# How do you feel about a 19 year old in 11th grade?



## spinxo (Apr 25, 2015)

I'm 19 and my sister is turning 17 soon. She had a friend over to work on a school project. Then my sister informed me this friend was older than me (she helped her friend sign up for the SAT, and found out her birthday). I am astonished. The girl is from china and stated when she came to the US the New York City Department of Education put her in 7th grade instead of 9th for some reason she doesn't know. She's not "finishing" her education. I went to this school and if you don't graduate you go to school in the afternoon. She is literally in the 11th grade turning 20 in 12th grade. How do you feel about a 19 year old in 11th grade?


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## moominmamma (Jul 5, 2003)

I think school is far too narrowly age-levelled. I love multi-age learning environments and I fully support a more open-minded approach to grade assignments. What should matter is whether the student's educational and emotional/social needs are being met.

Miranda


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## MeepyCat (Oct 11, 2006)

So, why do you care? What business is this of yours? And if we all stand around agreeing that god no, twenty year-olds should absolutely be done with high school (and i don't necessarily agree with that) - well, then what? 

There is an assumption in the US that people will finish up with high school around the age of 18, but that has never been entirely accurate. Your sister's friend seems to be one of those cases.

I am sure that a little consideration could lead you to a number of reasons why she might have gone to 7th instead of 9th grade at 14, and to a number of reasons why she might choose not to discuss the matter with you.


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## Linda on the move (Jun 15, 2005)

I feel a lot of respect for students who don't fit the norm but stick with what is best for their lives. Good for her.


Her English skills may have been such that when she started school, they put her back so that she would have time to become more solid in English before starting high school. Nationwide, the graduation rate for English Language Learners is only about 60%. In some states, only 20-30% of students whose first language isn't English graduate from high school. 


This young woman deserves a lot of respect and support.


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## Satori (Jan 30, 2003)

Its actually pretty common but you tend to see it more in the virtual schools. I'm guessing she needed time to learn English. That said my dd will also graduate at age 20. She was red shirted in kindy and needed to repeat 7th due to missing half the year to health issues. Know what though? As a 7th grader she's already earning high school credit. By the time she actually hits high school she will basically skip 2 years and credit wise will be a Jr. Her actual Jr year she will start college and graduate with both an AS and her high school diploma so who cares that she will be 20? She's getting 2 years of free undergrad and it will open up scholarship opportunities and help her pay for 2 more years, especially since she will be treated as an incoming freshmen with college credit. I think this path has been a wonderful option for my daughter.


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## moominmamma (Jul 5, 2003)

Satori said:


> my dd will also graduate at age 20. ... As a 7th grader she's already earning high school credit. By the time she actually hits high school she will basically skip 2 years and credit wise....


I don't doubt that this explanation makes perfect sense to those of you familiar with the US high school and college system, but as a Canadian it has just left my head spinning.

So she's working at a 9th grade level, but has been placed two years back in 7th? Why is she still considered to be in 7th then? Is it just a way to get the state to pay her college tuition fees for two years? The way it works here is whatever level you're studying at school, that's what grade you're in. What you're describing seems really odd to me.

Miranda


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## Satori (Jan 30, 2003)

moominmamma said:


> I don't doubt that this explanation makes perfect sense to those of you familiar with the US high school and college system, but as a Canadian it has just left my head spinning.
> 
> So she's working at a 9th grade level, but has been placed two years back in 7th? Why is she still considered to be in 7th then? Is it just a way to get the state to pay her college tuition fees for two years? The way it works here is whatever level you're studying at school, that's what grade you're in. What you're describing seems really odd to me.
> 
> Miranda


Its a state specific quirk, just like in order to graduate high school you need x amount of credits, here you have to do the same for 7th and 8th. If you don't meet the credit requirements you stay in that grade until you do. I was pretty freaked out when they made her repeat 7th and then threw her in high school classes but she's got straight A's and has thrived. The program is designed as a credit recovery program giving the kid dual credit for jr high and high school under elective credit but they are ending the program this year. She has done so well though they offered to let her continue on the same path in high school courses only it will be for core credit from now on rather then elective so she's not repeating the core classes in high school.


