What the dukar is up with your school district?
A while before I became part of the school district, the high schools became overcrowded, and building more schools wasn't practical for a certain reason (I forgot exactly what), so they moved 9th grade down into Middle School (Jr. High) and moved 6th down into Elementary. It's been that way ever since and we've all become used to it. I can't imagine 6th grade in a middle school even though that's probably what most of the other schools do.
Sept. 2 was my first day of school. It used to start in late August, but a few years ago they changed the starting date to after Labor Day like it was in the past. It's an awesome change. School gets out at pretty much the same time, so slightly longer summer. :)
Speaking of changes, my first year at Elementary had the school day end at 3:00, and then it was switched to 3:15 the rest of my time there. Then in 7th when I moved to Middle, the school day ended at 2:55. They changed it to 3:01 for my next two years there. Now I'm in 10th, and it ends at 2:11. I'm confident it's not going to continue the pattern, but who knows...