Springfield Elementary School
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Springfield Elementary School
Horribly underfunded and suffering from the incompetence 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.
The school's design and represented floorplan is reportedly identical to Ainsworth Elementary in Portland, Oregon, the school attended by Matt Groening as a child.
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.
Contents |
Students
Core Characters
Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson is a known troublemaker at school and often vandalizes under the name of "El Barto". He is a constant headache for both Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner.
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson easily one of the best students at Springfield elementary, and the only real competition she has is from Martin Prince and Allison Taylor. She has many extracurricular activities, including playing in the school band and yearbook editor.
Milhouse Van Houten
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 Bart's. In another episode it is revealed that the teachers talk about him in the faculty lounge.
Ralph Wiggum
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. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright.
Bullies
Nelson Muntz
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, has been addicted to cough drops in the past, and is very poor. Nelson's dad appeared to have left after saying that he was going to the store to buy cigarettes. 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. Lisa dated Nelson briefly.
Kearney
Kearney (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) is the bully with the habit of punching his fist into his other hand. Although he appears to be just a few years older than Bart, he can drive, has dated Jimbo's mother (though he insists she initiated the affair), and has been seen shaving.
Most notably he has a young son (who sleeps in a drawer), whom he trains to be a bully as well by kicking down Rod and Todd Flanders' sand castle at the beach.
Kearney claims to have witnessed the United States Bicentennial and remembered the mood of the country following Watergate. His father used to work at Kentucky Fried Chicken. 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.
Jimbo Jones
Jimbo Jones (voiced by Pamela Hayden) wears a toque and a black T-shirt with a skull on it. He enjoys torturing weaker schoolmates and shoplifting. In Bart on the Road, 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), on whom Bart had a crush. In one of the Halloween editions, he was turned into "Sloppy Jimbo's" by Principal Skinner. In another episode, Principal Skinner attempted to sell him in an Oliver! parody.
Dolph
Dolphin "Dolph" Starbeam (voiced by Tress MacNeille) is part of Jimbo Jones's gang of bullies (along with Jimbo, Kearney, and occasionally Nelson Muntz). Dolph is recognized by his asymmetrical haircut which covers one eye and wears cutoff shorts and 'Chuck Taylor All-Stars style basketball shoes. He looks like he's 14-15 years old. Also, it turns out Dolph is Jewish and attended Hebrew school, which was first shown during the seventeenth-season episode See Homer Run when he puts on a kippah and tallis, announces he has to go to Hebrew school and then chants the hamotzi while walking off.
He may also have more than one father, as stated in the thirteenth-season episode I Am Furious Yellow. Although he doesn't talk much, from the few times he does, one can see that, like the rest of the gang, he is not very bright (once claiming to be Elvis after trying to play lisa's saxophone.)
He is named after Matt Groening’s classmate Dolph Timmerman. Groening has said that Timmerman wasn’t a bully at all, but a "really cool guy."
Geeks
These are the mebers of Super Friends, a ground discoverd in Bart's Comet
Martin Prince
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 Daily Fourth Gradian. He was also the student body president until one of his fund-raisers ended in a disaster. Sometimes an ally to Bart, sometimes an enemy, but always easy cannon fodder for bullies.
Database
Database or Data, voiced by Nancy Cartwright, first appeared in the episode Bart's Comet as a member of "the super friends". He has since had speaking parts in several episodes. His real name is not known, and he is usually seen with his fellow nerd Martin Prince. Database is a common target for Nelson, Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney. Database's father is shown in Lemon of Troy, although he never speaks and is only in the background, he has since not been seen. Database was part of the group of boys who invaded Shelbyville in Lemon of Troy and was also part of the Pre-Teen braves in the episode Bart of War.
In the DVD commentary for Lemon of Troy, Matt Groening states that Database is his least favourite recurring character. Yeardley Smith has also suggested that he be teamed up with Professor Frink.
