Springfield Elementary School
| Springfield Elementary School | |
|---|---|
| File:Simpsons school.JPG | |
| Location | |
United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| School district | Springfield Public School District |
| Principal | Seymour Skinner |
| Staff | 6 known |
| Faculty | 9 known |
| Number of students | 30 known |
| Mascot | Puma |
| Superintendent | Gary Chalmers |
In the television series The Simpsons, Springfield Elementary School is the name of the school that Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and other Springfieldian children 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 Brandine's and Cletus' 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, among others (only the teachers eat French fries made from potatoes).
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 Skinner receives an envelope addressed to the school containing his airline tickets to Hong Kong.[1]
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 the episode 22 Short Films About Springfield, he mentions he is from Utica, NY.
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.
It is finally revealed in "The Debarted", that Chalmers harbors a soft spot for Skinner.
Leopold
Voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Leopold is Superintendent Chalmers' assistant. He is a large, surly, snarling man who is one of the few characters on The Simpsons to have eyebrows. When Principal Skinner had to be temporarily replaced, Leopold stomped in, issued several 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". Leopold often refers to the children of Springfield Elementary as "freaks".[3][4]
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 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 glow-sticks in their performance, at which point he said, "now I'm just going to be sick." The character's most recent appearance was in We're on the Road to D'ohwhere in which Superintendent Chalmers on video brings him on video and then him and Chalmers are in the same apartment and decide to have a party. He is also on Lisa's list of interesting adults in Moe'N'a Lisa.
Teachers/Faculty
Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel is a teacher in the fourth grade at Springfield Elementary. In some episodes she is shown as being a very bad teacher who doesn't care if her students, especially Bart, get bad grades. She is also known to been having an on again and off again relationship with Principal Skinner.
In other episodes prior to "Grade School Confidential" when Edna and Seymour first started their public relationship, and in subsequent episodes where the two are separated and/or indifferent to each other, Edna's love life has been portrayed as running the gamut from simply being lovelorn, "Bart the Lover", to displaying extreme disgusting, bar-hopping nymphomania, i.e., "Future-Drama"
Elizabeth Hoover
Elizabeth Hoover (first appearances Bart the General (mentioned) and 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 in Lisa Gets an "A" implies that she frequently drinks during lunch. 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 has had speaking parts in approximately one episode per season, even though is usually an extra in a crowd. 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 grounds-keeping 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 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. Glascock
Mr. Glascock is a teacher who becomes very upset when students make fun of his name and threatens to quit. Principal Skinner promises, after Bart becomes hall monitor and cleans up the corruption at school, that no one will ever make light of his name again. He is placated, until a jealous Lisa acts out and causes the school to degenerate into a cesspool again.
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.
Mr. Johnson
First seen in the episode "Little Orphan Millie", Mr. Johnson is an third grade gym teacher at Springfield Elementary. He is an advocate of rope climbing, not only for physical fitness, but also for its real world applications. Quite expectedly, his students think his class is useless.
School staff
Groundskeeper Willie
Groundskeeper Willie is Springfield Elementary School's groundskeeper and custodian who drives a tractor and lives in a shack behind the school.
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 "All right!" 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, when Superintendent Chalmers questions why a Lunchlady is posing as a school nurse, she replies: "I get two pay checks this way...". 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"[5]. 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, and season 19's "The Debarted", where she is still voiced by Tress MacNeille but with a different voice in The Debarted.
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 gifted 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.
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, who argued that Bart was a poor role model. The name stood, and the school opened in August 1994. Bart Simpson weighed in on the controversy, sort of, in a statement from the Fox Network where he said "at least they didn't call it Beavis and Butt-Head Elementary." [1] [6]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Bart on the Road". The Simpsons. Season 7. Episode 20. 1996-03-31.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ "The Principal and the Pauper". The Simpsons. Season 9. Episode 2. 1997-09-28.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Cherry, James A. (1996-07-21). "[1F18] Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song". Episode transcript. The Simpsons Archive (snpp.com). Retrieved 2008-03-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cherry, James A. (1997-02-22). "[2F19] The PTA Disbands". Episode transcript. The Simpsons Archive (snpp.com). Retrieved 2008-03-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "http://snpp.com/guides/doris.html".
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/briefhistory.html
