Calvin

— Calvin in "Bebe"

* Heitz
* McCauley
* Schick
* Brinckloe
* Hockerman

**Calvin** is a character in the *Wayside School* books. He does not appear in the cartoon. He is one of the many students in Mrs. Jewls's class.

## Appearance

Calvin is described as having a "big round face" in "Calvin." In "Calvin's Big Decision," it's revealed that Calvin wears long pants, as he needs to pull up his left pant leg to show his ankle, and as of his birthday, he has a permanent tattoo of a potato just above his left ankle, despite being between seven and twelve. In "Science," Calvin is described by Mrs. Jewls as being "too heavy" for her to lift, meaning that he is lighter than Joy.

## Personality

Calvin appears to be a student who mostly works alongside others, as shown in "Bebe" when he serves as Bebe's art partner, and "Calvin's Big Decision," where upon having difficulty deciding what his tattoo should be, he questions the rest of the students in Mrs. Jewls's class. Since Calvin has only been a major character in two chapters of the main book series, oftentimes he can be a difficult character to judge on his own merits, as his roles primarily do show him playing off of others.

Calvin's personality seems to be fairly straightforward, typically taking things at face value. He presumes that drawing more pictures means he's making more art, and presumes he isn't a very good artist because of that, often helping Bebe instead. He claims the capital of England is "E" in "The Mean Mrs. Jewls" and gets a tattoo of a potato, simply because he likes the way they taste rather than observing how well the tattoo may be observed by others. Calvin may be experienced at helping others, as he often takes the role of Bebe's art assistant and does the best he can at helping Mrs. Jewls deliver a note to Miss Zarves in "Calvin." While Calvin understands there is no nineteenth story, and henceforth no Miss Zarves, he works his best to deliver the note to her, showing that even if he doesn't understand an assigned task fully, he'll still attempt to accomplish it, something he inevitably does in "The Teacher With the Long Fingernail."

## Relationships

### Bebe Gunn

Calvin's best and only known friend is Bebe Gunn, as seen many times throughout the series. They are first seen interracting in "Bebe," where Calvin helps out Bebe by serving as her art partner. In return for this help, Bebe draws five or six airplanes for him, and Calvin apparently thinks Bebe's art looks good. In "Bebe's Baby Brother," Calvin checks if Bebe is okay after noticing she's missing her homework, and Bebe is proud to show him her good grade when she gets an A+. In "Music," the two work together to play the cymbals, and in "Calvin's Big Decision," Bebe tries to help Calvin decide what his tattoo will be, and is unwilling to admit that she thinks the potato tattoo is a dumb idea, even stating that it's a better potato than she could draw. When the school closes for 243 days, Bebe and Calvin are ecstatic to see each other once again, and crash into one another from opposite sides of the playground. Calvin and Bebe seem to be extremely good friends, only having a negative interaction in "Stupid" after Miss Wendy Nogard brings out the worst in both of them to make them hate each other briefly, though in "The Little Stranger," it is mentioned that "all the hate flew out the window," and they are once again seen to be friends again in the next book, having conversations in "Consider the Paper Clip" and "Rainbow."

### Mrs. Jewls

It's likely that Calvin enjoys Mrs. Jewls's presence, as in "Pet Day," it's revealed he has named his pet cat after her. Calvin assists Mrs. Jewls in delivering a note to Miss Zarves in "Calvin," even though he understands very well that the nineteenth story doesn't exist, and is ultimately baffled by the question. Mrs. Jewls calls Calvin "responsible" at the end of the chapter and hands him a Tootsie Roll Pop as a reward, though in "The Teacher With the Long Fingernail," she seems upset at Calvin after learning he failed to actually deliver the note at the time. In "Calvin's Big Decision," Mrs. Jewls doesn't directly insult Calvin's potato tattoo, even if she doesn't like it, and refers to his father as "very wise."

## Appearances

For a list of every chapter Calvin appears in, see here.

## Trivia

* He is not in the cartoon, alongside Allison, Benjamin, D.J., Dameon, Deedee, Jason, Kathy, Mac, Paul, Ron, Terrence, and Sue.
* He likes potatoes, as shown in "Calvin's Big Decision," and peanuts, as shown in "Mrs. Jewls." It is possible he doesn't like bananas, as he refuses Mrs. Jewls's offer in "Mrs. Jewls."
* In the 1985 illustration for "Mrs. Gorf," Calvin is depicted with six fingers on his right hand.

### Other designs

Peter Allen design (British edition, 2004)Satoshi Kitamura design (Japanese edition, 2010)Unknown illustrator (Simplified Chinese edition, 2012)Ramona Bruno design (Italian edition, 2021)