Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related High School questions

These questions are for anyone who went to an American High School. If you were there in the 1980s, so much the better!

1. What is the most senior position called? Principal? Head Master?

2. What class would you most likely be in if you were 15? What is the class above that called?

3. How many year levels are there in High School? Are they ever all in the same place? Or are they always split into senior and junior?

4. What do students call the teachers? Sir? Madam? Mr Surname?

5. Do students move around during the day - ie from subject to subject and room to room with different teachers? Or do they mostly stay in one room with one teacher?

6. In a fairly small High School, who would be likely to deal with discipline problems? Principal? Senior teacher? Who would be most likely to deal with a new student being enrolled?

7. What would be a likely punishment for something like hitting another student? Detention? Suspension? Under what circumstances would the student's parents be called?

8. I've been told that text books are often supplied by the school. Do students usually supply their own paper and pens?

9. Do students ever take a packed lunch from home? Or do they always buy at the cafe/canteen?

10. Do schools have drinking fountains/faucets where the students can drink water during the day?

11. What time does the school day begin? And what time does it end?

I realise that the answers could vary depending on which part of the USA you come from, but any information will help me avoid huge 'that *never* happens' problems.

Thanks in advance

Corrina.

Not in the 80's, but I think I got most of it anyway...

1. Principal.

2. Sophomore. Typically you're fifteen when you start your sophomore year. Juniors are the year above it (16-17 year olds).

3. Not sure quite what you mean by levels... High school is four years. Therefore there are four classes of students: freshman, sophomore, junior and senior (in order of increasing age and rank). Splitting up depends on the class. Some classes are required for specific years to take- for instance, seniors wouldn't be found in a freshman English class, they have their own English level. But there's a lot of electives- PE, art, computer classes, even higher level math classes that have every age student.

4. Mr. Sombody and Ms.(Mrs.) Somebodyelse

5. At my school, and most as I understand it- yes. Students each have their own individual schedules of classes- so just because you may have someone in algebra it doesn't mean they'll also be in biology with you. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I didn't technically have a homeroom at my school.

6. Type of discipline would be needed to know. I would say the principal, or at least an assistant/vice principal. New student enrollment would be somewhere in administration- likely the registrar. Not the principal direct.

7. Again, context as always is key, but hitting is a big no-no. That's considered fighting and sends you direct to the principal's office. Parents would be called. The circumstances of the fight change the punishment however- self defense might only get you a warning or a referral. Detention is definitely a possibility. Suspension is only likely if there was more violence or intent or if it wasn't a first offense. Suspension can only last up to five days, and can be at-home or in-house (meaning they give you detention instead of class all day- it's a flawed system).

8. Yes. And yes. If you don't come prepared, after a while, you start to get in trouble. A while being a couple of days for me. Paper, pens, binders, and any other supplies besides textbooks are student-supplied. But not sure about that 80's timeframe.

9. Um, I brought lunch. Mostly because the food in the cafeteria is either gross or incredibly unhealthy. Nowadays, the schools don't actually cook anything. They just served pizza or chicken sandwiches at my school. But in your timeframe, it's my understanding (from my mom) that they actually did some cooking. But I'm sure it was still gross. I'd place a bet on fifty-fifty for the 80's. Current day: 15-75. The 75 being the percent of people who buy lunch.

10. Yes, there are faucets. No, students don't drink from them. Don't ask why. But that again might just be me.

11. School lasts from approximately 8am to 3pm. (Mine ran from 7:50 to 2:50 daily, but only because of a wacky bus schedule. So go with 8-3).

Hope this helps! Sorry if it doesn't! I can't help that I wasn't born in the 80's. And by the way, I was never a bad kid, so I don't know the punishment stuff from experience. I'm just a nerd with a photographic memory who read the handbook one of the four years they expected us to.

Oooh. A quiz. I mean, survey! Fun! I was in high school from 85-89 so I qualify! Yippee!

Principal.

14-15 Freshman - 9th grade
15-16 Sophomore - 10th grade
16-17 Junior - 11th grade
17-18 Senior - 12th grade

BTW - you can get your learner's permit to drive at 15.5 years of age and you need a parent or a licensed adult (21 or older) to drive with you. First driver's license at 16. (since you mentioned 15, I thought I'd remind you of this other rite-of-passage.) To get a driver's permit, you had to pass a written test. To get the driver's license you had to pass a writen test & driving test.

