secondary school: see school.

school vouchers, government grants aimed at improving education for the children of low-income families by providing school tuition that can be used at public or private schools. The idea behind school vouchers is to give parents a wider choice of educational institutions and approaches; it is also assumed that competition from private schools will pressure public schools into providing a better education for their students. The first school-voucher program instituted in the United States was a state-funded effort begun in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1990; a 1995 federal bill proposed setting up pilot school-voucher plans in 26 American cities.

The voucher concept has been controversial, and critics have voiced concerns that such programs, if broadly applied, ultimately could destroy the American public-school system. The issue of the constitutionality of taxpayer-financed vouchers was sidestepped at the federal level in 1998 when the Supreme Court chose not to review a state court ruling that upheld the use of vouchers in Milwaukee. In 1999, however, a federal court held that when a voucher system used in Ohio resulted in almost all recipients attending religious instead of public schools the system violated the Constitution, but in 2002 the Supreme Court narrowly ruled that the program provided "true private choice." Meanwhile, in Florida a program was initiated (1999) in which vouchers, good at private religious and nonreligious schools, were given to children whose public schools had failed standardized tests, but the program has been challenged in the state courts. By the end of the 20th cent. various kinds of voucher programs were being implemented in 31 U.S. states and were utilized by nearly 65,000 students. There is no incontrovertible evidence that the use of vouchers has improved the education of students using them, either at private or public schools, but often it also is not clear whether poor educational results are in fact the fault of the schools or the result of other causes.

school of Paris. The center of international art until after World War II, Paris was a mecca for artists who flocked there to participate in the most advanced aesthetic currents of their time. The school of Paris is not one style; the term describes many styles and movements. The practitioners and adherents of fauvism, cubism, and orphism all belonged to the school of Paris, as well as many artists whose styles fit into no one category. After the war, when New York City challenged Paris's preeminence in the art world, the school of Paris continued to produce major figures and styles in art: Jean Dubuffet and the Art Brut school are recent examples.

school, term commonly referring to institutions of pre-college formal education. It also properly includes colleges, universities, and many types of special training establishments (see adult education; colleges and universities; community college; vocational education).

Public Schools

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.

Parochial Schools and the English System

The free public school system is paralleled in many areas by private and parochial schools. Preparatory schools are private schools operated primarily to prepare students for college. They correspond to English public schools, which are in fact private, endowed institutions. The English system, which is roughly organized according to a six-six model, has been used as the basis for many school systems in developing countries. These educational systems usually provide primary education for children up to ages 11 or 12 and a secondary program for students up to age 18.

public school, in the United States, a tax-supported elementary or high school open to anyone. In England the term was originally applied to grammar schools endowed for the use of the lay public; however, it has come to be used for the famous endowed preparatory schools that now charge tuition. The English public schools include Charterhouse, Cheltenham, Clifton, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster, and Winchester. See school.

progressive school: see progressive education.

preparatory school: see school.

parochial school, school supported by a religious body. In the United States such schools are maintained by a number of religious groups, including Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventists, Orthodox Jews, Muslims, and evangelical Protestant churches. However, the most numerous are those attached to Roman Catholic parishes.

The Catholic parochial school system developed in the 19th cent. as a response to what was then seen as Protestant domination of the public school system in the United States. A group of American bishops met in the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884) to plan for the establishment of a comprehensive parochial school system. Local churches were directed to establish elementary schools for the education of the parish children. In time a number of secondary, or high, schools, supported by a diocese and encompassing a number of parish schools, were also established. Both the elementary and secondary schools developed a religious curriculum emphasizing Catholic doctrine along with a secular curriculum very similar to that of the public schools.

During the middle of the 20th cent., much of parochial education's traditional structure began to change. The ecumenical spirit generated by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) convinced many Roman Catholics that the religious education of the parochial school was too separatist. Moreover, parochial schools suffered from the criticism that public schools provided a better secular education at less cost. Because of such criticisms, parochial schools were forced to hire lay teachers, who came to account for an increasingly larger proportion of the faculty. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Roman Catholic schools began to encounter severe financial problems; many parish schools were closed and the Catholic school population dropped sharply.

