American Education Explained

Today one of my Twitter followers from across the pond asked me a question about the American education system, particularly about certain phrases I use to identify grades. I realized from this (as well as talking to my UK friends) that not all school systems break down the same way. Since I often reference points in my life in my blog posts by mentioning where I was in my education cycle, I thought I'd give a little primer so we're all on the same page.