A school for the intermediate grades that has largely replaced the junior high school. Most often, includes grades 5-8 or 6-8 elementary school; high school.
An institution providing education to students between elementary school and high school, if the middle grades—for example, grades 5 to 8, 6 to 8, or 7 to 8—are taught in a separate set of buildings; sometimes called junior high school or intermediate school. Some school districts have only elementary and secondary schools, with no distinct middle school. School districts vary widely in their handling of middle schools. In some, students continue to spend much of their time with a single teacher in a single classroom, as in elementary school; in others, students follow the high school model, going to a different teacher and classroom for most subjects; some middle schools try a different approach, organizing students and teachers into smaller units, or teams.