In Washington state, our elementaries are K-5, middle school 6-8, and high school 9-12. But it used to be elementary K-6, junior high 7-9, high school 10-12.
ETA: here's what Wikipedia has to say:
Conceptual distinctions
Junior high schools were created for the purpose of "bridging the gap between the elementary and the high school," a concept credited to
Charles W. Eliot, president of
Harvard University.
[8] The
faculty is organized into
academic departments that operate more or less independently of one another. The middle school movement in the United States saw this model as inadequately addressing the intended purpose of transition by maintaining an emphasis on the high school model, as reflected in the "junior high" designation.
The middle school concept often involves a group of two to eight teachers from different disciplines working as a team with the same group of students of the same grade level, with each teacher teaching a different subject. This format facilitates
interdisciplinary units, where part or all of the entire team teaches on the same general topic from the perspective of different disciplines. The middle school philosophy also advocates assigning students in each team to a homeroom. By having homeroom daily for various discussions and activities, middle schools try to foster a sense of belonging in students to ease social and emotional difficulties during adolescence.[
citation needed]
Configurations
Middle school (sometimes abbreviated MS
[9][10][11])is often used instead of junior high school when demographic factors increase the number of younger students.
[12] Middle schools are usually grades 6, 7, and 8 (i.e. around ages 11-14), varying from area to area and also according to population vs. building capacity. Other common models include grades 5-8, 7-8, or 7-9.
The middle school format has now replaced the junior high format by a ratio of about ten to one in the U.S. In Canada, the junior high concept is primarily seen in
Western Canada, while middle schools to US-standards are generally only seen in
Ontario and parts of
Atlantic Canada, where they are sometimes called
senior elementary schools. Many people also call middle school "junior high school." Middle school does not exist at all in
Quebec, where primary school comprises grades 1 to 6, secondary school comprises grades 7 to 11, and those latter are named "secondary 1" through "secondary 5".
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