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It depends on the school, socio-economic factors, racial/ethnic distribution, local social values and norms, geographic location and the population of the community (among other things).
Middle schoolers are likely to have a limited scope of groups by 8th grade, and they're likely to carry over into freshman and sophomore years a bit... but chances are good that they will diminish greatly into the later years of high school no matter where you go. The severity of the divisiveness of the groups will reflect a lot of factors happening outside of the school. I've seen schools that have very little in the way of exclusive cliques, and I've seen schools on the other end of the spectrum. People with like interests are going to hang out with each other; high schoolers tend to meet their friends in the classes or other groups they're in. A degree of this is going to happen no matter what, extreme cases tend to show deficiencies within the community to create a network allowing for different types of people interact in a positive atmosphere.
To answer your question: I think, sadly, the stereotypical view is more common than I'd wish it to be.
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Innominate.
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