Although parochial schools still account for the bulk of the attendance at private schools in the United States, their loss of students and their financial difficulties have forced them to seek aid from public sources, most often in the form of tax subsidies or credits for the parents of parochial school children. Under the "child-benefit theory," government aid has been provided to the students of parochial schools, rather than to the schools themselves; by means of this compromise, the constitutional provision against aid to religious institutions is circumvented. In a number of cases, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided against state laws providing such aid to parochial schools, claiming that they violate the principle of separation between church and state.

opportunity school: see illiteracy.

nursery school, educational institution for children from two to four years of age. It is distinguishable from a day nursery in that it serves children of both working and nonworking parents, rarely receives public funds, and has as its primary objective to promote the social and educational adjustment of children, rather than to provide a daytime child-care service. The first nursery schools were opened in London in 1907. Pioneers in nursery school work in the United States were the State Univ. of Iowa; Teachers College, Columbia Univ.; Smith; and Vassar. Early American nursery schools were often sponsored by and affiliated with local universities. The Eliot Pearson School (opened in the 1920s as the Ruggles Street Nursery) is one of the oldest schools of its type and is still affiliated with Tufts Univ. Few public school systems include nursery education; the facilities offered are chiefly private, philanthropic, or cooperative.

normal school: see teacher training.

night school: see vocational education.

library school, educational institution providing professional training for librarians (see also library). Librarians were trained by apprenticeship until the late 19th cent. The first school for training librarians was established by Melvil Dewey in 1887. The success of this institution, combined with a shortage of librarians in a period of growth and expansion, led to a proliferation of such schools, many of which were inadequate. With the formation of the Association of American Library Schools in 1915, standards of accreditation were established and maintained. A number of university schools of library service were established in the 1920s, many of them funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In 1999, 56 U.S. and Canadian institutions offering training in librarianship were accredited by the American Library Association. These schools require a minimum of five years' study beyond the secondary level: The four years of undergraduate study constitute a general education in the humanities and natural and social sciences; the fifth year is in professional study at the graduate level and leads to a master's degree. The first school to confer the doctoral degree in library science was the Univ. of Chicago. Some of the schools are part of a university (as at the Univ. of Illinois); others are at independent undergraduate institutions (e.g., Pratt Institute). As libraries adopted the use of computer databases and on-line catalogs, the schools added a broader range of courses in information science and technology in order to acquaint future librarians with a variety of media.

The first library school outside the United States and Canada was founded at the Univ. of London in 1917. In many underdeveloped countries, university library schools have been established by grants from UNESCO and other sources, employing at the outset European- or American-trained staff. This staff is replaced as soon as possible with local personnel. Although the number of non-American library schools has steadily increased, many foreign librarians are still trained in the United States.

junior high school: see school.

intermediate school: see school.

graveyard school, 18th-century school of English poets who wrote primarily about human mortality. Often set in a graveyard, their poems mused on the vicissitudes of life, the solitude of death and the grave, and the anguish of bereavement. Their air of pensive gloom presaged the melancholy of the romantic movement. The most famous graveyard poems were Robert Blair's The Grave (1743), Edward Young's nine-volume The Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality (1742-45), and Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1750).

folk high school, type of adult education that in its most widely known form originated in Denmark in the middle of the 19th cent. The idea as originally conceived by Bishop Nikolai Grundtvig was to stimulate the intellectual life of young adults (generally from 18 to 25 years of age) of rural Denmark, to foster patriotism and strengthen religious conviction, and to provide agricultural and vocational training. The first school, established in Schleswig (1844), was moved across the Danish border after Schleswig passed to Prussia. The movement then gained momentum, and numerous schools were established, with national history and literature emphasized in the curriculum. The folk high schools had a great influence on the civic life of rural Denmark and helped to improve the condition of the small farmer whose products were marketed through cooperative societies. The folk school idea spread throughout Europe with local adaptations, but by the early 20th cent. the movement had abated. In the United States notable experiments in this type of adult education were instituted at Rome, Ga., and at Brasstown, N.C., where the John C. Campbell Folk School was founded (1925). Most attempts to found folk high schools in the United States, however, have been unsuccessful.

elementary school: see school.

continuation school: see vocational education.

charter school, alternative type of American public school that, while paid for by taxes, is independent of the public-school system and relatively free from state and local regulations. A charter school has a greater degree of freedom and autonomy than the traditional public school, and students attend it by choice. Each school is granted a renewable charter, usually by a state or local board for three to five years. The aim of these schools is to increase learning opportunities and to allow for greater innovation in teaching practices. Some charter schools have a higher percentage of minority or economically disadvantaged students than traditional public schools and some specialize in a particular academic area. Charter schools are usually small, mainly urban, and vary significantly from state to state. The first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991, and the first school opened there the following year; California initiated similar legislation in 1992. By 2004, some 3,000 such schools were serving more than 600,000 students in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. While many applaud the charter school movement for promoting greater choice for students and parents, it has also been criticized by those, including many teachers' unions, who are apprehensive about the possible chilling effect on other public schools, the lack of adequate supervision, and, after several years of operation, the apparently unsatisfactory performance of many of the schools.

ashcan school: see Eight, the.

