How does American school system works

Culture & History

Hey Americans, I’m from Malaysia, and I’d like to understand more about how your school system works.

In Malaysia, children aged 3–6 attend preschool, then ages 7–12 go to primary school. Some public schools here aren’t large enough for all grades, so we split them into different school sessions. After that, from ages 13–17, we attend secondary school (basically our version of high school).

Just like primary school, most public secondary school aren’t large enough to fit all grades. The average school day here lasts around 6–7 hours, for example 7:30 AM–1:30 PM or 12:50 PM–6:50 PM.

I’d love to know how this compares to the American school system like how high school and middle school are structured, how long classes usually last, and what a typical timetable looks like.

Posted Oct 28, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

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