public school (redirected from public-school)

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.

Bibliography

See also V. Ogilvie, The English Public School (1957).

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public school

 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. See also secondary education.