what is the difference between middle school and junior high?

Question

this question all of the sudden popped into my head and i have to know. why not just call all school after elementary school, junior high? so please tell me what is the difference and why dont we call it all one and not the other. why cant it be simple???

Answer 1

Our school system used to be broken up like this:
Elementary School Grades K-6
Junior High Grades 7-9
High School Grades 10-12

A few years after I graduated they built a new middle school in a different location and spilt the district into the following:
Elementary School Grades K-5
Middle School Grades 6-8
High School Grades 9-12

I think it really has to do with the size of the district and the space they have to house classrooms in how a district separates grades into their respective schools.

Answer 2

There's little difference. Junior highs are usually 7-9 with the high schools in the same locale being 10-12. Middle schools start usually in grade 6 and go through to grade 8, although there are middle schools that are just like junior highs.

Answer 3

Junior high is basically a mini high school as its name suggests. In school systems that use it, students pretty much just go from elementary to high school (they go to elementary from grades K-6, junior high for grades 7 and 8, and high school for grades 9-12). Junior high is run just like a regular high school (they're just randomly assigned to classes, there are typically no "teams") but just with younger students. In the older days they actually had grades 7-9 in junior high and 10-12 in high school, but that setup is extremely uncommon these days. Since 9th graders now have to start earning high school credits for their transcripts, it makes a lot more sense for them to go to high school.

A lot of places have adopted the "middle school" system instead, though - usually, they have grades K-5 in elementary and then grades 6-8 in middle school, or sometimes just K-4 in elementary and 5-8 in middle school. Since middle school has younger students (11-year-olds and sometimes even 10-year-olds, rather than just 12-14-year-olds), it kind of has elements of both elementary and high school to help the kids transition. For exampple, they will still start switching classes and having different teachers for different subjects, but they'll usually be put on "teams" that each have their own set of teachers. That way, they end up staying with a lot of the same classmates throughout the day and they tend to be more concentrated to one area of the building rather than having to navigate around the entire school.

Answer 4

The "Old School" way of doing it was:
K - 6 grades = Elementary or Primary School
7 - 9 grades = Junior High School
10 - 12 grades = High School

In the early to mid-80s, they decided to change it. The "New School" way of doing it is:
K - 5 grades = Elementary School
6 - 8 grades = Middles School
9 - 12 grades = High School

Answer 5

Junior High's generally are only 7th and 8th grades. Middle Schools include either 6th or 9th grade as well--I've seen it both ways.

However, I've also heard some places call 7th-9th Junior High.

Answer 6

I went to a middle school that was 7-8 and in grade 8 they extended it to 6th graders as well.

On Degrassi Jr High it was grade 7-8 but then they made them stay an extra year

I never understood it either.....

Answer 7

they are one and the same: grades 7 and 8 usually. Some school are 6,7,8 - some are 7, 8, 9 and some are 6,7,8,9.

Answer 8

sometimes theres no difference but the name other times its just missing grade or having an extra one here or there.

Answer 9

middle school is normally just 5th and 6th grade.
Jr. High school is 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.

hope i helped!!
MWAHH