校舍 refers specifically to the physical buildings that make up a school—classrooms, administrative offices, laboratories, libraries, and other structures used for educational purposes. It is a compound noun formed by 校 (xiào), meaning 'school', and 舍 (shè), an archaic or literary word for 'building' or 'residence'; together, they denote 'school buildings' as a collective concept, not individual rooms or temporary facilities.

This term is formal and commonly used in official documents, news reports, urban planning contexts, and discussions about education infrastructure. It emphasizes the architectural and institutional aspect of schooling rather than academic activities. While it can refer to one building, it’s often used collectively—even when describing multiple structures on a campus—and rarely appears in casual speech; native speakers more often say 教学楼 (teaching building) or simply 学校 for general reference.