Junior high school is an academic-focused learning environment for students in seventh, eighth, and sometimes ninth grade. According to the California Department of Education, middle grades consist of early-adolescent students, ten to fourteen years of age, generally in grades six to eight. In some school systems in the United States, junior high school includes the two or three secondary grades (7, 8, 9) of school following elementary school and preceding high school. However, the label given to a school is sometimes arbitrary, which means it’s possible for places with middle school in the title to have more teachers per student, and for certain junior highs to have fewer.