美国基础教育中，高中和初中以下教育之间的巨大鸿沟，是通过提供同一科目不同要求的课程，以及多元化的选修课来填平的，既能满足k-12全面免费义务教育的基本需要，让大部分学生能进入普通大学，甚至社区大学深造；又能让天才学生，能力强的学生有机会出头，进入超一流的大学继续挑战自己，成为学术精英。美国初级中学到底如何呢？
培养目标
1、全面提高学生英语的口语、听力、阅读和写作能力；
2、实行走班制、分层教学等美式教育路径，真正做到因材施教；通过游戏、演讲、辩论、角色扮演等各种教学方法，引导学生学习兴趣，寓教于乐；
3、特色中文课程，完全区别于国内应试体系的语文教材。遴选来自包括台湾地区的国文名家名篇，既完美呈现现代汉语之美，又从中汲取华夏民族薪火相传的人文素养；
4、中英文双语教授数学课程，培养学生逻辑思维、抽象思维和空间想象能力，在解决实际问题过程中能够运用各种数学策略；
5、科学课程以探索研究的教育方式培养孩子燃点对科学的兴趣；
6、社会学包括地理与历史课程，培养学生理解地理与历史、经济、文化发展之间的紧密关系；
7、体育课活动鼓励学生发展运动爱好和专长，从中培养坚毅不拔的意志品质，增强人际交往能力和团队意识；
8、注重培养学生演讲能力，演讲是锻炼学生（思维、机智、激情、智慧）的最有效手段；
9、健康课为学生树立正确的人生观，对学生进行情感教育、性教育和死亡教育，预防自杀、酗酒和滥用药物、艾滋病和其他，以及急救措施的学习；
10、丰富的课余活动。课后学生可以根据兴趣参加学生自己组织的各类社团，还可以参加合唱、戏剧、舞蹈、器乐等多项艺术活动，提升个人的气质修养。
美国中学排名标准：
众所周知，美国中学没有官方排名，也没有专门的机构为中学做排名。我们根据美国前10名大学的录取率，参考前5名大学录取率，哈佛大学、耶鲁大学、普林斯顿大学、麻省理工等单个院校的录取率等标准对美国的私立中学进行了排名，名单如下：
美国中学top100名单：
排名
学校
1
collegiate school
2
brearley school
3
sidwell friends school
4
trinity school
5
saint ann‘s school
6
castilleja school
7
spence school
8
chapin school
9
horace mann school
10
dalton school
11
winsor school
12
roxbury latin school
13
phillips academy andover
14
ethical culture fieldston school
15
phillips exeter academy
16
lawrenceville school
17
milton academy
18
princeton day school
19
polytechnic school
20
greenwich academy
21
national cathedral school
22
groton school
23
marlborough school
24
noble and greenough school
25
boston university academy
26
harker school
27
st. paul’s school
28
germantown friends school
29
crystal springs uplands school
30
st. mark‘s school of texas
31
pingry school
32
hotchkiss school
33
rye country day school
34
buckingham browne and nichols school
35
brunswick school
36
harvard-westlake school
37
riverdale country school
38
st. albans school
39
san francisco university high school
40
menlo school
41
belmont hill school
42
deerfield academy
43
convent of the sacred heart
44
hopkins school
45
branson school
46
college preparatory school
47
middlesex school
48
bishop’s school
49
choate rosemary hall
50
regis high school
51
haverford school
52
nightingale-bamford school
53
commonwealth school
54
baldwin school
55
agnes irwin school
56
newark academy
57
lakeside school
58
ransom everglades school
59
phoneix country day school
60
maret school
61
john burroughs school
62
delbarton school
63
university of chicago laboratory schools
64
hockaday school
65
lick-wilmerding high school
66
episcopal academy
67
kent place school
68
thacher school
69
concord academy
70
princeton day school
71
cate school
72
westminster schools
73
holton-arms school
74
packer collegiate institute
75
rivers school
76
peddie school
77
peddie school
78
northfield mount hermon school
79
st. andrew‘s episcopal school
80
chadwick school
81
linden hall
82
emma willard school
83
taft school
84
webb school
85
loomis chaffee school
86
hill school
87
chestnut hill academy
88
landon school
89
urban school of san francisco
90
georgetown preparatory school
91
georgetown day school
92
bryn mawr school
93
blair academy
94
miss porter’s school
95
birch wathen lenox school
96
potomac school
97
hun school of princeton
98
masters school
99
falmouth academy
100
park school
