common school

noun

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

Origin of common school

An Americanism dating back to 1650–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

No sooner did common schools emerge than violence engulfed them.
Violence over schools is nothing new in America | Sherman Dorn | September 29, 2021 | Washington Post
The laws of the Republic of Liberia provide for a common school in every town.
The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States | Martin R. Delany
Our present common-school system is an off-spring of popular opinion, as that opinion was created and led to action by a few men.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science | Various
What is popularly known as learning is to be acquired in the common school, high school, academy and college, as heretofore.
Thoughts on Educational Topics and Institutions | George S. Boutwell
No advantages in the way of a common school education were within reach of the youth situated as was Kit Carson.
The Life of Kit Carson | Edward S. Ellis

But we need not rest upon the family fact or the old common school system.
The Education of American Girls | Anna Callender Brackett

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