Escalator school
An elevator school is a school consisting of a student body that can range from middle school (or lower) all the way to university level. Elevator schools are named such because students usually rise to the next grade without having to take standard entrance exams. Elevator schools are far more prevalent in Japan than in other countries.
Elevator schools are commonly found in anime and manga, as they are a quick and easy explanation for having characters of very different ages in the same school-like setting realistically.
Examples
- Ohtori Academy in Revolutionary Girl Utena teaches kindergarteners through at least high school.
- The CLAMP School, the main setting of CLAMP School Detectives and making a cameo in X/1999, includes all grades from kindergarten through college.
- Mugen Gakuen in Sailor Moon.
- Mahou Sensei Negima features an elevator school, but the main character is employed there to get the class exam averages up.
- Ouran Academy in Ouran High School Host Club.
- Saki Girls' School in Joshi Kousei.
- Eitoku Academy in Boys Before Flowers.
- Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters/Xavier Academy, in the comic book, cartoon and theatrical versions of the X-Men. Xavier's "elevator" goes one step higher, since most of the instructors are former students who seamlessly moved into their new roles.