Cosine
A member of the supert friends
Ham
Ham is a member of the Superfriends club with Database, Cosine, E-mail, Report Card and Lisa. He also made an appearance talking to Janey in Lisa the Vegetarian. He is a short fat kid with a pair on glasses exactly the same as Professor Frink.
Looks like a young Bill Gates. Hes is also a member of the supert friends
Report Card
A member of the supert friends.
School yard
These Obscure Characters are rarely seen in most episodes.
Jessica Lovejoy
Jessica Lovejoy, voiced by Meryl Streep, is the rebellious daughter of Reverend Lovejoy, who made her first appearance in Bart's Girlfriend. She was Bart's second crush and proved to be more troublesome than even Bart could be. Bart unwillingly took the blame for her misdeeds but Lisa ultimately exposed her at a Sunday church service.
In a later non-speaking appearance in I, D'oh-Bot, she and her father were participants in a robot fighting competition. Their creation, a centipede-like machine, was defeated by "Chief Knock-A-Homer", Homer and Bart's entry.
Melissa
Melissa is just a small background character. She has only had one speaking role, in Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore, where Milhouse insults Mrs. Krabappel on the school bus. She applauds him along with the school bullies, implying that she herself is one. She is blonde, wears pigtails, and wears pink. She is usually seen in Bart's class and her name was only mentioned once by Mrs. Krabappel.
Francine Rhenquist
Francine Rhenquist, voiced by guest star Kathy Griffin, was a female bully who harassed Lisa in Bye Bye Nerdie. Her last name was revealed in The Lisa Book.
Richard
First seen in Bart the Genius, Richard is a gray haired student at Springfield Elementary School and is one of Bart's close friends. He is usually seen with Lewis and has a leather jacket. As one of the most minor characters in the show, Richard appears frequently in scenes involving the Springfield children, and in the early seasons was often involved with mischief. Throughout the series, he has been voiced by Jo Ann Harris, Pamela Hayden and Maggie Roswell. This is due to the fact that he rarely speaks and thus has no specific voice actor.
In the early seasons he was commonly seen hanging out with Bart, Lewis and Milhouse, but in recent years he is only seen in the classroom and in crowd scenes. He had a brief speaking part in The Haw-Hawed Couple, where he was voiced by Pamela Hayden. His hair color changes from black to grey, to brown, and then to blue throughout the course of the show. However, in Simpsons Comics, his hair always appears gray.
Janey
Janey, voiced by Pamela Hayden, who first appeared in Bart the General was once Lisa Simpson's closest friend. She has spent the night over the Simpsons' house and Lisa is seen watching cartoons at her house on numerous occasions.
However, at times, she seems to resent Lisa and her intelligence; she once blew a bubble with chewing gum rather than engage in Lisa's conversation. She may have had a crush on Milhouse Van Houten, who has a crush on Lisa. She enjoys reading babysitting books.
She is shown as the spectre of George Washington's reluctant second choice for first female President after Lisa disappoints him, to which Lisa fiercely objected on the grounds Janey would just fill the Supreme Court with boys.
Lewis
Lewis is a character on The Simpsons. His best friend is Richard and he can be seen playing the bassoon in the opening sequence of the show.
Although one of the most minor characters in the show, Lewis appears frequently in scenes involving the Springfield children, and occasionally speaks. He is usually seen with Richard. Lewis is perhaps best known for his exclamation of "In your face, fishwife!" when the children broke curfew to watch horror movie The Bloodening at a drive-in cinema. He also failed to vote for Bart Simpson when he stood for class president, helping to ensure his defeat to Martin Prince. He is often considered Barts second best friend after Milhouse
According to gossip, within the episode Girls Just Want to Have Sums, he is very good at ballroom dancing. In Das Bus Bart mistakes him for Wendell.
Throughout the series, he has been voiced by Jo Ann Harris, Nancy Cartwright, Pamela Hayden, Maggie Roswell and Russi Taylor because he rarely speaks anyway.
