Do Any Of You Still Refer To Middle School As "Junior High School"?

Yes. My junior high was 7-9 grades and then high school was only 10, 11, 12, which I thought was great because there is a world of difference in maturity between 9th graders and seniors.

You mean it's NOT called Junior High anymore?

My school system had middle school as grades 5-6 and junior high as grades 7-8. They later changed it, dumped the fifth graders back in elementary school, and created a 6/7/8 middle school system. This was back in the 70s, though.

Never did.

In my area, it was "junior high" if it only had grades 6-7, and "middle school" if it had grades 6-8 or 7-9.

It should be pre-K and K, 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12 together at different schools. You'd have more developmentally similar kids together at all stages.

I went to a K-8 school. The other schools in town were K-5 and fed to what was called Junior High School for 6-8. I just checked the website and it is now called Middle School. How odd.

My junior high was only grades 7 & 8

Actually, they were officially referred to as "intermediate schools" in New York during my teen years (late 70s, early 80s), but most of us simply called them junior high schools. If we had to be specific, we would refer to a particular school by its initials and number (I.S. 72, for example). I guess it would be M.S. 72 today.

Yeah, in LA, it was still junior high in the 80s and early 90s.

Although it's not as common as it used to be, here are still Junior HIgh Schools. It varies from district to district and state to state.

In my area, Junior High was just considered 7th and 8th grade. It was called a Middle School if it included more grades than just those two.

I went to a junior high school of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. Kids are so cruel at that age. I was bullied only a little, but the kinds of cruelty I witnessed visiting on others was unbelievable.

Around here it's:

Middle School = 6, 7, 8 grade Junior High = 7, 8, 9 grade

If someone could please buy us some chalk, we will call it whatever you’d like.

I went to Junior High which was 7-9, then High School 10-12. It is now a middle school 6-8 and the High School is 9-12

OP = Klan Granny

What do they call the prior school these days? Elementary school? Grammar school?

Millennial here. Went to a k-4 school, called it elementary. 5-8 was middle school, but I use that and junior high interchangeably. Same thing.

It was junior high in the early ‘70s in my school that just had the 7th & 8th grades.

And it was “the prom,” not “Prom.”

My junior high was grades 7-9. The meanest age for kids. High school was a breeze if you survived bullying in junior high.

My junior high in the 80s SoCal was 6th-8th, HS was 9-12.

Yeah, most of the bullying I experienced was over by the 10th grade. As an aside, when I mentioned to a much younger man who so enchanted me that I had been bullied when I was younger, he responded, “Were they bullying handsome boys back then?”

[Quote]Kids are so cruel at that age. I was bullied only a little, but the kinds of cruelty I witnessed visiting on others was unbelievable.

Same here. They were also just as disrespectful towards the teachers, calling them the most horrendous names you could think of. And these were 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds.

I was a sissy in Texas. Imagine how much fun junior high was.

We called it "intermediate" school. A friend (smart) pointed out to me that, by high school, a lot of kids had already dropped out of school (never to return). Mandatory school varies by state. By law, you only have to go up to a certain grade (not 12th) and you're not a truant after that.

My intermediate school was horrible (young assholes) - high school was a lot easier. That's when my friend pointed out that, by high school, the herd had been culled.

For me, elementary school was K-4, middle school was 5-8, and high school was 9-12.

Starting in middle school, my school also had a tough grading scale:

A: 100 - 95

B: 94-88

C: 87-80

D: 79-75

F: 74 -

When I was there in 1967, IT WAS CALLED Junior High School. It's been renamed since sometime in the 1990s.

Boston neighborhood here:

I like calling it 'junior high.' 'Middle school' sounds dumb, but I guess that's what it's called now.

In my neighborhood, grades one through six were/are called elementary school...and in the same building, seventh, eighth and ninth grades were/are called junior high. In a separate building across the street, the local high school only has grades 10-12.

However, the parochial (Catholic) schools, elementary school was considered grades one through eight. Parochial high schools were/are grades 9-12, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior

Gen X Southwesterner, call it Junior High. It was 7 & 8th grades.

It wasn't until I moved to "the city" and met people from all over that I heard it referred to as Middle School.

I always thought the 2 terms were interchangeable, but "the internet" has some specific definitions which delineate between the 2 terms, implying they're not interchangeable. No matter the definitions, I think slang-use tends to have them interchangeable depending on locale, imo.

[quote]1.Junior high school is a high school preparatory level that includes students of 7th and 8th grades while middle school is a high school preparatory level that also includes 6th grade students as well as 7th and 8th grade students --- 2.Middle school has a broader scope that includes personality, emotional, social, and organizational development in addition to the usual subject matters while junior high school is focused on the subject matter only and on the mental development of students --- 3.Middle school teachers work in groups teaching all assigned subject matters to students of the same level while junior high school assigns each student to teachers at random --- 4.Junior high school is like a regular class with students going to the same class each day while middle school has block scheduling and allows classes to be divided into longer periods on alternate days.

The worst bullying I dealt with was middle school, 5th-6th grades. Kids that age are savage.

[quote] However, the parochial (Catholic) schools, elementary school was considered grades one through eight. Parochial high schools were/are grades 9-12, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior

R29, I went to Catholic school from K through 8th grade. IIRC, they referred to 7th and 8th grades as "junior high." The public schools considered it "intermediate," though (7th, 8th, and 9th grades).

OP, your topic is a bit pointless, because most areas do this differently from each other. As clearly outlined above.

r22 here - our junior high (6th - 8th) had block scheduling starting in 6th grade, but it wasn't alternate days, it was the same schedule w/different classes each day. Come to think of it, our HS was the same way, except you did usually switch to a new set of classes each semester.

