放学(fàng xué) - to finish school, school to let out in Mandarin

放学 (fàngxué) is the verb for school finishing for the day, the exact opposite of 上学 (shàngxué), "to attend school". 放 (fàng) means "to release, to let go" and 学 (xué) here stands for "school", so it reads as "letting school out".

Like 上学 (shàngxué), it is a verb-object compound: the two halves can be split, as in 放了学 (fàng le xué), "school has let out", and you cannot attach an object directly after it. "School finishes at four" is 四点放学 (sì diǎn fàngxué), never 放学四点 (fàngxué sìdiǎn).

放学后 (fàngxué hòu), "after school", is one of the most useful time phrases a beginner can learn, since it introduces almost every after-school plan: 放学后我要写作业 (fàngxué hòu wǒ yào xiě zuòyè), "after school I need to do my homework".