shot of the course needed for Hep.B. Check with the school to see if this is the case.

mayy

In chicago district it says new students coming to the area will need physical examination. Will she have to get it there or can her gp do it?

Bob

As well as the info above, you really need to figure out where you plan on living, down to the street, to see which schools you'll be able to go to, then you can ask those schools directly.

Bob

ask them.

Mummy in the foothills

Here the physical is a special form that the want filled out at the doctors office, maybe they can either mail or fax it to you so the GP can do it, or they can wait till you get there and you can make an appointment at the doctors once you move and they can wait on that part.
Here they want it done either before registration or as soon as possible after, we registered our youngest for school without her physical done, she had it done during the summer (first appointment I could get) and I gave in the paperwork during the first week of school. They were quite satisfied with that.

mayy

Also is there some specific deadline to when to register her, or can it be when we arrive.

penguinsix

We have a wiki on what you need to get the kids into school.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...s_in_school%3F

Basically, you can start school as soon as you arrive, doing all the paperwork when you get there. The general concept in the US is "the neighborhood school" meaning you will be assigned to the school for your area, going to class with the kids on your street.

In some circumstances, the neighborhood school may be filled and if you arrive mid-term you'll be sent to a different school before moving to the 'neighborhood' school next term.

Contact the school and see if you can get the medical form. You can probably get it done over there, but as others have mentioned you will likely need Hep B (and possibly other) jabs. Hep B course is a six month, 3 shot. Shot 1, then a month later Shot 2, then at the end of six months shot 3. You might want to get started on it over there.

md95065

There really is no general answer to questions like this other than "it depends on the state, the school district and possibly even the school" ...

lisa67

Agreed. Most of the info for my kids schools regarding deadlines, vaccination requirements etc is on their web site. If in doubt call them. If you have a long list of questions then maybe email them but call them first to check that they'll be able to receive your emails. My kids school district needs your email on file otherwise it'll automatically go in their spam folder.