Leeds-boy22

For the last couple of years i've been thinking about moving to the US and i'm considering moving to New Jersey. One of the big reasons for moving is a new fresh start for me and my 12 yr old son specially lately as he has been hanging around with the bad crowd and has already been suspended from his high school for fighting and want him to be removed from situation where he's tempted to behave badly any way from my personal research i've figured out he will be in middle school if we're to move and i intend on sending him to a public one (been a teacher I don't really believe that money should buy and education and i'd be a hypocrite to send him to a private school). So would my son's behavioral record in England affect his schooling in the US? Also in England he is a avid football/soccer player and has played for several academies in the yorkshire area (including Leeds United, Hull City and Sheffield United) so anyone know any high ability soccer academy program in the New York/New Jersey Area so he can continue his football/soccer training (he practical breathes the game, he has been playing since he was 2) also who should I contact about state teacher licencing if i wanted to teach in New Jersey (I want to teach middle school age groups as i'm used to 10-13 yr olds as thats about what i teach in England) and any other information about teaching middle school in the US or just general middle school information would be greatly appreciated

penguinsix

Hi

We get a message like yours pretty much every day, and before we go delving into the specifics of schools and neighborhoods to live in and how to buy a car, generally we'd like a bit more information from you about what visa you intend to use to live here. Are you married to a US Citizen? Do you have a US passport? It often comes as a bit of a shock, but generally the US is rather unfriendly when it comes to people trying to move here and find a job.

Take a look through this list and see if there is something that fits your situation.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

If there is, let us know and we can give you some advice not only on how to proceed for that visa but the others questions you might have. If there isn't something on that list, than I hate to be a bit blunt but your chances of moving here are very very slim to non-existant.

So give it a read through and let us know.

Leeds-boy22

Oh immigration is taken care off, my wife is American, from Indiana.

penguinsix

Ok, visa bit out of the way then.

Let's start with the icky bits first. Teaching. The US is in the midst of a massive financial crisis that has seen tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of teachers across the country be made redundant. There are simply a huge number of teachers looking for work right now, and in many states they'll have 50 applicants for each opening, at least. You're going to find it very rough getting your foot in the door, and you may want to consider this before you decide on where it is exactly you decide to live (you didn't really mention but is there something special about New Jersey that is pulling you there? Wife's job, family, etc?). There are others parts of the US where unemployment isn't as bad, such as the Washington, DC area, and some parts of the Great Plains (where there is lots of land and very few people).

I'm not sure what bits of your son's behavior record will come along with his transcripts. You will need his academic transcripts so that the new school can properly place him. As you may know in the UK they start a year earlier and some when they move over wish to keep their kids in the "higher" class (i.e. a grade ahead of where they are age-wise) and some want to put their kids in the age-apporpriate grade. There is no real right or wrong answer on this, with some having no problems and some having major problems. Take a look here for more information about schooling and whatnot.

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

Soccer is quite common in many places in the US, but it's not necessarily the formalized system that you are used to with academies and whatnot. Generally the schools will have a team that plays other schools of a similar size, with the eventual goal of being the state champion. Traveling sides of players from a town will form teams and play others from different towns. Eventually you'll start to get the interest of college scouts, who offer free-rides to university if you are capable of playing at the collegiate level. Professional scouts also work the high schools and traveling side games, if you are of an ability to impress at that level (by an large most professional athletes in America go first to university before playing in the professional leagues).

Sally Redux

I agree things are very tough for teachers st the moment.

I'm not sure about the transcript, though. I didn't bring anything over for my children, aged 12 and 9.

I think if you're living in the right area for a school, they will take your child.

md95065

General observation - moving to get a "fresh start" and leave your problems behind rarely works - the problems have a way of following you.

If your son is having trouble at school in the UK and is "hanging around with the bad crowd" what makes you think that things will be any different in the US? (other that the fact that the "bad crowd" in the US are much more likely to have guns ...)

Leeds-boy22

Well generaly i had an idea of moving to an area in america where there isn't a bad crowd/or the bad crowd isn't that bad you get my drift
Also by probelms following me, i doubt a group of thugish teenagers are going to be moving to america any time soon.

Giantaxe

I think you rather missed his point.

md95065

They don't have to move to America - the US already has its full quota of thuggish teenagers, and if those are the kind of people that your son wants to hang out with he won't have any trouble finding them.

rugbyrich

You don't have to work as a teacher then do you? So there is nothing standing in your way. Pick a nice small town with nicely cut hedges, yellow school buses, cheerleaders, debate teams the whole nine yards and a nice high school full of kids who have too much to lose to act like your son is acting now and then you put the fear of god into your kid about going to jail in America and he should be right as rain.

Isn't it the kids from the private schools that get the best college options and the best job prospects?

Rete

They don't have to move here --- they are already here. NJ is okay but you will find lots of areas of NJ, even the very affluent areas, are rife with drugs and gangs. The US is far from paradise for adults, let alone for kids.

BTW my niece graduated from a private school in New Jersey and played for years on a traveling soccer team and won a fully paid scholarship based on her abilities to play soccer. She graduated from St. John's University.

another bloody yank

Kind of off topic, but which subject do you teach?

Awesome Welles

Hopefully not English....

"Been a teacher I don't really believe that money should buy and education and i'd be a hypocrite...."

Duncan Roberts

Where ever you move in America there will be a "bad crowd" and there will always be the really bad and thuggish few. You may not see it as a tourist but will when you get into the day to day living. Also remember that in the US it wouldn't be uncommon for people in this bad crowd to have guns. Some places have it worse than others but you will never get away from it 100%.

sir_eccles

Just to double check, your wife is the mother of the 12yr old in question?