We had junior high, period. 7th and 8th grade, 9th was some classes at jr high, some at senior high down the road. Like they were preparing us

In some places it's called "junior high," in other places it's called "middle school," and yet in other places it's called "intermediate school." If you'd ever lived in different parts of the country, you'd know that.

It was called “intermediate” but people still referred to it as “junior high.” 7th and 8th grade - late 70’s - Mid-Atlantic suburbs.

[quote]They were also just as disrespectful towards the teachers, calling them the most horrendous names you could think of. And these were 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds.

Those are the worst ages by far when kids are rebellious and disrespectful. Most of the bad behavior ends by 14.

1960s, northern California. We had K-6 (primary/elementary); 7-8 (intermediate) and 9-12 (high.)

I went to a school that was 7th -12th in one building....It's a small school though with only 20-40 in each grade and it was called a jr/senior high school

In Trinidad CO, had middle school - 5th and 6th grade, and junior high - 7th and 8th. Eldergay - 59

Brooklynite here. It was officially named a Junior High School when I attended decades ago, and my school is still named a Junior High School.

I've never referred to it as Middle School. Junior High School is correct.

[quote] 1960s, northern California. We had K-6 (primary/elementary); 7-8 (intermediate) and 9-12 (high.)

Holy cow, R39, that's even worse than middle school. You actually had to say "I'm in intermediate school"? It sounds so odd.

I realize the definitions have changed but the original break off from the standard Grades 1-8 (grammar or elementary school) and high school grades 9-10 was the Junior High School Grades 7-9.

It was done more for financial reasons than any other and the population growth. It wasn't based on some deep educational thinking.

Personally I thought that it was good that 7th and 8th graders were in the same school with 1st & 2d graders. Back in the day the older students served as role models and having smaller kids around affected their behavior. I can remember older students stepping in when younger students bullied or got into fights. I even remember older kids protecting the youngest when some smart ass middlers tried to spoil Christmas revealing Santa wasn't real.

Same in high school, 9th graders learned a bit of humility by being the bottom of the social ladder and often looked up to juniors and especially seniors - leaders, athletes, etc.

The idea that all children/adolescents have to have the most "comfortable" situation in everything as they navigate life doesn't foster learning or maturation or learning to handle life.

That just an oldster's view on life.

middle school and junior high school are different things. OP is a moron

I always just said grade school. I said high school in relation to 9-12.

I couldn't wait another day for High School, which meant Jr. Varsity Sports, which meant VARSITY JOCKS in the gang showers!!! OMG I was in heaven!

I went to a “middle school” - grades 5-8.

I think of junior high as 7-8 or 9. 5th and 6th graders are not junior high IMO.

[quote] In some places it's called "junior high," in other places it's called "middle school," and yet in other places it's called "intermediate school." If you'd ever lived in different parts of the country, you'd know that.

My HS has changed it back and forth a few times (along with shuffling the buildings between various grade levels), but in the 80s, when I attended, 7 and 8 were junior high, 9 and 10 were intermediate high, and 11 and 12 were the senior high.

When did junior highs turn into middle schools?

It's still called junior high school in town, I just checked, but some of the individual buildings are called "[President's Name] Middle School" and then there's a separate campus for the 9th grade freshmen, which is weird and I didn't know we even had that. Wonder why we put all the 9th graders in their own building? Are they stinky?

You never get away from it I am not sure when I'm supposed to identify myself as a senior. I am desperately clinging onto describing myself as a junior-senior.

My junior high was 6th-8th grades. It will always be junior high. Middle school is a dumb name that’s change for change’s sake.

No.

What's middle school? What's junior high? K-8 grade school, then high school. Wtf

In my day, where I lived, Jr. High was grades 7-9 (following elementary school and preceding high school). A few years later they moved 9th grade into high school and made middle school 7th and 8th.

R24 Sounds like we went to the same junior high school.

I was the bully!

SF Bay Area in the 1960's: K-6 = Elementary; 7,8 = Intermediate; 9-12 = High.

But the reason I'm posting is that I am reminded that the local Catholic Intermediate/Jr. High school was named "Most Precious Blood" which we heathens called "Bucket O' Blood" and I am now giggling like a 7th grader. Note that this was well before the movie "Carrie" came out. I can't imagine that they haven't changed that severe name.

And now I'm thinking about all of my "disappeared" young friends I grew up with who were sent to Catholic schools after they finished at our local public elementary school, never to be seen again. My mother used to like to tell me that those kids ended up there because they got pregnant or got someone pregnant. Note that it would be later revealed that my oldest sister got preggers at 16 and had an abortion in Mexico and that one of my older brothers got some chick pregnant (I think she miscarried before having to terminate it). I was the youngest of six. No, we were absolutely not Catholic, but I was not allowed to be around girls WHICH WAS TOTALLY FINE WITH ME and I had regular sleep-overs with my "best friend" Adam -- even after we went away to (different) colleges.

My junior high school (7-8) is now a middle school (6-8).

How could you guys go to a high school with no freshmen year? How bizarre.

[quote] What do they call the prior school these days? Elementary school? Grammar school?

Grade school

Who wants to actually reminisce on those times? Not me, it does nothing but stir up needless agita.

If you guys would stop using it as a side dish to your pan fried snake guts [R15], we'd be happy to send over another pallet or two. But you need to coordinate it with Sir Bob Geldof, even if he won't return your texts.

Tonight thank gawd it's THEM instead of YOU!

Same as R59.

You went to a separate school for 8th grade. Then you went to four years of high school.

8th grade was a hideous experience.