Springfield Elementary School
In the television series The Simpsons, the Springfield Elementary School is the school which Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and their fellow students attend.
The school is hilariously under-funded. For instance, there is a cinder block in place of a regulation tether ball, and has several incompetent teachers. It was revealed in "Lisa Gets an "A"" that Springfield Elementary was once voted "The Most Dilapitated School in Missouri", then it was moved brick by brick to Springfield. The lunch meals are also sub-standard as referenced in The PTA Disbands and numerous other episodes.
The school's address is 16 Plympton Street.
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 East Springfield Elementary school, exept the rooms are of different lessons.
In the television series The Simpsons, Springfield Elementary School is the name of the school that Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and their peers attend.
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.
Established in episodes "Separate Vocations" and "Pokey Mom", the school's mascot is a puma. Notably revealed in the episode "Lisa Gets an 'A'", Springfield Elementary was at one time voted "The Most Dilapidated School in Missouri"—it was then moved, brick-by-brick, to Springfield. 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.
For a few episodes the school also had a tower with a winding staircase within which led to an observation area. This has since been removed. Other short period additions include a disabled ramp access system built by the local mafia and other constructions. In one episode the presentation hall is bulldozed to make way for a mini-mall.
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.[1]
Contents
Administration and Administrative staff
Principal W. Seymour Skinner
Skinner is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, and a stereotypical educational bureaucrat. He struggles to control the crumbling school and is constantly engaged in a battle against its inadequate resources, apathetic and bitter teachers, and often rowdy and unenthusiastic students (Bart Simpson being a standout example). He often tries to exploit Lisa Simpson's genius to make the school look good. His birth name is Armin Tamzarian.[2]
Superintendent Chalmers
Superintendent Gary Chalmers, voiced by Hank Azaria, is the superintendent of Springfield's school district. He first appeared in the episode "Whacking Day". Chalmers is a strict and largely humorless man, with a short temper and low tolerance for disorder or rule-breaking; his general manner and personality like that of a military officer. Whenever he visits Springfield Elementary, some sort of disaster strikes. He produces extreme anxiety in Principal Skinner, who offers increasingly improbable stories to explain what is happening. Chalmers is known for throwing open the doors to the room and bellowing "SKIN-NER!!!" or "SEY-MOUR!!!", to which Seymour stammers "S-Superintendent Chalmers!" (in fact, as shown in the episode "Future-Drama", which takes place in the future, the superintendent is practically a vegetable, only capable of saying his trademark line). His catchphrase has caused some paranoia in Skinner (as seen in "Lisa's Date with Density"). On a few occasions he says Skinner's name this way when absolutely nothing has gone wrong, implying that he either pronounces Skinner's name this way by habit, or does it on purpose to scare him.
Chalmers's own competence and dedication to his job are questionable. He let Ned Flanders allow the school to descend into anarchy when he was principal, freely admitting that he had fired Skinner for far less, explaining simply that "Skinner really bugged me." He seems disturbingly unconcerned with the school's decline, saying that "the way America's public schools are sliding, they'll all be like this in a matter of months. I say enjoy it — it's a hell of a toboggan ride!" He also promotes people based on personal bias as opposed to actual competence, promoting Principal Holloway, described by Skinner as a "drunk" and Chalmers as a "pill-popper", to assistant superintendent, overlooking the efforts made by Skinner to improve his school's standing.
In several episodes, such as "Bart the Fink", Chalmers was seen dating Agnes Skinner (much to Seymour's dismay), although in other episodes he has mentioned he is married. He was mistakenly called "Super Nintendo Chalmers" by Ralph Wiggum in "Lisa Gets an "A"". His first name was revealed to be Gary in "Yokel Chords". In the DVD commentary to "22 Short Films About Springfield", Simpsons creators noted that Superintendent Chalmers seems to be one of the few "normal" characters on the show and is frequently alone in his awareness of the show's zaniness.
