Springfield Elementary School

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In the television series The Simpsons, the Springfield Elementary School is the school which Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and their fellow students attend. Established in episodes "Separate Vocations" and "Pokey Mom", the school's mascot is a puma.

Design

The school's design and apparent floorplan is identical to Ainsworth Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. Matt Groening attended Ainsworth as a child. The floorplan is also identical to that of East Springfield Elementary school.

Conditions

Horribly underfunded and suffering from the incompetence and apathy of its administration, teachers and staff, Springfield Elementary is a satirical comment on the state of publicly funded schools and education in the United States. As an illustrative example and parody of the lengths to which some schools are willing to go in an attempt to overcome underfunding, some Springfield Elementary School students (specifically Cletus and Brandine's children) are purposely excluded from state or federal standardized testing regimes. The impetus being the maintenance of artificial school-wide averages and therefore basic levels of government support—a practice not unheard of in the United States and other systems where funding is tied to test results.

It has been stated many times that the school is filled with asbestos. Underfunding of the school has resulted in a variety of troubling scenarios for students and staff. Sub-standard facilities abound, including a cinder block having replaced the school's tether ball, cafeteria food made from circus animals, shredded newspaper, and old gym mats (only the teachers eat french fries made from potatoes), among others. It was notably revealed in the episode "Lisa Gets an 'A'" that Springfield Elementary was at one time voted "The Most Dilapidated School in Missouri"—it was then moved, brick-by-brick, to Springfield.

For a few episodes (for example, Principal Charming) the school also had a tower with a winding staircase within which led to an observation area, a featured that has not appeared since. Other short period additions include a disabled ramp access system constructed by local mafia funding and made of bread. In one episode, the presentation hall is bulldozed to make way for a mini-mall.

Address

The school's address is 19 Plympton Street, revealed in the episode "Bart on the Road" when Principal Seymour Skinner receives an envelope addressed to the school containing his airline tickets to Hong Kong.

Name of South Carolina school

In 1994, the naming of a new elementary school in Greenwood, S.C. was left up to the students, and the name Springfield Elementary was chosen. The school board was unaware of the connection to The Simpsons until a protest by one group of parents. The name stood for the school, which opened in August 1994 [1].