How to communicate with schools in English?

Of course, I am happy to walk you through it! In our school, we use letter grades: A means excellent, B is good, C is average, D is below average, and F means failing. Lily got mostly A's and B's, which is great! She is doing very well.

当然，我很乐意带你了解！在我们学校，我们用字母等级：A 代表优秀，B 是良好，C 是中等，D 是低于平均，F 代表不及格。Lily 大部分是 A 和 B，非常好！她表现得很好。

💡 美国评分没有E级——直接从D跳到F（F代表Fail）。A=90-100%, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%, F=59%以下。注意没有E这个等级。

Great question! C is not bad — it means she is meeting grade-level expectations. But it does mean there is room for improvement. The teacher's comment says she is strong in concepts but needs to work on showing her work in problem-solving. In American schools, we care a lot about the process, not just the answer.

好问题！C 不算差——说明她达到了年级标准。但确实意味着有提升空间。老师的评语说她概念掌握很好，但需要在解题时展示思路。在美国学校，我们很看重过程，不只是答案。

💡 Showing your work（展示解题过程）是美国数学教育非常强调的。即使答案正确，如果不写出过程，也会扣分。这和中国数学教育更注重最终答案不同。

3.4 is very good! GPA goes from 0 to 4.0. Here is how it works: an A gives you 4 points, B is 3, C is 2, D is 1, and F is 0. A 3.4 means Lily is performing above average overall. For reference, a 3.5 and above is typically considered honors level. She is very close!

3.4 非常好！GPA 从0到4.0。是这样算的：A 得4分，B 是3分，C 是2分，D 是1分，F 是0分。3.4 意味着 Lily 总体表现高于平均。作为参考，3.5 及以上通常被认为是荣誉水平。她非常接近了！

💡 美国学校的 honors（荣誉）通常要求 GPA 3.5 以上。Dean's List（院长名单）是更高的荣誉，通常要求 3.7 以上。这些都是简历上的加分项。

Welcome to our parent-teacher conference! I have been looking forward to discussing Lily's progress with you. Overall, she is a wonderful student — attentive, hardworking, and very polite. I do have a few areas I would like to discuss though.

欢迎来到家长会！我一直期待和你讨论 Lily 的进步。总体来说，她是个很棒的学生——专心、刻苦、非常有礼貌。不过我有几个方面想讨论一下。

💡 美国的 parent-teacher conference 通常是一对一的（家长和老师单独谈），不像中国的家长会是全班家长一起开。

Two things. First, class participation — Lily rarely raises her hand, even when I can tell she knows the answer. Second, her writing is good technically, but she tends to play it safe. I want to see more of her own opinions and creative thinking. These are not big problems, more like areas where she can really shine.

两件事。第一，课堂参与——Lily 很少举手，即使我能看出她知道答案。第二，她的写作在技术上很好，但她倾向于保守。我想看到更多她自己的观点和创造性思维。这些不是大问题，更像是她可以真正发光的地方。

💡 中国学生在美国课堂上不举手是非常普遍的问题。这源于中国教育文化中不鼓励出风头。但在美国，课堂参与往往直接影响成绩。play it safe（求稳）在中国文化中是美德，但美国教育更鼓励冒险和表达个人观点。

Thank you for sharing that context — it really helps me understand! Here is my plan: I will start calling on her in low-pressure situations, like partner discussions, before whole-class sharing. At home, maybe you could ask her about her opinions on things — what she likes, dislikes, and why. The goal is to help her see that her ideas matter, even when they are not perfect.

谢谢你分享这个背景——真的帮助我理解！这是我的计划：我会先在低压力的情境下叫她，比如小组讨论，然后再全班分享。在家里，也许你可以问问她对事情的看法——她喜欢什么、不喜欢什么、为什么。目标是帮她认识到她的想法很重要，即使不完美。

💡 美国教育的核心理念之一是 every voice matters（每个声音都重要）。老师的渐进式方案（先小组后全班）是专业的教学策略，针对不同文化背景的学生很有效。