Most high schools are 4 year, 9th -12th grades, some are 3 years, 10th-12th grades. I don't know what you mean by 'split'. I had classes with seniors when I was a freshman (Frosh)

In my public school, Mr./Ms./Miss (rare) Surname. Some more strict private (religious) schools might require Sir or Madam / Ma'am.

Oooh. I almost answered this one above. Glad I waited. Moved from class to class for each subject. Teachers stayed, students moved, because each class had different students in it. We had, I want to say 6-8 different classes per day. Some core cirriculumm: Social studies (history), English, Math, Sex-Ed (also taught to 15 year-olds, but probably not in Bible-Belt Kansas). Some required, but the students got to chose: Science (we could chose between biology, chemisty or physics - we didn't have to all three! Regretted this junior year, when I learned that some college do require more... and so I took summer Chemistry class to catch up with college requirement). Some called 'electives': Typing, Intro to Business, PE (Physical Ed - Personally, I liked to take weight training. Male/Female ratio 20/2! Plus, it was always fun to watch the jocks preen in front of the mirrors, suddenly taking off their shirts, when the cheerleaders came in twice a week from the arobics class), Drama, Music, Foreign Language, Driver's Ed. I can't remember (as I've recently had my 20th high school reunion) whether we had the same classes every day or if we had a different schedule for MWF and T/Th. Sorry. Also, no religious classes in America.

Our high school had a graduating class of 400, 2000 students total - so, not exactly small. The Vice-Principal was in charge of discipline and could make people shake in their shoes just by walking down the hall. Personally I though he was a nice guy, but I was a goody-goody and never got in trouble, so I didn't have a reason to worry. A new student would go to the office and be given a list of classes to attend by the school secretary. If you ever watched the first Twilight movie (or better yet, read the books) - that was pretty accurate description of life in an American high school (with the exception of the vampires, of course )

Oooh. A little tougher question as I never dealt with this. Hmmm. Detention probably for the first offense (unless it was really violent). Then Suspension. Depends on the level of violence on whether or not the student's parents' were called. A slug in the hall - probably not. Get detention (if caught, a wise or crafty student would know better, not to get caught). Bloody nose or black-eye - parents might get called. Detention for a week (or two). 2nd offense - suspension.

Big text books like history and math and science, supplied by the school. Novels for English, not so much. Yes, all students from Kindergarten up supply their own paper and pencils. (pens were rarely used - harder to erace mistakes)

School cafeteria meals were to be avoided at all costs because they were HORRIBLE. "Hot" lunch was (and still is) luke-warm at best. Mostly fried food (tater tots, pizza, hamburgers, scary casseroles) back in the 80s although they are getting better. I lived on a bagel & cream cheese and a Diet Coke for 4 years, which I did buy in the cafeteria. But that didn't really count as cafeteria food. Yes, food is often packed from home. My mother was very similar to Ellen, so she never made me lunch (not even in 1st grade - always had to make my own).

Yes. Our high school also had soda machines (see Diet Coke note above), but those are being mostly phased out nowadays.

TOOOOOO Early! I believe our school day was like from 7:30-2:30. WAY TOOOOO EARLY!

My answers took place in the Pacific Northwest. Hope this helps.

I was thinking of other films you might want to watch for "research" about high school in the 1980s. I definiately recommend the original "Footloose" movie with Kevin Bacon, as it deals with a transfer student to rural Bible-Belt America in the mid-80s. (Re-make about to be released - <<shudder>> not so much.) Take into account that the no-dancing rule was rare (although I did know of a real town that had implemented it, so not so far fetched).

Cliques (or groups) were VERY big in the 80s high school (don't know about nowadays). To research that I recommend the Molly Ringwald oevra: "The Breakfast Club" (Sat. detentions, not typical), "Pretty in Pink", and "Sweet 16" especially. And of course, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (again, not typical, but fun). These movies will also help get you in the feel for the clothing and music of the 80s.

"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is also set in high school in the 80s - is fun, but not at all accurate. (Now, THERE'S a crossover fic for you L&C and Bill&Ted! since they both deal with time-travel.)

If you want to research the Nfic side of high school life, may I recommend (although, not really, because I didn't like it, but it's a cult classic): "Fast Times at Ridgemount High".

Another high school movie I recommend, but it isn't set in the 80s is: "10 Things I Hate About You." Love that film. One funny thing about that film though, it's set in Seattle, yet it never rains. "Twilight" more accurate protrayal of PNW.

