High School, the Polish Way
by Katarzyna Kozanecka

Liberated from Stuyvesant High School for a week of mid-winter recess, I crossed six time zones to see a different school. Motivated by a love of my native country and a desire to experience daily life there, I went to my father’s high school, Liceum Ekonomiczne, in Kalisz, Poland.

I showed up for classes on Monday morning, armed with a knowledge of Polish and a blank notebook. I was assigned to 2C, a sophomore homeroom. When the principal introduced me to them as “a new friend,” they asked, “Forever?” Unfortunately, no.

I immediately became aware of how closeknit everyone was. At the Liceum Ekonomicze, as at Stuyvesant, the homeroom stays the same for all four years of high school. The weekly homeroom hour is used for discussion and organization, certainly more useful than our ten-minute homerooms. In Poland, the homeroom students study every subject together, unlike at Stuyvesant where classes and faces change every semester. The only exceptions are physical education, which is not co-ed, and language classes.

While Polish students study about 18 subjects a year, Americans study only six or seven. The difference is that we study ours every day. Such daily exposure is good, especially for languages. It also limits our choices. Sophomores at the Liceum take math, history, geography, a foreign language—English, German or Russian—Polish, economics, environment, chemistry, physics, technology and vocational subjects such as statistics or marketing.

One of the teachers commented, “In Poland, we make students memorize certain information. In the United States, you are taught how to find it.”

Instead of SATs and Regents exams, they take huge exams—maturs—in their senior year that cover several subjects and determine university entrance. Religion is taught in school, but those who are not Catholic are not pressured to attend.

In general, the school feels more like home than Stuyvesant: it has three floors and a basement, not ten. There are curtains in the windows and lots of houseplants. The national symbol, a white eagle, adorns each classroom wall. There is a great deal more respect towards adults; the students rise when a teacher walks into the room.

My greatest disappointment was that Polish students do not enjoy a full lunch period. Instead, they snack during breaks that last from five to 20 minutes. This is because dinner is usually served right after school.

Among Poles living in New York, one often hears stories of a troubled Polish youth, a group that can’t reconcile tradition with modern Western culture. But I’ve brought back photos and memories of the Polish students who welcomed me warmly into their school with smiles and questions, never with silence. And now, the most persistent question remains: Which school do I like more?

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