SCHOOL

In the United States, the standard school system developed from an uncoordinated
conglomeration of dame schools, reading and writing schools, private academies, Latin grammar
schools, and colleges into a well-organized system in which a child may progress from
kindergarten to college in a continuous and efficient free public system. By 1890 there had
evolved the now common twelve-grade system whereby the child enters kindergarten at the age
of five, goes to grammar or elementary school for grades one through eight, high or secondary
school for grades nine through twelve, and then enters college. Compulsory attendance at school
has been legislated in all states, although standards of age and length of the school year vary
considerably.
To meet the psychological and social stresses of early adolescence, the junior high school was
introduced (1890–1920) in many systems for grades seven through nine. This organization,
sometimes called the six-three-three plan, was designed to ease the transition period by having
the junior high school introduce its students to many aspects of the high school, such as student
government and separate classes for different subjects. Critics of the junior high school, however,
contended that it merely copied the program of the high school, which they believed to be
inappropriate for the age group that attends the junior high. In response, many districts have
established intermediate, or middle, schools, usually encompassing grades five through eight.
To provide opportunity for advanced training beyond high school without a full college course,
the junior or community college, which generally includes the first two years of college, has
gained wide popularity. Not only does it prepare students for technical careers, it allows states
and municipalities to fulfill their commitment to open enrollment, whereby any high-school
graduate may enter a specified institution of higher education. More recently, a few high schools
have combined a community college curriculum with the last two years of high school. Such a
program is designed to encourage bright or disadvantaged students to remain in high school by
enabling them to earn an associate degree in conjunction with a high school diploma.
Although in the United States schools are primarily the responsibility of state and local
authorities, the federal government has passed a number of measures intended to assist schools
and their students. The National Defense Education Act (1958) and the Higher Education Act
(1965) were designed to provide financial assistance to college and university students. The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965, amended 1966, 1967) was the first national
general-aid education program in the United States. It provided funds for school library and
textbook services, the education of poor and handicapped children, and educational innovations
and construction by local school districts.
Public school services have been extended, in some communities, into the sponsorship of
community centers, adult education, summer schools, and recreation programs. In addition, with
the increase in the number of households where both parents work and in the number of single-
parent households, programs such as Head Start have been established to care for preschool
children. Special programs have been established for the deaf, the blind, and the mentally and
physically handicapped and in some instances for the gifted. In large cities special high schools
are sometimes set up to serve special student needs; e.g., there may be separate schools for
artistic, industrial, scientific, and classical subjects. In the latter part of the 20th cent. public
schools, particularly in economically depressed urban areas, suffered from economic cutbacks,
an increase in student crime, and an inability to find qualified administrators and teachers.
Efforts to revitalize public school systems have included such varied approaches as decentralized
community control in large urban areas, privatization of public school administration, school
vouchers, and charter schools. In the United Kingdom, the term school refers primarily to pre-
university institutions, and these can, for the most part, be divided into pre-schools or nursery
schools, primary schools (sometimes further divided into infant school and junior school), and
secondary schools. There are various types of secondary schools which include grammar
schools, comprehensives, secondary moderns and city academies. In Scotland school
performance is monitored by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education. Ofsted reports on
performance in England and Wales.
In the United Kingdom, most schools are publicly funded and known as state schools or
maintained schools in which tuition is provided free. There are also private schools or
independent schools that charge fees. Some of the most selective and expensive private schools
are known as public schools, a usage that can be confusing to speakers of North American
English. In North American usage, a public school is one that is publicly funded or run.
In much of the Commonwealth of Nations, including Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Tanzania, the term school refers primarily to pre-university
institutions.

EUROPE
In much of continental Europe, the term school usually applies to primary education, with
primary schools that last between six and nine years, depending on the country. It also applies to
secondary education, with secondary schools often divided between Gymnasiums and vocational
schools, which again depending on country and type of school educate students for between
three and six years. The term school is rarely used for tertiary education, except for some upper
or high schools (German: Hochschule) which are used to describe colleges and universities.

NORTH AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES

In North America, the term school can refer to any educational institution at any level, and
covers all of the following: preschool (for toddlers), kindergarten, elementary school, middle
school (also called intermediate school or junior high school, depending on specific age groups
and geographic region), senior high school, college, university, and graduate school.
In the US, school performance through high school is monitored by each state's Department of
Education. Charter schools are publicly funded elementary or secondary schools that have been
freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools. The
terms grammar school and grade school are sometimes used to refer to a primary school. The
concept of grouping students together in a centralized location for learning has existed since
Classical antiquity. Formal schools have existed at least since ancient Greece (see Academy),
ancient India (see Gurukul) and ancient China (see History of education in China). The
Byzantine Empire had an established schooling system beginning at the primary level. According
to Traditions and Encounters, the founding of the primary education system began in 425 A.D.
and "… military personnel usually had at least a primary education …". The Byzantine education
system continued until the empire's collapse in 1453 AD.[citation needed]
Islam was another culture to develop a schooling system in the modern sense of the word.
Emphasis was put on knowledge and therefore a systematic way of teaching and spreading
knowledge was developed in purpose built structures. At first, mosques combined both religious
performance and learning activities, but by the ninth century, the Madrassa was introduced, a
proper school built independently from the mosque. They were also the first to make the
Madrassa system a public domain under the control of the Caliph. The Nizamiyya madrasa is
considered by consensus of scholars to be the earliest surviving school, built towards 1066 CE by
Emir Nizam Al-Mulk.[citation needed]
Under the Ottomans, the towns of Bursa and Edirne became the main centers of learning. The
Ottoman system of Kulliye, a building complex containing a mosque, a hospital, madrassa, and
public kitchen and dining areas, revolutionized the education system, making learning accessible
to a wider public through its free meals, health care and sometimes free accommodation.

One-room school in 1935 Alabama.

The nineteenth century historian, Scott holds that a remarkable correspondence exists between
the procedure established by those institutions and the methods of the present day. They had their
collegiate courses, their prizes for proficiency in scholarship, their oratorical and poetical
contests, their commencements and their degrees. In the department of medicine, a severe and
prolonged examination, conducted by the most eminent physicians of the capital, was exacted of
all candidates desirous of practicing their profession, and such as were unable to stand the test
were formally pronounced incompetent.[citation needed]
In Europe during the Middle Ages and much of the Early Modern period, the main purpose of
schools (as opposed to universities) was to teach the Latin language. This led to the term
grammar school which in the United States is used informally to refer to a primary school but in
the United Kingdom means a school that selects entrants on their ability or aptitude. Following
this, the school curriculum has gradually broadened to include literacy in the vernacular language
as well as technical, artistic, scientific and practical subjects.
Many of the earlier public schools in the United States were one-room schools where a single
teacher taught seven grades of boys and girls in the same classroom. Beginning in the 1920s,
one-room schools were consolidated into multiple classroom facilities with transportation
increasingly provided by kid hacks and school buses.

SCHOOL SECURITY

A typical school entrance building in Australia

The safety of staff and students is increasingly becoming an issue for school communities, an
issue most schools are addressing through improved security. After mass shootings such as the
Columbine High School massacre and the Virginia Tech incident, many school administrators in
the United States have created plans to protect students and staff in the event of a school
shooting. Some have also taken measures such as installing metal detectors or video surveillance.
Others have even taken measures such as having the children swipe identification cards as they
board the school bus. For some schools, these plans have included the use of door numbering to
aid public safety response.
Other security concerns faced by schools include bomb threats, gangs, vandalism[2], and
bullying[3].