My daughter is in fourth grade. Next year this time, we will have to be submitting our choices for middle schools to the Department of Education to determine which school she can get into. We don't live in a district with good schools, so I am hoping to find a school outside of our area. Middle schools accept students from outside of their district but each school seems to have different criteria for what they look for in students. Some common things are attendance in fourth grade, their fourth quarter grades in fourth grade, and state test scores. Some schools have their own exams or interviews and some require students to write an essay. Applications are due in December and schools only give tours in the fall so some of my fellow class parents and I have started touring schools this year so that we can see as many schools as possible before making our decision. I went to a school that had classes from 1st thru 12th grade so I didn't have to worry about touring schools. This feels like a college search. So much pressure for parents, both in Japan and in the States.

娘は今4年生です。来年この時期私たちは娘の中学校の進学手続きをしなくてはなりません。 残念ながら今住んでいる学区は好ましくなく、学区外の学校で受け入れてくれる学校を探さなければいけません。 学区外に通わせるのは小学校ほど難しくないと聞きますが、どの学校も進学に必要なものが異なるそうです。 4年生の成績、4年生の出席、標準テストの成績。中には面接やエッセイの提出がある学校もあります。 申請の締め切りは12月で学校の面談は秋にしか行わないので、今年の秋から中学校のツアーに通ったり資料集めを始めています。 自分は小学校から高校卒業まで同じ学校に通ったので異常に感じるのですが、日本も大変だと聞きます。皆さん、どうですか。