1. (a) Public schools and public academies shall meet the applicable criteria established in these rules to be an approved school.

2. (b) As determined by vote of the local school board, public schools composed of grades K through 9 may be organized consistent with RSA 189:25 as follows:

   1. (1) Elementary school, which offers groupings of grades beginning with kindergarten and no grade higher than 8th;
   2. (2) Middle school, which offers any grouping of grades beginning with 4th grade and no grade higher than 8th; and
   3. (3) Junior high school, which consists of grades 7 through 9 or any grouping of these grades.
3. (c) A public school as organized in (b) above shall be approved if it meets the requirements applicable to all schools and applicable to the grouping of grades as outlined in Ed 306.21 and Ed 306.22.
4. (d) A public school or a public academy shall be approved as a high school if it contains any of the grades 9 through 12 and meets the rules applicable to all schools and to each high school as outlined in Ed 306.22 and Ed 306.23.
5. (e) Public schools and public academies shall provide all students an education consistent with the minimum standards in these rules and in the areas enumerated in RSA 193-E:2-a, I. Notwithstanding these rules, schools may require that students achieve more rigorous standards than the minimum standards, and schools shall aspire for students to achieve mastery.

Source. (See Revision Notes #1, #2, #3, and #4 at part heading for Ed 306) #14150, eff 12-13-24