Tübingen School: see Baur, Ferdinand Christian.

Sunday school, institution for instruction in religion and morals, usually conducted in churches as part of the church organization but sometimes maintained by other religious or philanthropic bodies.

In England during the 18th cent., occasional efforts were made by charitable individuals to provide some education in religious matters as well as secular instruction to children of the poor. Probably the first to be called a Sunday school was that started (1780) by Robert Raikes for factory children in Gloucester. The curriculum largely consisted of simple lessons in reading and spelling in preparation for reading the Bible, and memorizing Scripture passages and hymns. The plan was copied in other places; sometimes Saturday instruction in writing and arithmetic was added to that on Sunday. An important educational movement was thus started; by 1795 the Society for the Support and Encouragement of Sunday Schools had helped found more than 1,000 schools.

In 1803 the London Sunday School Union was founded to promote the extension of schools with voluntary teachers. This organization published simple lesson plans, catechisms, spellers, and other aids. Unions were developed in Ireland and Scotland. In 1862 a general Sunday school convention was held in London, at which a program was initiated for extending the movement to the Continent.

In the United States there is evidence that instruction in the Scriptures was given to children on Sundays at Plymouth in 1669 and at Roxbury, Mass., in 1674, but it was not until 1786 that a Sunday school patterned on Raikes's plan was founded in Hanover co., Va., by the Methodist preacher Francis Asbury. The American Sunday-School Union, formed (1817) among various churches of the East, determined to establish Sunday schools as rapidly as possible in the pioneer communities of the Mississippi valley. This project met with wide support and considerable success.

In 1832 a national convention of American Sunday school workers was held. At the convention of 1872 a plan of uniform lessons was adopted in cooperation with the British Sunday School Union, and from that time the movement was international. The first World Sunday School Convention met (1889) in London; in 1907 its name was changed to the World's Sunday School Association, and in 1947 to the World Council of Christian Education. It has units in many countries; the North American unit is the International Council of Religious Education. The arrangement of periodic world Sunday school conventions and aid in leadership training and curriculum are among the chief concerns of the council.

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, at Rapid City; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1887 as Dakota School of Mines, renamed 1943. Of note are an engineering and mining experiment station, an institute of atmospheric sciences, a natural science field station, and a geology museum.

Perkins School for the Blind, at Watertown, Mass.; chartered 1829, opened 1832 in South Boston as the New England Asylum for the Blind, with Samuel G. Howe as its director; moved 1912. From 1877 to 1955 it was called the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind. It was the first chartered school for blind children in the United States. Among the school's pupils were Laura Bridgman and Anne Sullivan Macy. Since 1982 it has also educated individuals with other than visual handicaps.

New York School of Social Work: see Columbia Univ.

New School for Social Research: see New School Univ.

New School University, in New York City; coeducational; chartered and opened 1919 as the New School for Social Research, a center for adult education, renamed 1997. Founded by Charles Beard, Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, and others, it originally emphasized classes for adults and became known for programs in social science, the humanities, and public policy. Its curriculum now is dominated by diverse arts education programs. In 1933 the University in Exile was established for scholars fleeing totalitarianism in Europe; this became (1934) the graduate faculty of political and social science, the first degree-granting division of the university. A bachelor of arts program for continuing students was established in 1944. Other divisions of the university include The New School, for adult students; the four-year Eugene Lang College; the Parsons School of Design (est. 1896, merged with the New School 1970); the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy; and the Mannes College of Music (est. 1916, merged 1989).

Milesian school: see Ionian school.

Megarian school, Greek school of philosophy at Mégara from late 5th cent. to early 3d cent. B.C. Influenced by the Eleatic school and by Socrates, it was known for its interest in logic and for argumentation. Its founder was Euclid of Megara, who maintained that good was an unchanging absolute under various names, such as wisdom, God, and mind. His successor Eubulides was famed for his paradoxes, such as "If I say that I am lying, am I telling the truth?" Other members included Stilpo, Diodorus Cronus, Cleinomachus, and Panthoides. No Megarian writings survive.