Wendell Borton
Wendell Borton is a perpetually nauseated and extremely pale (possibly albino) boy with worried eyes and curly hair, who makes frequent appearances at the School Nurse's Office at Springfield Elementary School. He is a classmate of Bart Simpson, though he is most seen with classmates Richard and Lewis, and voted against Bart in the class election, thus ensuring the victory of Martin Prince. He cannot keep any food down, most notably corn dogs, french fries, mystery meat, Gorditas, the McRib, chicken wings, sausage, liver, tapioca, and tofu. He becomes especially sick on field trips, with a tendency to become even paler than usual. He once died in a freak accident with a pencil in a "Treehouse of Horror" episode (which are not canon-related to the main series).
Throughout the series, he has been voiced by Jo Ann Harris, Pamela Hayden, Nancy Cartwright and Russi Taylor. This is due to the fact that he rarely speaks and thus has no specific voice actor.
He is one of the few characters (like Bart and Lisa) whose hair is the same color as his skin.
Sherri and Terri
Sherri and Terri, voiced by Russi Taylor, are identical twins with long purple hair. They are in the same class with Bart at the Springfield Elementary School. In one episode it is revealed that their father is Homer's supervisor at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He fires Homer for causing an accident while waving to Bart from a cart during a school tour of the plant. Homer, however, had the last laugh when he was promoted above the twins' father to safety inspector. Their mother is shown in Bart Sells His Soul and looks just like her daughters. Sherri was born first; they share their birthday with Rod Flanders.
The girls themselves dress identically, reinforcing their "twin-ness". They are quite stuck up, and never miss an opportunity to berate Bart. Bart appears to have a crush on one of them, as admitted in Hungry Hungry Homer. Sherri referred to Bart as an ugly, smelly dork, but was convinced by Homer to go on a date with Bart after he told her that neither she or Bart could do much better. One of the twins stated that her sister had a crush on Bart in Bart Star. Another time Homer openly addressed Terri as "the one Bart has a crush on". However, Bart seems to have forgotten about his crush (as he has many other loves not long after) and most likely ended the relationship altogether.
The two can also be seen as friends of Lisa and at other times rivals. In Sleeping with the Enemy, the duo taunt Lisa over her big butt; in Bart of Darkness, they mention that "the same day Lisa got a pool" was the day they realized they like her.
In Simpson Tide, when Homer briefly commanded a nuclear submarine into Russian waters, Principal Skinner prepared for nuclear war by selecting a small group of the best, brightest and most promising students to accompany him to a shelter. He selected Sherri, but not Terri.
In the episode Future-Drama set "eight years in the future", it is revealed that Nelson Muntz simultaneously dated and impregnated both of the twins, who bore him four children (two sets of twins, naturally) shortly before Nelson's high school graduation. He abandoned them during Bart's graduation party.
They have similarities to the ghost girls Danny sees in Stanley Kubrick's adaptation, The Shining, of Stephen King's novel of the same name. In a deleted scene of the parody of the Shining called The Shinning they are ghost twins seen by Bart.
Samantha Stanky
Samantha Stanky was Milhouse's love interest in Bart's Friend Falls in Love, voiced by Kimmy Robertson.
As a result of her relationship with Milhouse, she was taken out of Springfield Elementary by her father, and transferred to St. Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls (run by an order of French Canadian Nuns). She appeared briefly in Jazzy and the Pussycats, playing the saxophone.
Allison Taylor
Allison Taylor Lisa's new classmate, introduced in the episode "Lisa's Rival". Allison is as smart as (or smarter than) Lisa, younger (having skipped a grade), and like Lisa, a child prodigy and is talented with the saxophone. At first, Lisa is happy to have a friend as brilliant as she, but eventually Lisa becomes jealous of having a true rival in school. Regardless, Lisa tries to be her friend. To Lisa's chagrin, Allison wins first chair saxophone in the school band, Ralph starts asking her for answers, and Allison's father thinks Lisa is juvenile in comparison.
