Taking 14 classes every year seems impractical, even for the most ambitious students at Saratoga High, yet this is what senior Michael Gaus is familiar with. Gaus, whose family moved to Saratoga from the suburbs of Munich, Germany, at the start of his sophomore year, has spent the majority of his school years learning under the German education system.
The education in Germany is more well-rounded, with a strong focus in the sciences, according to Gaus. Every year, he took the same core subjects, including biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, English, French, German, physical education, history and economics. The classes were shorter in length—only 45 minutes each—but were much more challenging.
“Not only were there many more classes,” Gaus said. “The classes were also much more difficult. Physics AP at Saratoga High is like the first day of physics in Germany.”
The students in Germany are often two years ahead of the United States counterparts in core subjects. For example, the concepts taught in calculus, a class generally taken during the junior or senior year at Saratoga High, are a part of the 10th grade core curriculum in Germany.
Unlike the education system in the United States, the subjects in Germany are not broken into individual levels.
“It’s not like you take pre-calculus, and then calculus in math,” Gaus said. “Everyone in your grade takes the same math and the levels are all blended together.”
Instead of letter grades, the students are given numbered grades from one through six, one being the highest and six the lowest. Unlike Saratoga High where a large percentage of students receive A’s in classes, ones are more uncommon. The majority of students receive twos and threes.
Students also receive final grades 8 times per school year for the major subjects, instead of twice at the end of each semester. These grades are comprised only of test and quiz scores, since homework is optional.
A student who fails a class at Saratoga High has to retake the class during summer or the following year, but continues on to the next grade. In Germany, failing a grade involves retaking the entire grade.
“At the end of the year, if you have two fives or if you have one six, you fail the entire grade,” Gaus said.
The structure of the educational system in Germany is very different from the public and private school system in the United States.
“There isn’t a single school for everybody,” Gaus said. “There is an upper school, a middle school and a lower school. Depending on how good your grades are after fourth grade, you get stuck in one of the three levels.”
Movement between the three levels is very uncommon, explained Gaus. Occasionally, however, students may drop down to a lower level, but moving up is not possible.
Gaus was at the top of his class in the upper level school, explaining the rigor of his coursework, yet the general level of education in Germany is much higher compared to that in the United States.
“I would much rather prefer studying in Germany,” Gaus said. “The quality of education and the pace they move at makes learning much more interesting.”