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An institution where students receive formal education, typically for children and adolescents.
彼は小学校から大学まで日本で勉強しました。
He studied in Japan from elementary school to university.
In Japanese, '学校' can refer to various levels of education, including elementary, junior high, and high school.
While '学校' is the formal term, in casual conversation, you might hear '学校' shortened to 'がっこ' (gakko) by children or in informal contexts.
Be mindful of the context when using '学校'. It can refer to different educational levels, so specifying '小学校' (elementary school) or '高校' (high school) can avoid ambiguity.
The term '学校' is composed of '学' (gaku, meaning 'learning' or 'study') and '校' (kō, meaning 'school' or 'institution').
In everyday conversation, '学校' is often used to refer to primary and secondary education institutions. For higher education, terms like '大学' (university) or '専門学校' (vocational school) are more specific.