TwentyTwenty

Hi new on here. I currently live in Edinburgh UK and have been offered a move with work to San Jose, California. My 2 kids are 13 & nearly 15 and in 2nd & 3rd year at school in Scotland now. If we make the move it would likely be this summer with them starting at a US school at the start of the new school year. They are in an independent school in Scotland so I could potentially afford to send them to a private school in the US.

The biggest factor for us in making the decision whether to move or not is their education, and whether they could handle the change without it being negatively impacted. Screwing up their future would of course be far too big a price to pay. I am looking on any move as a long term one so they would probably also have ambitions to attend college in the US.

If people can offer any advice or share experiences that would help us make this exciting but difficult decision that would be wonderful.

Many thanks in advance.

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

I suggest you look into the cost of private schools in SJ. They tend to be very expensive compared to UK private schools. On top of the fees, you may be expected to make a healthy donation each year.

tom169

Will your employer be sponsoring green cards? And do you have this in the contract?

jjmb

Which visa are you moving with? What employment does your wife have and how will it impact her career? As to the kids, you see lots of posts for this age group, do a search. Much will depend on their characters and resilience. Some kids will thrive, others will not. For the 15 yr old, would it be possible for them to board in Scotland? If you are moving on a temporary visa, it should be possible for at least the eldest to go to university in Scotland. Normally you have to be a resident for 3 yrs before entering university but waivers can be applied for students who have been temporarily moved aboard due to their parent's careers. You know your kids best and how they will cope with change. The education system in the USA is totally different from Scotland and is assessed over the 4 yrs of high school as opposed to the exam system in Scotland, so you would need to get transcripts from the school for them to do classes in the US. That shouldn't be an issue, schools are used to doing that.

okonumiyaki

Send them to boarding schools in Scotland

karenkaren1

my kids were 12 and 14 when I moved here 2018. The youngest got a year of middle school in which was a huge advantage over her big brother. It meant she could start high school with high school credits under her belt and she had a year to familiarize with the school system (its very different from UK). My eldest went straight into high school and had a tougher time adjusting, and has had a much rougher ride getting the grades needed for college. It definitely not a walk in the park to switch at this age if im honest.

ddsrph

I am American and my wife and I have no children. But I think the important thing is how do your children view moving to California? If they are fully on board I would just select a neighborhood with good public schools and go for it, especially if this is going to be a permanent move. If they are behind (which I highly doubt) use a summer for extra classes to catch up. With educated parents and the resources of the internet any required extra training is easy to come by. If they end up ahead of their us classmates use the time to get further ahead. When college time comes do some SAT prep courses. It will be a great future advantage for them to have both UK and US citizenship.

S Folinsky

FWIW, University of California has eliminated the SAT/ACT standardized test requirement and California State University & College system looks poised to do the same.

Mic1

Yes, i read this too. So does this mean that results are/will be based on coursework over the duration of the time spent at the particular school, college or uni? Far less pressure for the kids if you ask me, especially for the ones (like mine) that freeze at the thought of an exam.

penguinsix

Academically--not that difficult. There will be a few differences but they'll catch on to those quickly. The older one may have a little more adjustment as they teach things in a slightly different manner in the older years than they do in the UK.

Socially--can be tricky--depends where you end up. 13 & 15 are over the age of "lets be friends with everyone" and starting to see more stratification and 'cliques' in school. Can be a tad rough to a newcomer.

FWIW though, my biggest question is where are they going to Uni.

kimilseung

Nobody cares about SAT any more.
Look out for some odd graduation requirements. For example my State has State history, its done in middle school. Students coming to the state at high school age, have to do it online, but its easy to miss, forget about.

Verity1965

I’ve just done the move with similar aged kids to yours.

It can be done but it’s a bumpy ride depending on your child, expectations, learning styles, and the school I suppose.

Mine entered into a well regarded High School and the middle school here in CA. The educational culture shock was huge for them. They were state educated in the UK. Don’t underestimate that. A whole heap of resilience will help. Having said that it’s tough but doable.
I’d recommend getting fully to grips with grading, credits, levels and be prepared to fight your corner in terms of transferring UK school experience to US credits. Etc

There is a lot I could say but in a nutshell we did one semester in the public sector and moved the middle schooler to a private school and another reverted back to a UK online school. We had different reasons why this happened. None to do with lack of resilience or not getting on but potentially around their individual expectations carried over from where they had finished in the UK. It’s personal for sure.

Happy to talk through my experiences, what I learned along the way. Having said that I only have experience of this High School. It may be very different in San Jose.

As a pp posted private schools fees here are extortionate so the decision wasn’t taken lightly. And yes I was shocked when I heard your very much expected to donate sums of money each year.

TwentyTwenty

Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to reply. There has been some invaluable guidance shared and I very much appreciate it. It won't be an easy decision but I am now armed with much better data on which to base it. Thanks again.

Lion in Winter

You might also consider contacting either public or private schools in the areas you are considering and see what they have to say about support for students coming in from a different system. My son's high school (In Illinois, so no use to you) had a specific "team" to support transfers, help them adjust, find a little "group" to be with, and learn the ropes. Simply having such an approach might be a sign that a school is ready for students with a different background and will be supportive. I would also suggest a large school over a small one. In a large school the impact of cliques is reduced, and it's easier for a kid to find some other group of kids with whom they have something in common. Large and well-funded schools also have a plethora of activities to help kids ease in, from sports to a load of other interest groups and after school clubs.

As an idea, here are the current clubs in my son's high school (he's now at uni in the UK). This is a large and well-funded public school, with all kinds of kids from all over the place with all sorts of different backgrounds.

https://www.eths.k12.il.us/domain/47

You can also browse around on that site to get a general feel, but even better of course to look at a school in your desired area.