A school is an institution where students (or "pupils") learn while under the supervision of teachers. In most systems of formal education, students progress through a series of schools: primary school, secondary school, and possibly a university , vocational school or a college. A school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance. In homeschooling and online schools, teaching and learning take place outside of a traditional school building.

Regional varieties

A madrasah in the Gambia

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 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.

In North America, the term school can refer to any institute of education, 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. 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.

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 take 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 more accurately translated as colleges.

Please note in all countries there is one more classification called Business Schools which are normally Colleges providing .

School sizes and structures

School in rural Sudan, 2002

The size and scope of schools varies depending on the resources and goals of the communities that provide for them. A school might be simply an outdoor meeting spot where one teacher comes to instruct a few students, or, alternatively, a large campus consisting of hundreds of buildings and tens of thousands of students and educators.

The basic unit of a school building is the classroom, where the act of instruction takes place. Every school will use space in a different way depending upon the design of the building and the needs of the school and the children. A combination of some of the following areas will be found in schools:

• a cafeteria (Commons), dining hall or canteen where students eat lunch.
• an athletic field, playground, gym, and/or track for students participating in sports or physical education.
• an auditorium or hall where student theatrical or musical productions can be staged and where all-school events such as assemblies are held.
• an office where the administrative work of the school is done.
• a library where students consult and check out books.
• specialist classrooms including laboratories for science education.

Boarding schools, where students live full-time amongst their peers, will also include dormitories.

School ownership and operation

Many schools are owned or funded by states. Private schools are those which are operated independently from the government. Private schools usually rely on fees from families whose children attend the school for funding; however, sometimes such schools also receive government support (see charter schools). Many private schools are affiliated with a particular religion; these are known as parochial schools.

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.

History and development of schools

Education as Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schools, edited by Kenneth J. Saltman and David A. Gabbard, RoutledgeFalmer 2003.review

Nakosteen, M. (1964). ‘History of Islamic origins of Western Education AD 800-1350’, University of Colorado Press, Boulder, Colorado,

Dodge, B. (1962). ‘Muslim Education in the Medieval Times’, The Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.

Makdisi, G. (1980). ‘On the origin and development of the college in Islam and the West’, in Islam and the Medieval West, ed. Khalil I. Semaan, State University of New York Press

Ribera, J. (1928). ‘Disertaciones Y Opusculos’, 2 vols. Madrid

Traditions and Encounters, by Jerry H. Bentley and Herb F. Ziegler

See also

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School

• List of colleges and universities by country
• List of schools by country
• List of songs about school
• List of television series about school
• Music school
• Prep school
• School and university in literature
• Teaching for social justice
• School Tycoon

v • d • e Schools
By educational stage	Primary education • Secondary education • Tertiary education
By funding	Free education • Free school • Private school • Public school • Independent school • Independent school (UK) • Charter school
By style of education	Day school • Alternative school • Parochial school • Boarding school • Magnet school • Virtual school • K-12
By scope	Compulsory education • Comprehensive school • Vocational school • University-preparatory school
By name	Grammar school • High school • Secondary school • Middle school • Primary school • Elementary school • University-preparatory school • Vocational school • Gymnasium • College • University

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