Tensions climax during Springfield Elementary's annual "Diorama-rama" competition. Allison makes a diorama of The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, showing the protagonist going insane while a section of the floor "beats" mechanically. With Bart's help and prodding, Lisa sabotages Allison's entry by switching Allison's diorama with one containing a cow's bloody heart. When Principal Skinner sees the result, he criticizes the diorama and questions Allison's overall qualifications. Lisa, overcome with guilt, confesses to the switch. Lisa and Allison lose the competition to Ralph Wiggum, whose diorama consists of a box of Star Wars action figures still in their packaging, objects of sentimental value to Principal Skinner. In the end, Lisa and Allison put aside their differences and become friends.
In later episodes, Allison appears as a background character. Originally voiced by Winona Ryder, she has subsequently had a few small speaking parts, with her voice provided by Pamela Hayden. She appears to be on good terms with Lisa.
Üter Zörker
Üter Zörker, voiced by Russi Taylor, is the severely obese 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 was left behind at 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. His uncle is proud owner of a bubblegum-factory in Düsseldorf (respectively Basel in the German version). Contrary to the common Anglo-Saxon misinterpretation that Üter is a Swiss name, it is probably a misconstruction of the common German name Günther. What somewhat suggests a Swiss, rather than German, origin are his frequent references to chocolate.
Weasels
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. However twins have been born[1] with both a black and a white sibling.
Alex Whitney
Alex Whitney is a popular new "grown-up" girl in Lisa Simpson's class in "Lard of the Dance", voiced by Lisa Kudrow. She has since made some minor appearances as a background character.
Rod and Todd Flanders
Rod and Todd are a pair of highly religious brothers (not twins) who are also extremely weak. Their father is Ned Flanders. In one episode, Rod and Todd are being babysat by Marge Simpson. In this episode, Rod climbs a tower and claims he's gay due to a joke by Bart Simpson. In the episode where Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson go after their parents, they reveal that Rod has a credit card. Todd is an excellent minature golfer. Rod once claimed he was jealous of girls because they got to wear dresses.
Administrative Staff
Principal W. Seymour Skinner
Seymour 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.
Superintendent Chalmers
Superintendent Gary Chalmers is the superintendent of Springfield's school district. Whenever he visits Springfield Elementary, some sort of disaster strikes. He produces extreme cases of anxiety in Principal Skinner, who offers increasingly improbable stories to explain what is happening.
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".
Teachers/Faculty
Edna Krabappel
Ms. Edna Krabappel (a.k.a. Mrs. K) is a teacher at Springfield Elementary School in The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace.
Elizabeth Hoover
Elizabeth Hoover is 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, (voiced by Dustin Hoffman, under the pseudonym Sam Etic) 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.
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. 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.
Mr. Largo's voice, meanwhile, is very similar to those of both Ned Flanders and Herman's. This was likely intentional, as all characters have somewhat similar personalities.
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 "Lisa on Ice", 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.
Audrey McConnell
Third grade teacher, introduced in "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade". She has complete faith in the buddy system and when that fails, she has nothing to believe in.
Mrs. Cummerdale
Gym teacher.
Mrs. Holmes-Indigo
Science teacher.
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. He also plays this game with bread rolls in restaurants. He is the substitute teacher for Ms. Pommelhorst who is taking the 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".
Mr. Kupferberg
The French teacher who can't speak French, voiced by Hank Azaria.
Mr. Glasscock
Former teacher who transferred to Springfield Elementary when promised the students would no longer make fun of his name, but left when all the teacher's edition textbooks were stolen.
Itinerant Teachers/Faculty
Dr. J. Loren Pryo r
School psychiatrist.
School Staff
'Groundskeeper Willie' The Schools Groundskeeper
Otto Mann
Otto Mann is the bus driver of Springfield Elementary. His apparent sole pastime is playing the guitar, which, according to him, "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
A overweight, middle-aged, and laconic worker at the Springfield Elementary School cafeteria and School nurse after budget cuts.
Mr. Bergstrom
Substitute teacher while Miss Hoover was away with psychosomatic lyme disease. Lisa had a crush on him.
Coach Fortner
Alcoholic sports coach.
Myra
Principal Skinner's secretary.