OK, I'm sure I'll think of other things later, but that's sure to drive you crazy... <<cough, cough>>... get you started.

Oooh! A questionaire!

1. Principal. We also had (ranks beneath the Principle) the Assistant Principal and the Dean of Students (who, I believe, did mostly class scheduling).

2. Sophomore. As an October baby, I turned 16 as a junior. (Sophomore is the second year of high school).

3. There are 4 years in high school. Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior. All years are in the same building.

You are typically in class with people in your same class year (all freshman, for example). They only time that was different for me was in my advanced math classes. I had taken freshman math while I was in 8th grade, so I came in needing to take sophomore math in my freshman year, junior math in my sophomore year, pre-calc (senior math) in my junior year. So I was in those classes with the upperclassmen. By the time I (and the handful of others in my situation) was a senior, we were all just seniors taking calculus.

4. Mr./Ms. Mrs. LastName. In one case, we had a Dr. LastName after one of my teachers recieved her doctorate. Also, we had nuns, so they were Sister So-and-so. (Some of them liked Sister FirstName and some likes Sister LastName.) In college we also had Brother So-and-so.

5. I had a homeroom where we gathered in the morning before classes started. Homeroom was a place to be given stuff like paperwork that we needed (sa, permission slips for the sophomore class trip). Then the bell would ring on the loudspeaker and we'd move off to our first class. In my school, we'd constantly move from room to room and have classes with different teachers.

Also, my school offered honor's classes in some subjects, but not others. So my gym class would have different people than my honor's English class. Again though, aside from the aforementioned weirdness with my math classes, I was only ever in classes with people of my same class year.

6. I actuaally *did* go to an extremely small high school (graduating classes were around 100 or so students). New students would probably deal with the Dean of Students (for class schedules) and have at least a meet-and-greet with the Assistant Principal and Principal. Desciple problems I think were handled mostly by the Assistant Principal.

7. I'm not sure what hitting another student would warrant. I can't remember that *ever* happening in my school.

8. Textbooks were supplied by the school. Workbooks, paper, pens, etc. were all up to the student/parents to buy on their own. Paper fees were added to the tuition to cover what the school needed to supply (like copies of tests, for example). Art fees covered the paints and whatnot used in class. Book bills (the fees, workbooks, etc) needed to be bought through the school could get very expensive, especially for the senior who was taking several Advanced Placement tests for college credit.

9. There was a mixture of people who bought lunch from the cafeteria and those who brought food from home. There was no "meal plan" - if you bought lunch, you just paid for the items purchased that day. If you brought food from home, you didn't have to pay anything. The vending machines in the cafeteria were usually left on (until the board of Ed took over our cafeteria - we were a private school). So most people would buy their sodas fresh and cold at lunch time, rather than bring it from home.

10. We did have a few drinking fountains around, but the only one that was ever really cold was in the cafeteria. The other fountains also kind of tasted funny.

11. I think school started at 7:45 am and went to 2:45 pm. So you're good if you stick in the 8am-3pm range.


*My answers are based on a private, Catholic school in NY from the years 1996-2000.

Hope this helps!

Most of my answers are the same. There are two ways that grades are split up depending on current fad and how you need to juggle things to fit kids to schools. Grades K-4 in elementary, 5-8 jr high, 9-12 high school; or K-6 elementary, 7-9 middle school, 10-12 high school. So high school can had either three or four years in it.

As others said larger schools you have enough electives that many classes are mixed in years. Some classes like English each year has to take so there is one per year. Some like math generally per year but splits into advanced or practical so some mixing. Some you can take any year but seniors have fewer required classes so more electives.

Multiple elementary schools feed into each high school but as boundaries get redrawn from growth it is possible to go to elementary school with someone and end up in different high schools if you live somewhere where there multiple ones.

I went to high school early 70s in Maryland but mostly the same by the time our daughter went.

Wow! This is the *best* place to do research!! I might have further questions ...

Corrina.

ETA - 'split' - here there are six years to High School. Traditionally, all six years were in one place, but now the first three years are sometimes put with the seven years of primary (elementary) school, and the final three are by themselves. I'd heard of 'junior high' and 'senior high' and wondered if that referred to high school being split into two different schools. Thanks for the answer!

