K-12?

[hot_shaker]

K does mean kindergarten.  Most kids start when they are 5 (or on the verge of turning 5, depending on where you live).  Anything before that is Pre-K or pre-school.  Students finish up 13 years later so at ~age 18. 

So you don't have to sit and count out the grades and ages for the average student:
- start Kindergarten at age 5 (in my area elementary school was K-6)
- start of junior high/middle school (grades 7 and 8 )  at age 12
- start of high school (grades 9-12) at age 14
- start grade 12 at age 17 but usually turn 18 before graduating

Keep in mind that while the ages/grades are fairly consistent across the country, the actual grades that are together vary by region (for example, some middle schools are 7 & 8, some are 6-8, some are 6-9).

A quick addendum to your post, for clarity's sake: "junior high" refers to grades 7 and 8 (and maybe 9? Some schools split them like that) while "middle school" is 6, 7, and 8.

I think it depends.  In the area I live now (in the midwest), everyone calls the school for 7 & 8 graders middle school; I'm the only one who calls it junior high (from the DC area).

[Kaora]

Living in Southern California, the grade school I attended for Kindergarten and on up was built the year I attended.  In its first year, I distinctly remember having 6th grade in our school, but not when I entered 1st grade.

I also attended Preschool in a little, green and white schoolhouse in town.  I wish I could find info on that dangnabbity schoolhouse, because it was apparently an older building, not unsafe in any regards, but it DID lack electricity.  I could still grab photos, though its now boarded up, and sits in a parking lot not far from where it was formally located.

Back on topic, we called it Elementary, then either Junior High OR Middle School (this might have to due with heavy culture influx from both the midwest and the LA areas, both), and High School.  When I did my run, it was Pre, K-5, 6-8, then 9-12. 

[Danismom]

I'm in TX and here, Kindergarten is for 5-6 year olds.  I'm reading that in other parts of the US, 4 year olds are starting K.  I find that an interesting contrast to my area where many parents are waiting until their child is 6 to start K for the social development benefits.

[Judah]

I'm in TX and here, Kindergarten is for 5-6 year olds.  I'm reading that in other parts of the US, 4 year olds are starting K.  I find that an interesting contrast to my area where many parents are waiting until their child is 6 to start K for the social development benefits.

DD was 4 when she started kindergarten, and, yes, she was in class with kids two years older than her.  California has since changed the cut off date for entering kindergarten and she would no longer meet the age requirement, though.  She was more than ready for school when she started, though I don't think she could have handled all day kindergarten.

[Thipu1]

Although I started school in the early 1950s, I remember that we had real lessons and homework.  We had what was called the reading-readiness workbook to use at home.  There were also odd exercises in school. 

These included recognizing the shape of words.  Take the words 'cat' and 'bag' for example.  In lower case letters, 'cat' has the shape 'short, short, tall' while ,'bag' has the shape 'tall, short, deep'.  The exercises consisted of presenting a word with several word shapes.  Te object was to match up the right shape with the word presented.  I know it sounds like madness but it seemed to work.  Some kids like me were reading before we got to Kindergarten.  Some didn't but we did managed to learn reading in the first grade.  That would have been age 6. 

[marcel]

Nothing to add, except to say that everytime I see this thread, I wonder what a K2 thread is doing here, instead of in the other forum I frequent a lot. (about boardgaming, not mountainclimbing, K2 is in my top 5 games at the moment)
[/threadjack]

[kglory]

I've just been reading the summary of a study relating to school, and one of the graphs has "K-12" in the title.  I guess this is something to do with years in school, but what ages exactly does it correspond to?  I assume "K" is Kindergarten, which is what, 3 years old?  Our (England) Year 12 is age 17, but that seems an arbitrary point to study up to when I think in the US you finish school at 18, so are your years numbered differently or am I just confused?

The others have done a good job of explaining what goes in in each grade, and the slight regional differences associated with these.

I would also add - if you are seeing K-12 used in an article about comparative education, it's because K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) is the sum total of required public school in the U.S.  In other words, it's everything BEFORE they graduate and make the choices about college, university, trade school, going to work, joining the military, etc. 

It's a good measuring point because every student -- unless they drop out-- completes these years.  After that, it's all personal preference as to how much education that person wishes to pursue.

[Mopsy428]

Some areas also have a "pre-first" or "readiness" grade in between kindergarten and first grade. This is for students who aren't ready for first grade, either socially or emotionally for first grade. I went to readiness because socially, I wasn't ready for first grade. Mentally, I could easily do the work. I'm not sure how prevalent this is today, but when I graduated high school, there were quite a few of us who were 19 years old.

[glacio]

As non-Americans can probably get by now is that the American system is not as standardized as other schools.

My elementary school system was particularly unique in that the district had:
1 Kindergarten center
4 Elementary schools (1-4)
1 Intermediate (5-6)
1 Middle school (7-8)
1 Junior high (9)
1 Senior high (10-12)

[Thipu1]

As non-Americans can probably get by now is that the American system is not as standardized as other schools.

My elementary school system was particularly unique in that the district had:
1 Kindergarten center
4 Elementary schools (1-4)
1 Intermediate (5-6)
1 Middle school (7-8)
1 Junior high (9)
1 Senior high (10-12)

Thanks for clarifying that.

People who aren't in the US may not realize that there isn't much Federal regulation of schools.  States, cities and even local school districts can decide which textbooks will be used and set curricula. 

When I was in high school, we had the NYS Regents exams.  Schools could issue their own diplomas but, in my school, you got a Regents diploma or you weren't graduated from High school.

[camlan]

As non-Americans can probably get by now is that the American system is not as standardized as other schools.

My elementary school system was particularly unique in that the district had:
1 Kindergarten center
4 Elementary schools (1-4)
1 Intermediate (5-6)
1 Middle school (7-8)
1 Junior high (9)
1 Senior high (10-12)

And another example, the school system my nieces and nephews are in.

Elementary school has the following:
1 school for Kindergarten and first grade
1 school for second through fifth grades

Then comes:
1 Middle school-sixth through eighth grades

And finally:
1 High school for ninth through twelfth grades.

[Elisabunny]

One thing I'm curious about that hasn't been addressed yet is, what block of time in various countries is a school year?  In the USA, the school year generally runs from about the beginning of September to the end of May, give or take a few weeks, and has at least 180 days of school.  Specifically, I grew up in an area that started the first week of September and went to about June 15.  Where I live now, most districts go from about the 3rd or 4th week of August to the end of May.

[Thipu1]

Our school year usually began on the Wendnesday after Labor Day (The Wednesday after the first Monday in September).

 There was a  week-long break between Christmas and New Years Day.  There was also a break beginning on the Thursday before Easter and lasting through the following week.

The school year usually ended during late June.     

[Kess]

UK school year generally runs from early September to mid July.  There is a week off for half-term in the middle of each term, and then 2-3 weeks off at the end of each term (Easter and Christmas).  Private schools generally have longer holidays.

[camlan]

Some high schools in Maine still close for a week or two in the fall to allow the students to help with the potato harvest, but I think that's a tradition that will end soon, as fewer and fewer potatoes are being grown there, and fewer students actually use the break to work. Back when it started, though, the student labor was necessary to get the crop in before the ground froze.