# Why did they drop "Junior High" in favor of "Middle School"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-drop-junior-high-in-favor-of-middle-school/808636 "2018-02-11T17:40:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-drop-junior-high-in-favor-of-middle-school/808636/101 "2026-02-13T02:41:10Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Probably off topic, but did anyone else’s high school have the “Block” system if class schedule? Classes were twice as long each day and you alternated between two sets of classes. The school I teach at uses block scheduling, but we don’t alternate. A student has four classes each semester, instead of eight-ish year-long classes. Rotating schedules are also a thing at some schools. Like, you’ll have English in A period, and math in B, and so on, but on Monday the schedule is ABCDEFG, and then on Tuesday it’s BCDEFGA, and Wednesday is CDEFGAB, and so on. The benefit is that, if a student is often late or doesn’t function well right before lunch or whatever, that burden is spread out over all of the classes. The drawback is that, with schedules changing every day, it’s harder to hire part-time teachers. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-drop-junior-high-in-favor-of-middle-school/808636/102 "2026-02-14T05:32:21Z")
I went to Catholic school K-8 for elementary school, then a stand alone freshman high public school and on to a 10-12 public high school. The reason for the stand alone freshman high was that that was where they had room because the high school had become overcrowded. The school district had just built a 7-8 middle school and they moved the frosh into the former junior high. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-drop-junior-high-in-favor-of-middle-school/808636/103 "2026-04-24T17:03:19Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > 6th graders are too mature (or rather, have entered the larval stage of human development) I assume you mean “have entered the pupal stage”. Humans would enter the larval stage right after they hatch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-they-drop-junior-high-in-favor-of-middle-school/808636.md?page=5)