Could go either way. Most of the time, a teacher will call on Brad Smith as Brad. If the teacher is annoyed or being sarcastic (or just sometimes to mix it up" a teacher will say "Mr. Smith." But almost always a teacher (male or female) will call on a student (male or female) by their first time.

They discovered in the early 90s, I think it was, that teenagers needed more sleep (go think! or as, Tempus would say "DUH!") so, it has been a recent trend to start high school later, so teenagers can sleep in.

On what a teacher would call a student, it would depend on the student. A male teacher would call Clark Kent, either Clark or Kent. Would probably be more likely to call the student Kent if there was more than one Clark in the class. Or vice verse. There isn't a norm. Either is acceptable, unless the kid complains or has a preference... like it wouldn't be nice if the teacher kept calling a student James after he asked to be called Jimmy (especially if he's asked more than once)... it doesn't mean the teacher will do what the student asks, it just isn't nice.

Another exception to the rule would be if the student had a really impronouceable last name then the teacher might prefer to call the student Clark K. or just Clark. Instead of Clark Kawodeskdi (I apologize if this is anyone's last name, just typing keys here).

Then there is always the 'nickname' option. Lois was called 'Lo-Lo' if you recall.

Edit: Another exception. A coach ususally always calls a student by their last name.

So *that's* where it's coming from. There is talk here of starting the high school day at 10am or even 11am!!!

Corrina.

No fair! They bumped my school up earlier! (Although, not that it really matters anymore- my college classes start at noon, so I guess I've got nothing to complain about). But still!

As for the student/teacher thing, I'd reiterate that teachers can call students whatever they'd like. Most stick with first names, though. The type of teacher changes everything.

Hi Corrina,

I see that your questions have been answered, so I'll just add a few details where there might be confusion or differences between schools. FYI, I went to public school in a suburb of Washington, D.C., and my husband went to a secular private school in New England. We both graduated in '85.

1. My public school, principal. His private school, head master.

3. When I was in school, elementary school was K-6, junior high was 7-9, and high school was 10-12. Then they switched our high school to 9-12. I was in the first 9th grade class to attend the high school.

6. The Vice-Principal was the chief disciplinarian. There was a registrar who would sign up new students, but also guidance counselors who you had to meet with to pick classes. My husband's private school had a Dean of Boys and a Dean of Girls who were the disciplinarians.

8. All of our books were supplied, including novels. We weren't allowed to write in them and had to return them when we were finished with them. The textbooks had a stamped chart inside the front cover where you were supposed to write your name, the condition in which you received the book, and the condition in which you returned it. I guess you could be fined if you ruined the book. We would all look to see which older students had had our books before us. We all made covers out of brown paper bags so we wouldn't scratch the covers of our textbooks, then we doodled all over our brown paper covers. My husband's private school rented the major textbooks to the students and sold the novels to them so that they could take notes in the books. We would get a list at the beginning of the school year telling us what supplies we needed to buy for each class. This included things like paper, pens, pencils, scissors, calculator for math class, notebooks, folders, and binders. Some teachers were pretty particular about only using spiral notebooks or only loose-leaf binders. We only used pencils for math. Otherwise, the teachers wanted everything written in ink. I was the generation just before word processing became widespread. I think it was junior year before my family had a home computer. Before that, all my essays were hand written in ink. If you made a mistake, you had to recopy the entire page.

9. There was a mix of kids who brought lunch and those who bought it from the cafeteria. In defense of moms who don't pack lunch for their teenagers, all of my kids know where the refrigerator and the pantry are. They pack their own lunches, even though I am nothing like Ellen. In my day, there was one hot meal served at lunch, take it or leave it. Some were okay (I liked cheeseburger day and pizza day), and others I avoided. They published the menu each month, so you could plan which days to buy or not. In the inner cities, or in poor rural areas, there would be many more kids 'buying' lunch because the government provides free lunches (and breakfast if you arrive early enough to eat it) for kids of low-income parents.

11. Our school day was 7:50 to 2:45-ish, IIRC.

Regarding what the teachers would call the students, it would be first name except for emphasis or sarcasm. "Clark, could you write the proof for problem 17 on the board, please?" or "Ah, Miss Lane, how kind of you to grace us with your presence -- only ten minutes late!"

HTH

This may not apply, but nowadays for school lunches, the students all pay by plastic card (I'm not sure if it's a true debit card or if it's a card only good at the school cafeteria). Money is put "on the card" by the parents paying, or somebody paying into the student's account.

