My school here, Askartza Claret, is very different from DSHA. The 10 major differences are as follows:
I) The teachers here dress very casually―jeans and a t-shirt―whereas at home female teachers wear skirts or dresses and male teachers wear khaki pants with a button-up and tie
II) You address the teachers here by his or her first name as opposed to his or her last name preceded by Mr. or Mrs.
III) The grade levels here for 7th-12th grade aren't called 7th grade, 8th grade, etc... rather, they are: 1° ESO, 2° ESO, 3° ESO, 4° ESO, Bachillerato 1, and Bachillerato 2
IV) There are two tracks in each grade level, ciencias and letras, and of those two, you choose one. In choosing one, you are given the classes which correspond to the track (you don't have the ability to choose the classes you take)
V) They are just beginning to install smart boards here and it's quite a big deal
VI) It isn't out of the ordinary to have multiple people repeat grade level(s)
VII) You have two classes followed by a break to go outside, two more classes followed by an hour for lunch, three more classes and then you go home
VIII) You don't turn in homework and there aren't tests every week. Instead, there is one big test halfway through the semester and the final exam at the end of the semester.
IX) Grades are out of 10, instead of being put into percentages
X) BOYS!
*I personally prefer an all girls school.
My first few weeks in school were awful.
From a social perspective: my class is composed of about 20 people and of those twenty, a mere six are girls. I didn't know anybody and nobody talked to me until we went on a retreat to Dima for three days. After that, I actually had friends and had established relationships with those in my class!
From an academic perspective: I hadn't the slightest idea what the teachers were saying the first few weeks. When my first tests came around I was completely dumb-founded..the formats of the tests are simply a topic and the necessary amount of blank paper to sufficiently answer the question in thoroughness. I received a 2 on my first Fiki (Physics/Chemistry) test and a 2,5 on my second. In Latin, I received a 2,7 on my first test on the history of Rome, a 5 on my second test on the history of Rome, and a 6,6 on the translation test.