Most of them are co-educational. The rest are fee-charging private schools, mostly Roman Catholic parochial schools. Private schools are mostly single-sex schools. Schooling is compulsory from the ages of 5 to 16. All plans lead to high school graduation at about 17 to 18 years of age.
Many American children begin their schooling before enrolling in first grade .
The word Kindergarten is the same as in German . They are usually public and co-educational. About 98 per cent of all U.S. children complete elementary school . The six-year High School is divided up into a Junior and a Senior High School. It shows best the equality tendency of American education by making children of all social classes attend the same type of school as long as possible.