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## VocalMinority (Apr 8, 2009)

Are you concerned about her dropping out, because she's sick of still being in secondary school, at her age? Perhaps suggest that she talk to a guidance counselor at school. If she's able to pass whatever graduation qualifying exams the school may have; and it truly was a mistake that she was put in a class with younger kids, maybe something could be worked out where she could receive a diploma without spending another whole year in school.

Are you concerned that your 16-y-o sister has a friend arguably old enough to be in college? Casually mention it to your parents.  There's no clear reason why it's a problem. She's not 16 and _dating a 19-year-old boy_. If they're both in the same grade, most of the 19-year-old's friends are probably your sister's age, too. So it's not like your sister is actually hanging out with a bunch of college kids. But, if the friendship continues, it doesn't hurt for your parents to be aware that in a little over a year the older friend will be able to legally buy alcohol. They probably wouldn't assume that, without being told.

If you're just wondering whether other people agree that it's _weird_ for a 19-y-o to still be in 11th grade...there could be a number of valid reasons.

1) You seem to think she's 2 years behind. You said she started US school in NY, but do you live there? (I.e., is that where she lives _now_?) Where I live, most kids turn 17 by the end of 11th grade, but a kid _could_ turn 18; spend most of 12th grade as an 18-y-o and graduate just after turning 19. So she may only be 1 year behind.

2) My twin sons have learning/developmental disabilities, but not so great as to prevent them from being in regular school. They turned 19 ~a month after completing 11th grade and will turn 20 a month after graduating HS. Academically and socially, they are on par with other kids in their grade, not with kids their age.

3) It's not unheard-of for kids coming from a foreign country to be placed in a grade with younger kids, with the hope that easier academic expectations will keep them from falling behind while they assimilate to a new language and culture.

She still could have been telling you the truth, when she said she had no idea why a "mistake" was made, putting her in 7th grade instead of 9th. Maybe only her parents understood the reasons. Or maybe she knows them and just doesn't think they're anyone else's business.

There also could have been circumstances prior to - or causing - her move from China which left her academically behind, such as having spent much of a school year in a hospital fighting a disease; or having been raised in a Chinese orphanage, some of which are grievously neglectful, especially to girls. This, also, would be no one's business but hers and her parents'.


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## Claudia Chapman (Aug 9, 2012)

The New York City school system has done this for decades. I know this because it happened when I attended high school in pre-artisinal Brooklyn. 

New York is very strict about meeting requirements. Placement in a lower grade helps an ESL student born overseas to catch up and reach their full potential instead of being "aged out" of the free education system at age 18. It's a generous opportunity for the student to succeed in this country. If this option wasn't available it's possible that the student from China might graduate high school unprepared for college. She might end up paying for remedial classes at a community college, or forced in to the work force in a low level job.

When I was in high school there was one particular group of students whose parents came to this country so their sons could escape the draft in Turkey. At the time draft age in Turkey was quite low. One young man was originally from the USSR. His parents went to Turkey first and then came here. He was a 20 year old high school junior who took advanced placement/honors classes in German, Russian and math. He also took remedial English classes. His English was tolerable, but he was progressing. He was making the very best possible use of his time in high school by gaining college credits for areas where he was strong, and he was extremely grateful for the opportunity for a free American education. 

Ironically, one of the young Turkish men was drafted into the army and was sent overseas where he died serving the United States. Ironic because his family had come to this country to save their teens from the draft in Russia and/or Turkey.


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## Dawn's mom (Jul 2, 2015)

When I was in high school there were young adults in my class. The reasons for them not completing high school at the ideal age is infinity, especially when your talking about people who come from different parts of the world. There are refugees who have ran from war torn countries and never got the chance to go to school at all. Think of the pride that student has when they become the first person in their family to go to school and then graduate. And then there are people who have learning delays or disabilities. Some people need to take time off school and finish later when other things in life get in the way. But that is why they have Mature Student programs and Adult Education Centres. 
I graduated high school when I was 27 with Adult Ed. I'm the first person on my mom's side to graduate high school. I'm proud because I went back to complete my education on my own accord and got a Mature Student diploma. :smile:


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