Leopold
Voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Leopold was Superintendent Chalmers' assistant. He was a surly, snarling one-trick pony; when Principal Skinner had to be temporarily replaced, Leopold stomped in, issued vague threats, and terrified the children, making them think he was the replacement, and then suddenly politely introduced the actual substitute, Ned Flanders. The children then collectively sighed with relief. The gag was repeated when Marge Simpson became a substitute teacher in the episode "The PTA Disbands".
State Comptroller Atkins
Voiced by Hank Azaria.
Comptroller Atkins has only made a handful of appearances. In "Lisa Gets an "A"" he was sent to deliver the basic assistance grant Springfield Elementary earned after Lisa cheating on a test brought the school's GPA up to the state's minimum requirement; in this episode, if Otto's impersonation of Atkins is accurate, he is originally of Canadian origin. He appeared later in "Saddlesore Galactica," where he moderated the elementary school band competition at the state fair. He planned to give Lisa the unusually large good sportsmanship award until he heard her call the first place band cheaters for using glowsticks in their performance, at which point he said, "now I'm just going to be sick."
Teachers/Faculty
Edna Krabappel
Elizabeth Hoover
Elizabeth Hoover (first appearance: Brush with Greatness; full introduction: Lisa's Substitute) is the 2nd Grade teacher at Springfield Elementary, voiced by Maggie Roswell and Marcia Mitzman Gaven while Roswell was involved in a pay dispute. Miss Hoover has been worn down by her years in the public school system, and is not against drinking significant quantities of alcohol. She is very apathetic and bored with her job, and seems overwhelmed with stress, seeking whatever remedies she can to alleviate it. She is often seen smoking even while teaching, once even under a "No Smoking" sign in the assembly hall. Her desperate attempts to regain her stability include rushing out of class to recite "Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean" with her eyes closed, and even, on two occasions, getting into her car and driving off.
She is in particular weary of dealing with Lisa's unbridled enthusiasm (though initially she seemed proud of Lisa) and Ralph's mishaps and inanities. A typical response to one of his difficulties is, "The children are right to laugh at you, Ralph." She was replaced by a substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom, when she thought she had Lyme disease. It turned out that her condition was psychosomatic, which the children thought that meant that she was both "faking it" and "crazy." At the beginning of the series , her hair was blue, which changed to red, then changed to brown (her current hair color).
Dewey Largo
Voiced by Harry Shearer, Dewey Largo, often mistakenly called "Prof. Ludwig", is the music teacher, whom Lisa credited with proving that any piece of music could have the soul sucked out of it. He is very uncreative and is a poor conductor.
He has not played a large role in the series, but was originally intended to be an uptight foil for Lisa, and her non-conformist ways. In one episode, however, in which Lisa first meets Bleeding Gums Murphy, he criticizes Lisa's creative freedom with the piece he is conducting, and blatantly hopes that the class won't suffer from her creativity. In one issue of the Simpsons comic, he is mentioned to be head of the school's "Talent Restraint Board". After the first few seasons, Mr. Largo was rarely seen and only appeared in approximately one episode per season. However he has since resurfaced as a recurring character in the seventeenth season, making appearances in several episodes. His backwards push was noted in "Homer to the Max". When Lisa notes that some TV shows push characters into the background, Mr. Largo walks by the window.
In the 17th season episode "My Fair Laddy", after Willie left Springfield Elementary, the groundskeeping work was passed on to the next lowest person employed at the school, which turned out to be Largo. In "See Homer Run", it was "visually suggested" that Waylon Smithers was caught in an act of impropriety (of a homosexual nature) with Largo and then verbally attempted to cover it up afterwards. Also in the 17th season in the episode "Homer's Paternity Coot" it is revealed that Largo was accepted to the Juilliard School, but never got the letter as it was frozen atop Mount Springfield. He ended up at Springfield Elementary instead.
Another interesting note is Mr. Largo has banned the "forbidden music" also known as "Pop Goes The Weasel". His last name is also an Italian word for a slow, broad musical tempo, a possible reference to the fact that he can make any piece of music uninteresting.
