common school

a public school usually including both primary and secondary grades but sometimes primary grades alone.

Nearby words

An Americanism dating back to 1650–60

A common-school law providing universal public education free from all religious bias, compulsory up to fourteen years of age.
Socialism and Democracy in Europe|Samuel P. Orth
But are you ready to maintain that there is no element of excess infused into our common-school system?
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 96, October 1865|Various
But it does not follow that these grave evils are to be laid to the communism of the New England common-school system.
Belford's Magazine, Vol 2, December 1888|Various
This, we maintain, is what our common-school system as now organized and controlled is doing.
Belford's Magazine, Vol 2, December 1888|Various

None of the total amount seems to go for common-school education, as it is understood in the United States.
Industrial Cuba|Robert P. Porter