Schools in Costa Rica and the United States are structured differently. In Costa Rica, the school day is broken into shorter sections due to limited facilities and large class sizes, while in the U.S. the day consists of longer core classes and electives. Additionally, education is only mandatory through 6th grade in Costa Rica compared to through high school in the U.S., and extracurricular activities are more limited, focusing mainly on soccer.

1. Schools in Costa Rica and in the United States are very
different. Since there are a limited amount of buildings and
a large number of students in Costa Rica, they break their
days up into many different sections; each containing three
and a half hours. Their subjects contain pretty much the
same things we take here. Here, in the U.S., we have
seven hour school days consisting of four core classes and
two electives for elementary through high school. In high
school, you have four classes a day. Unlike in the States, in
Costa Rica, education is only required through the sixth
grade; 7th-11th grade is optional. There arenʼt a lot of extra
curricular things to do, except play soccer. Here, we have
all kinds of school sports. La profesora enseña a la clase.
Los estudiantes saca buenas notas. El profesor escribe
apuntes y los alumnos toman apuntes.
Caitlyn McNeely Thursday, February 23, 2012 6:43:12 PM ET 04:0c:ce:cf:b1:be