Brunella Pommelhorst
The school gym teacher, voiced by Tress MacNeille. First appeared in "Moaning Lisa", although her name isn't mentioned until "The PTA Disbands" (Her full name is also printed in The Simpsons One Step Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued Yet Again). Mrs. Pommelhorst is seen sometimes in crowd shots, but rarely speaks. She has blond hair and usually wears a whistle and takes a tough-as-nails approach to teaching. In "Little Girl in the Big Ten", she decides that because of the oath she took on Xena, she has to fail Lisa but decides to let her make it up by taking private lessons. In a more recent episode, "My Fair Laddy", she decides to go leave for the year and return the next semester as "Mr. Pommelhorst, the new shop teacher." Her name is very likely derived from a fixture in gymnasiums, the Pommel horse.
Coach Krupt
Coach Krupt, voiced by Hank Azaria, is a gym teacher who is obsessed with the game Bombardment, where he just hits students with balls relentlessly, even ignoring medical orders that would prevent him from assaulting his students. He also plays this game with bread rolls in restaurants. He is the substitute teacher for Ms. Pommelhorst who is taking a leave of absence, because she's recovering from sex reassignment surgery. Krupt has a wife and two children, a boy and a girl. Coach Krupt was seen in the episode "My Fair Laddy".
Audrey McConnell
Third grade teacher, introduced in "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade". Uncharacteristically for a teacher at Springfield Elementary, she doesn't seem as downbeat or exasperated as Edna Krabappel or Ms. Hoover, displaying a certain degree of cheerfulness, confidence and competence, at least until the buddy system fails.
Mr. Kupferberg
Mr. Kupferberg is the French teacher who can't speak French, as exposed by Lisa. He is voiced by Hank Azaria. He spoke only within one episode, and appeared in after episodes.
School staff
Groundskeeper Willie
Springfield Elementary School's groundskeeper and custodian who lives in a shack behind the school. He hails from North Kilttown, Scotland.
Otto Mann
Otto Mann is the bus driver of Springfield Elementary. His apparent sole pastime is playing the guitar, which, according to him, was "all [he] did when [he] was growing up." His catch-phrase is "Alright!" and he is much endeared by students of Springfield Elementary, especially Bart.
Lunchlady Doris
Lunchlady Doris Peterson (originally voiced by Doris Grau) is an overweight, middle-aged, and laconic worker at the Springfield Elementary School cafeteria. During school cut backs, she also served as the school nurse and in the episode "Much Apu About Nothing" she was seen as a mail carrier. She has served many distasteful things to the students, including whole beef hearts, horse testicles, and ground-up gym mats. She has been implied to have a relationship with Groundskeeper Willie, and her son is Squeaky Voiced Teen.
After Grau's death in 1995, Lunchlady Doris was retired out of respect for over 10 years. Due to the delay between recording some episodes and the time they actually air, Grau's voice was included in episodes airing as late as 1997 such as "Lisa's Sax"[3]. Lunchlady Doris then became a silent background character and was mostly been seen in crowds and groups of other faculty members. She continued like that until she speaks in the 18th season during "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", where she is voiced by Tress MacNeille.
Dr. J. Loren Pryor
Dr. J. Loren Pryor is the school psychiatrist. He is based on an early design for Seymour Skinner. He first appeared in Bart the Genius, and it was his decision to send Bart to the school for above-average children. He is also the one Bart goes to when he wants to go back to his regular school. In Bart Gets An F, he tells Bart that he may have to repeat the 4th Grade. His voice saying this echoes around Bart's head. He then appears again, discussing Bart's problems at school and Lisa's special gift in a flashback sequence of "Lisa's Sax". Pryor does not appear again until "See Homer Run", when he tells Lisa that she is going through a developmental condition. He then makes many other appearances.
Myra
Myra has only appeared once, in "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere", as Principal Skinner's secretary, but Matt Groening has said that she will appear again in season nineteen.[citation needed]
Students
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].[4]- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ http://snpp.com/guides/doris.html.
- ↑ http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/briefhistory.html
