Springfield Elementary School
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- This article is about the fictitious Springfield Elementary School in the television program "The Simpsons." There may also be other Springfield Elementary Schools.
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.
Administration and Staff
Principal W. Seymour Skinner
Superintendent Chalmers
Chalmers, voiced by Hank Azaria, is the superintendent of Springfield's school district. His position is apparently an elected one because in one episode a "Chalmers: Now More Than Ever" election billboard can be seen.
Whenever he visits the school, some sort of disaster strikes. He produces extreme cases of anxiety in Principal Skinner, who offers increasingly improbable stories to explain what is happening. Chalmers is known for yelling "SKINN-ER!!" (in fact, as shown in an episode which takes place in the future, he is a vegetable, only capable of saying his trademark line). His trademark line has caused some paranoia in Skinner (as seen in "Lisa's Date with Density"). The episode commentary for "22 Short Films About Springfield" includes a note by Al Jean that Chalmers is the only cast member who exists in reality- that he does not live in the same pseudo-logical world the rest of the cast seems to exist in.
In several episodes, Chalmers was seen dating Agnes Skinner (much to Seymour's dismay), although in other episodes he has mentioned he is married. Chalmers originally hails from Utica, New York and Intercourse, Pennsylvania, attended Ball State University and is a proud owner of a red 1979 Honda Accord (and later, a Camry).
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 and politely introduced the actual substitute, Ned Flanders. The children then collectively sighed with relief. The skit was repeated when Marge Simpson became a substitute teacher in the episode The PTA Disbands.The truth about Leopold (which the kids do not know) is that his bark is a lot worse than his bite.
Teachers
Edna Krabappel
Elizabeth Hoover
Dewey Largo
Dewey Largo 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 unconformist ways.
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 Dewey.
In the 17th season episode "See Homer Run," it was "visually suggested" that Waylon Smithers was caught in an act of impropriety (of a homosexual nature) with Dewey 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 Julliard School, but never got the letter as it was frozen atop Mount Springfield. He ended up at Springfield Elementary instead.
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.
Otto Mann
Groundskeeper Willie
Lunchlady Doris
Students
Bullies
There are a number of bullies at the Springfield school.- Nelson Muntz (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) takes delight in the pain of others, but is arguably the least cruel of the bullies. He is notorious for his unabashed displays of schadenfreude, invariably accompanied by his trademark "Ha ha!" laugh. He is also a fan of Andy Williams. He lives with his mom, who got fired from Hooters, and is very poor. Nelson's dad appeared to have left after saying that he was going to the store. In some episodes, however, Nelson's father is still around to raise him: in one episode, he is Nelson's soccer coach. However, Nelson's dad returned in the 16th season. As it turned out, his dad took a bite out of a chocolate bar, not knowing it had peanuts and had an allergic reaction. He ran out of the store and ran into a circus, who mistook him for a freak, taking him along for years. It is assumed that Nelson, unlike his peers Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney, is actually a sensitive boy who was raised in the wrong circumstances. So far the only two people to notice this are Marge, who played surrogate mother to him in one episode, and Lisa, who dated him briefly.
- Weasel #1 and Weasel #2 are Nelson's cronies from the episode "Bart the General". They have made a number of background appearances since then. They attend Ms. Hoover's class. Though they look identical, they are probably not twins as one is African American.
- Jimbo Jones (voiced by Pamela Hayden) wears a toque and a black T-shirt with a skull on it. He enjoys torturing his schoolmates and shoplifting. In one episode it is hinted that he comes from a well-off family. In another episode Jimbo becomes the boyfriend of Bart's babysitter Laura Powers (voiced by Sara Gilbert), whom Bart had a crush on. In one of the Halloween editions, he was turned into "Sloppy Jimbo's" by Principal Skinner. In another episode, Principal Skinner attempts to sell him.
- Kearney (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is a pudgy kid with a disarming habit of punching his fist into his other hand. Although he appears to be of similar age to Bart, he can drive, has dated Jimbo's mother (though he insists she initiated the affair), and has been seen shaving and has a young son (who sleeps in a drawer). He is said to have witnessed the Bicentennial of the United States and remembered the mood of the country following Watergate, making him at least in his late twenties to early thirties. His father used to work at KFC. In an episode where Professor Frink's astrology machine is used, he is the vice principal. He also owns a Hyundai. However, he needed a fake ID to buy beer from the Kwik-E-Mart.
- Dolph (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is another bully who is rarely seen without Jimbo and/or Kearney. One of his eyes is usually covered by his long hair. Little is known about him, though a recent episode revealed that he is Jewish and attends Hebrew school.
- Francine (voiced by guest star Kathy Griffin) is a girl who bullied Lisa in the episode "Bye Bye Nerdie".
- Several unnamed girls play keepaway with Lisa's prescription shoes in the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily".
Other students
Other students include:
- Üter is the Bavarian foreign exchange student, with odd habits such as offering his already-licked lollipops to others as a sign of friendship, and eating marzipan candies fortified with iodine. He disappeared for a period of time after the Civil War field trip. Although a joke was made of Üter's disappearance in a later episode, with his parents asking Skinner where their missing son was, he has since reappeared, alive and plump. In the German version of the show Üter is an exchange student from Switzerland; Üter's lederhosen, his frequent references to chocolate, and his name suggest a Swiss rather than a German origin.
- Ralph Wiggum, son of Chief Clancy Wiggum and the school's resident "weirdo kid". He is considered by many to be psychologically abnormal, although he is often shown hanging out with other kids in the background and does participate in misadventures with Bart and Lisa from time to time. Although no one can quite tell whats going on in Ralph's head, he may have high potential in performing arts.
- Sherri and Terri, twin sisters. They are an annoyance to Bart and bother him constantly. They also often pick on Lisa and other various students around the school.
- Milhouse Van Houten, Bart's best friend. Although he is treated like a lackey by Bart, they are both considered to be on the same level of popularity by the school in general (Although Bart is arguably far more respected.) One of the most common targets for bullying, there is a running joke that he is gay, despite the fact that he has a crush on Lisa. The school faculty often takes advantage of Milhouse, such as changing his permanent record with that of a kid with worse grades.
- Martin Prince, an exceptionally outstanding fourth grader. Martin Prince would have been assessed to be a genius, had Bart not switched their I.Q. tests. He was a reporter for The Fourth Gradian. He was also the student body president until one of his fundraisers ended in a disaster. Sometimes an ally to Bart, sometimes an enemy, but always easy cannon fodder for bullies.
- Wendell, a pale kid who vomits easily. He voted for Martin Prince in the class presidential election that featured Martin and Bart Simpson as the front-runners.
- Lewis was a friend of Bart's (and Wendell's) in earlier seasons. He could be the possible son of Carl Carlson, Homer Simpson's supervisor at the power plant, making his last name Carlson. He was often seen with Wendell, and names were sometimes mixed up by accident, as shown:
(As schoolbus crashes in sea)
Bart: "Well, I guess this is the end, Wendell."
Lewis: "I'm Lewis, he's Wendell." (Points to Wendell)
Bart: "Well, just tell Wendell I said bye." - Database: A very nerdish young man with a nausal, amusing sounding voice and tone of speech. Member of the Superfriends, a group of smart kids which includes Lisa Simpson. Not to be confused with the superhero group Superfriends.
- Janey Powell: A cheerful young girl whom appears to be the closest thing Lisa has to a best friend.
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