Manchester school, group of English political economists of the 19th cent., so called because they met at Manchester. Their most outstanding leaders were Richard Cobden and John Bright. Their chief tenet was that the state should interfere as little as possible in economic matters (see laissez-faire), and they advocated free trade.

London School of Economics and Political Science, at London, England; founded 1895, recognized as a school of the Univ. of London (see London, Univ. of) in 1900. It publishes many periodicals, including the British Journal of Sociology, the British Journal of Industrial Relations, and the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. The Centre for Economic Performance and the Centre for International Studies are affiliated.

Little Rock Central High School National Historical Site: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Juilliard School, The, in New York City; school of music, drama, and dance; coeducational; est. 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art, chartered 1926 as the Juilliard School of Music with two separate units—the Juilliard Graduate School (1924) and Institute of Musical Art. These were amalgamated into a single school in 1946. In 1968 the dance department became a separate division, and a division of drama was created. In 1969 the school moved to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and adopted its present name. Juilliard is widely considered the nation's finest arts-education institution and has a long list of distinguished graduates.

Ionian school, pre-Socratic group of Greek philosophers of the 6th and 5th cent. B.C.; most of them were born in Ionia. Its members were primarily concerned with the origins of the universe—the forces that shaped it and the materials of which it is composed. Thales, his successor Anaximander, and Anaximenes were all from Miletus. Other prominent members included Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollonia, and Archelaus. It is also known as the Milesian school.

Hudson River school, group of American landscape painters, working from 1825 to 1875. The 19th-century romantic movements of England, Germany, and France were introduced to the United States by such writers as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper. At the same time, American painters were studying in Rome, absorbing much of the romantic aesthetic of the European painters. Adapting the European ideas about nature to a growing pride in the beauty of their homeland, for the first time a number of American artists began to devote themselves to landscape painting instead of portraiture. They were particularly attracted by the grandeur of Niagara Falls and the scenic beauty of the Hudson River valley, the Catskills, and the White Mts. The works of these artists reflected a new concept of wilderness—one in which man was an insignificant intrusion in a landscape more beautiful than fearsome. First of the group of artists properly classified with the Hudson River school was Thomas Doughty; his tranquil works greatly influenced later artists of the school. Albert Bierstadt glorified the Rocky Mts. in the West, working in the same manner as the painters in the East. Thomas Cole, whose dramatic and colorful landscapes are among the most impressive of the school, may be said to have been its leader during the group's most active years. Among the other important painters of the school are Asher B. Durand, J. F. Kensett, S. F. B. Morse, Henry Inman, Jasper Cropsey, Frederick E. Church, and, in his earlier work, George Inness. See articles on individual painters.

Highlander Folk School, New Market, Tenn.; founded in 1932 by Myles Horton in Monteagle, Tenn., now known as the Highlander Research and Education Center. At first the school focused on training union organizers, but in the 1950s Highlander became a center of the civil-rights movement. Monteagle officials revoked the school's charter in 1960, but Horton relocated, first to Knoxville and then to New Market. In the 1980s the school's focus shifted to balancing environmental concerns with the struggle for economic recovery in the South.

Frankfurt School, a group of researchers associated with the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research), founded in 1923 as an autonomous division of the Univ. of Frankfurt. The institute's first director, Carl Grünberg, set it up as a center for research in philosophy and the social sciences from a Marxist perspective. After Max Horkheimer took over as director in 1930, the focus widened. Leading members, such as Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and Herbert Marcuse, influenced by aspects of psychoanalysis and existentialism, developed a version of Marxism known as "critical theory." They formulated influential aesthetic theories and critiques of capitalist culture. After a period of exile in the United States because of the Nazis, the institute returned in 1949 to Frankfurt, where Jürgen Habermas became its most prominent figure.

Fontainebleau, school of, group of 16th-century artists who decorated the royal palace at Fontainebleau. The major figures in this group were Italian painters invited to France by Francis I. Il Rosso, a Florentine and the most important member of the school, arrived at Fontainebleau in 1530; he was followed in 1532 by Francesco Primaticcio, a disciple of Raphael, and Sebastiano Serlio. Niccolò dell'Abbate appeared at the court in 1552 during the reign of Henry II. The art of Fontainebleau, today represented chiefly by the Gallery of Francis I, was an offshoot of the mannerist style developed in Italy. It was characterized by a refined elegance, with crowded figural compositions in which painting and elaborate stucco work were closely integrated. The work of the Fontainebleau artists incorporated allegory in accordance with the courtly liking for symbolism.

