A schoolchild is a young person who attends school, typically from around age 5 through the early teenage years. The term covers everyone from kindergarteners just learning their letters to middle schoolers solving algebra problems.

You might see schoolchildren waiting at bus stops in the morning, walking home with backpacks in the afternoon, or crowding the playground at recess. The word often appears in news articles (“Schoolchildren across the district returned to class today”) or in discussions about education (“The museum offers special programs for schoolchildren.”)

While student can describe anyone from a kindergartener to a college graduate, schoolchild specifically means someone young enough that we still think of them as a child. A 10-year-old is definitely a schoolchild. A 19-year-old college student is not, even though they're still in school.