中学校
ちゅうがっこう · chuugakkou · JLPT N4 · noun
schoolchild
🏫 中学校 = middle (中) + school (学校): the junior high school itself
中 (chuu) means middle and 学校 (gakkou) means school: the school between elementary and high school. Note it names the school, not the pupil. The pupil is 中学生 (chuugakusei), where 生 (student) replaces 校 (school building).
中 — vertical stroke 丨 through enclosure 口
Pictograph of a banner or pole piercing the center of a target or territory, depicting the idea of 'middle' or 'center'. The horizontal frame represents boundaries, and the vertical line marks the central axis. The meaning extended from spatial center to 'middle, central, China' (中国, the Middle Kingdom).
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.