Exponentiation isn't a middle school operation. Most probably don't know what real exponentiation is until they do the famous problem in chapter 1 of baby Rudin

Exponentiation isn't a middle school operation. Most probably don't know what real exponentiation is until they do the famous problem in chapter 1 of baby Rudin defining it (or equivalent problem in another book), and bright students are unlikely to study this before mid high school. Normal students sometime in college probably.