If your family is poor and you qualify for the reduced-price school lunch, the card reader "knows" that and deducts the appropriate amount from your account.

This is nice because no one can tell if you're a "poor student" or not. All the students pay with cards so there's no singling out. Back in the day, that was not the case, and everyone knew who was poor and who wasn't. (Which is tough when you're a teenager and you have such identity issues anyway.)

However, I don't think they had this technology in the 1980's, if you're going to set your fic at that time.

Interesting point. No, not for timeframe, but brings up other considerations. At my high school, we used cash, but mostly because nobody eats in the cafeteria. They didn't make food, and most of the food served was sold outside on what are the equivilent of food carts. So there wasn't really a set up for the card system. However, at my brother's middle school, they actually use a fingerprint scanner (something about kids using other kids' cards?). Which again, doesn't fit the time frame, but seems ridiculous and extreme to me. It used to just be on id cards.

Hmmm...we used cash in high school. There was no card scanner. In college the meal plan was on a card that got swiped at the register, and it had our picture on it (it was our school id as well as the meal card).

Junior high (slso called middle school) is anywhere from 6-9th grades, depending on the school system. My first middle school was 7-8 my first year, and 6-8 the second. Some high schools (my 2nd) go from 8th-12th.

High schools in my area have started earlier lately. Most of ours go from 7:15-2:15. The excuse is apparently that this way, the older students would be home in time to take care of their younger siblings.

I think both times I transfered schools, the guidance counselor helped with class schedules. They'll pick out classes similar to the ones in the previous school. This was a sticky situation one year, and I ended up being taught French during the Spanish teacher's free period. Another school, I ended up a sophmore in freshman civics.

One thing nobody mentioned 'closed campus' vs 'open campus' - a closed campus is one where the students are prohibited from leaving the school grounds during school hours. An open campus is one where students are allowed to leave. (And there are combinations - maybe freshmen are banned from leaving and the others are allowed, or maybe only seniors are allowed off campus.)

So for students with wheels on an open campus - lunch is frequently at the nearest pizza place or burger joint.

(This info spans the 1960s to the 2000s. I went out to lunch and my DS went out to lunch (30 years apart.)

On a closed campus the students will complain about the 'prison guards'. On an open campus, the neighbors will complain about the noise during lunch time with all the students waking by.

And in an urban, suburban setting, there will be restaurants like pizza and burgers, within a few blocks of campus.

And (at least currently) it's possible to have food delivered to a high school. Enterprising students on a closed campus might take orders for pizza slices then order in a couple pizzas.

Very true. At my school upper classmen (seniors and juniors) were allowed off campus for lunch, but under classmen (freshmen and sophomores) were barred from that. Of course, there was still the chance to sneak off campus in those grades, which might be interesting.

And yes, I forgot about security. My school had a handful of security guards, each dubbed with a specific nickname (like "Terminator" or "Grandma"). Some were nice, some you avoided at all costs. I didn't even consider this, but they're there for disciplinary action, too. Though mostly for the immediate stuff- they break up the fights and make sure you have your student id's with you- which reminds me we also had to wear lanyards with are id cards on them. All. The. Time. Looking back, it wasn't a big deal, but everybody hated it.

My DS's school was 'closed' except for seniors. Which meant that juniors would hitch rides with seniors to go to lunch - three counties and a state border away.

That seems pretty far to go for lunch. We only had 1/2 hour for lunch, maybe it was 45 minutes, but still... It was hard enough just to drive the 3 blocks away and make it through BK or McD's and get back in time for bell.

No security guards at our school. Thank God! But nothing violent ever happened there, so I don't think it was necessary... actually, I think someone brought a gun once, but they were expelled... so... that increased the random locker checks but that was about it. Drugs and alcohol were a bigger issue (alcohol at the dances and parties, usually not in the school itself). Not that I saw anything like that on campus. Sweet, blissful, innocent of a goodie-goodie like me never saw-no-evil!

Juniors and Seniors were allowed to drive (and were issued parking spaces on a first-come-first-gets lotto system). So, it was usually just the juniors and seniors who went out for lunch because the Frosh and Sophs couldn't walk there and back and make it by bell (unless they hitched a ride with an older student with wheels).

We had student ID's but the only time we ever used them was to get the student price at the movies! Sigh. Back when you could watch a movie $4.50 on a Friday night and less for a matinee! Sigh. Those days are long past.

Ah, the memories.