Eleatic school, Greek pre-Socratic philosophical school at Elea, a Greek colony in Lucania, Italy. The group was founded in the early 5th cent. B.C. by Parmenides, its greatest thinker. He denied the reality of change on the ground that things either exist or do not. Hence, there are no in-between stages, as the concept of change, or "becoming," ordinarily implies. His disciples were Zeno of Elea, who used a series of paradoxes to show the indefensibility of common-sense notions of reality, and Melissus of Samos, who systematized Eleatic views. The ultimate reality for the Eleatics was an undifferentiated "being," in contrast to the illusory testimony of the senses.

Eastman School of Music: see Rochester, Univ. of.

Colorado School of Mines, at Golden; state supported, coeducational; chartered 1874. It was one of the first mineral engineering schools in the United States. It owns extensive experimental and research facilities, field laboratories, and an experimental mine at Idaho Springs.

Carlisle Indian School, in Carlisle, Pa., the first federally supported school for Native Americans to be established off a reservation; it was founded in 1879 by Richard Henry Pratt. Its football team, led by Jim Thorpe and coached by Glenn Warner, brought the school nationwide attention. Pratt, who strenuously opposed the Indian Bureau's efforts to establish schools closer to the reservations, was relieved of his superintendency in 1904. The school was closed in 1918.

Boston Latin School, at Boston; opened 1635 as a school for boys; one of the oldest free public schools in the United States. Many famous men attended the school, including five signers of the Declaration of Independence and four presidents of Harvard. In 1972 it became coeducational.

Barbizon school, an informal school of French landscape painting that flourished c.1830-1870. Its name derives from the village of Barbizon, a favorite residence of the painters associated with the school. Théodore Rousseau was the principal figure of the group, which included the artists Jules Dupré, Narciso Diaz de la Peña, Constant Troyon, and Charles Daubigny. These men reacted against the conventions of classical landscape and advocated a direct study of nature. Their work was strongly influenced by 17th-century Dutch landscape masters including Ruisdael, Cuyp, and Hobbema. Corot and Millet are often associated with the Barbizon group, but in fact Corot's poetic approach and Millet's humanitarian outlook place them outside the development of the school. The Barbizon painters helped prepare for the subsequent development of the impressionist schools. Paintings of the Barbizon school were very popular with American collectors of the late 19th and early 20th cent. and influenced American painters of this period. The school is well represented in American collections, notably the Corcoran Gallery, the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

or independent school

In the United Kingdom, any of a small group of tuition-charging secondary schools that specialize in preparing students for university and for public service. The name public school dates from the 18th century, when the schools began attracting students from beyond their immediate environs and thus became “public” as opposed to local. Such schools are thus in fact private schools independent of the state system. Although many schools have become coeducational, only boys attend the historically important schools Winchester (1394), Eton (1440–41), Westminster (1560), and Harrow (1571); well-known girls' schools include Cheltenham (1853), Roedean (1885), and Wycomb Abbey (1896). Public schools cultivated a class-conscious code of behaviour, speech, and appearance that set the standard for British officialdom from the early 19th century. Seealso secondary education.

Learn more about public school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

School that prepares students for entrance to a higher school. In Europe, where secondary education has been selective, preparatory schools have been those that catered to pupils wishing to enter the academic secondary schools. In North America, where access to secondary education has been less competitive, the term usually refers to private secondary schools that prepare students for college.

Learn more about preparatory school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

School or class intended for children age four to six as a prominent part of preschool education. The kindergarten originated in the early 19th century as an outgrowth of the ideas and practices of Robert Owen in Britain, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Switzerland and his pupil Friedrich Froebel (who coined the term) in Germany, and Maria Montessori in Italy. Kindergartens generally stress the social and emotional growth of the child, encouraging self-understanding through play activities and creative expression.

Learn more about kindergarten with a free trial on Britannica.com.

In the U.S., any three- to six-year secondary school serving students about 14–18 years of age. Four-year schools are by far the most common; their grade levels are designated freshman (9th grade), sophomore (10th), junior (11th), and senior (12th). Comprehensive high schools offer both general academic courses and specialized commercial, trade, and technical subjects. Most U.S. high schools are tuition-free, supported by state funds. Private high schools are usually classed as either parochial or preparatory schools.

Learn more about high school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Religious movement founded in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948) and his wife, Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931), in Kansas City, Mo., U.S. Believing that spiritual healing had cured Myrtle of tuberculosis, the couple began to endorse spiritual healing. Until 1922, Unity was a member of the International New Thought Alliance. Unlike some New Thought groups, Unity embraces practical Christianity and modern medicine. It has no definite creed and is interdenominational. Its Silent Unity service helps people through counseling and prayer, responding to 2.5 million requests for aid a year via mail, telephone, and Internet. Unity publishes magazines and books, and it conducts classes for prospective Unity ministers.

Learn more about Unity (School of Christianity) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

formerly New School for Social Research

Private university in New York City. It was established in 1919 as an informal centre for adult education and soon became the first American university to specialize in continuing education. In 1934 it established a graduate faculty of political and social sciences, staffed mainly by refugee academics from Nazi Germany. It also includes a liberal arts college, a graduate school of management and urban policy, the Mannes College of Music, and the Parsons School of Design.

Learn more about New School University with a free trial on Britannica.com.

or Megarics

School of philosophy founded in Greece in the early 4th century BC by Eucleides of Megara (died circa 380 BC). It is noted more for its criticism of Aristotle and its influence on Stoic logic (see Stoicism) than for its doctrines. Among Eucleides' successors was Eubulides of Miletus, who criticized Aristotle's doctrines of categories, movement, and potentiality. Other Megarians were Diodorus Cronus (fl. 4th century BC) and Stilpo (fl.circa 380–300 BC); Stilpo taught Zeno of Citium, and Menedemus (339?–c. 265 BC). The school died out at the beginning of the 3rd century BC.

Learn more about Megarian school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

School of Greek philosophers of the 6th–5th century BC, including Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Heracleitus, Anaxagoras, Diogenes of Apollonia, Archelaus, and Hippon. Though Ionia was the original center of their activity, they differed so greatly from one another in their conclusions that they cannot truly be said to represent a specific school of philosophy, but their common concern to explain phenomena in terms of matter or physical forces distinguished them from later thinkers.

Learn more about Ionian school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

U.S. landscape painters of several generations, active circa 1825–70. The first of them were inspired by the natural beauty of New York's Hudson River valley and Catskill Mountains. The leading figures were Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, and Thomas Doughty (1793–1856). Others, such as Frederic Edwin Church and George Inness, had studied in Europe and found inspiration in the grandiose landscapes of J.M.W. Turner. By mid century they were widely admired for their depictions of a common theme, the splendour of the untamed U.S. landscape. The name Hudson River school, applied retrospectively, is extended to artists of the same vision who painted imposing scenes of the Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite Valley. The first native school of painting in the U.S., it remained the dominant school of landscape painting throughout the 19th century.

Learn more about Hudson River school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Group of thinkers associated with the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research), founded in Frankfurt in 1923 by Felix J. Weil, Carl Grünberg, Max Horkheimer, and Friedrich Pollock. Other important members of the school are Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, and Jürgen Habermas. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Horkheimer moved the institute to Columbia University in New York City, where it functioned until 1941; it was reestablished in Frankfurt in 1950. Though the institute was originally conceived as a centre for neo-Marxian social research, there is no doctrine common to all members of the Frankfurt school. Intellectually, the school is most indebted to the writings of G.W.F. Hegel and the Young Hegelians (see Hegelianism), Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, Wilhelm Dilthey, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud. Seealso critical theory.

Learn more about Frankfurt school with a free trial on Britannica.com.

French and foreign artists associated with the court at Fontainebleau in the 16th century. In 1528 Francis I began to rebuild the palace and hired Rosso Fiorentino and Francesco Primaticcio to produce the mural decoration, stuccowork, and sculptural reliefs; also among the Italian artists was Benvenuto Cellini. Many engravings were made of the work being done, and much of the most decorative painting and sculpture can still be seen there. The Italian masters successfully adapted their own styles to the French taste and were assisted by French and Flemish artists; together they produced a distinctive style of Mannerism. The innovation of stucco ornament in combination with mural painting had great influence on French art of the time.

Learn more about Fontainebleau, school of with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Group of 19th-century French landscape painters. They were part of a larger European movement toward naturalism that made a significant contribution to realism in French landscape painting. Led by Theodore Rousseau and Jean-François Millet, they attracted a large following of painters who came to live at Barbizon, a village near Paris; most notable of this group were Charles-François Daubigny, Narcisse-Virgile Díaz de la Peña, Jules Dupré, Charles-Émile Jacque, and Constant Troyon. Each had his own style, but all emphasized painting out-of-doors directly from nature, using a limited palette, and creating atmosphere or mood in their landscapes.

Learn more about Barbizon school with a free trial on Britannica.com.