Wayside School

Louis taking the snow off the roof of Wayside School

**Wayside School** is the titular location of the *Wayside School* series. It is an elementary school that by accident, was built thirty stories tall. It was meant to be built only one story tall, with thirty classrooms placed side-to-side. It is also missing its nineteenth story, though the eighteenth and twentieth are present.

## About

Wayside School serves all the same purposes a typical elementary school would. Students attend Wayside School every day from nine in the morning to two in the afternoon. Kindergartners leave the school at about noon. According to "Lunch," 4,500 people go to Wayside School, but it is possible this statistic is made up, as that would necessitate 150 students in each classroom. In "A Bad Case of the Sillies," it is stated 1,000 students attend the school, which is more likely as this would put 33 students in each classroom, just a little more than the twenty-eight to twenty-nine seen in Mrs. Jewls's class. In the cartoon, the number of students is likely much smaller, populated by a limited cast of background characters and only sixteen students in Mrs. Jewls's class.

Wayside School serves its purpose as an educational facility, though often the methods of learning taught at the school are seen to be very strange. The *Sideways Arithmetic* series has students learning to add with words, rather than numbers, and in the cartoon, it is shown that field trips are taken by radically modifying the school itself to resemble whatever environment they should attend.

Aside from being thirty stories tall, the school lacks its nineteenth story. It was supposedly forgotten when the school was built, and is home to Miss Zarves's classroom. Miss Zarves supposedly doesn't exist either. That being said, the nineteenth story seems to exist to some degree, as Allison travels to it in "A Bad Case of the Sillies," a cow ends up on it in "Time Out," Louis kicks a ball there in "Way-High-Up Ball," and students take refuge there in "The Teacher With the Long Fingernail." In the cartoon, the school often has Escher-like architecture, with doors, windows, lockers and other fixtures often being placed in bizarre or inconvenient locations.

### Staff

The staff of Wayside School consists of various teachers and other faculty members. The school's principal is Mr. Kidswatter, who seems to hold contempt for the students of Wayside, and often acts spotaneously. The various other floors of Wayside are taught by a number of other teachers, such as Mrs. Jewls, Miss Worm, and the non-existent Miss Zarves. Other members of the faculty staff include the playground supervisor, Louis, the lunch lady, Miss Mush, and her assistant, Mr. Pepperadder, the dance teacher, Mrs. Waloosh, the counselor, Dr. Pickell, and the librarian, Mrs. Surlaw. Additionally, the cartoon introduces Le Chef, the former cook for the school's teachers' lounge. A number of minor faculty staff members appear in the cartoon as well, including a gym teacher, a kindergarten teacher, and a science teacher, among various other unnamed faculty staff members.

Additionally working at Wayside School are the men with the attaché case, a group of three seemingly omnipotent men that appear to work behind the scenes, having information on all the students and staff members. In "Time Out," it is shown that they are even aware of Miss Zarves, and in "The Ultimate, Ultimate Test," they appear to have the ability to teleport between floors.

### Bell system

Wayside School has a convoluted bell system that all students are required to remember. It is introduced in "The Bells of Wayside," and makes various other appearances throughout *Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom*. The cartoon, written before this book, simply uses generic bells instead.

* At eight o'clock in the morning, Mr. Kidswatter makes a loud whooping noise in his microphone. This marks the opening of the school, and also signifies that students have sixteen minutes to get to class.
* A rope in the principal's office can be tugged to ring a bell that makes a loud clanging noise, which has different meanings depending on the number of clangs. Seven clangs signifies a helicopter landing on the roof, eight clangs signifies that students have eight minutes to get to class, while nine clangs signifies that a porcupine has entered the building.
* A "ching-a-ling" bell signifies that the teachers' lounge is out of donuts.
* The late bell sounds like an angry driver slamming on a car horn right behind someone, no matter where they are in the school.
* The lunch bell makes a "kaboink" sound, with the number of kaboinks revealing what is being served for lunch. Three kaboinks means macaroons and cheese, while four means spaghetti and feetballs.
* The recess bell is a single "*ding*" that no one ever misses.
* At the end of each day, Mr. Kidswatter rings a giant gong with a large iron mallet at the bottom of the stairs.
* The "Erase-the-Blackboard Bell" is a rare bell, that has only rang twice in the history of Wayside School, once in "The Bells of Wayside." It is rung by the men with the attaché case using a silver ping-pong ball and a solid gold ping-pong paddle. The bell itself makes a "ping... PONG!" sound, and signifies that all teachers must stop whatever they are doing to erase their blackboards, nullifying all information currently written on them.
* A rare bell, only heard in "Kachooga Boop," consists of a "kachooga" noise followed by one, two, and then three boops. This signifies that the students and teachers must evacuate before a Cloud of Doom destroys everything.

## Uniforms

### Boy's Uniforms

the boys wear a light blue blazer with dark blue lining on the lapel and a baby blue shirt is worn under. the uniform have a small blue bowties to adorn the shirt, the bottom is a royal blue trousers. To finish, the socks are worn with white and blue shoes.

In summer, this is replaced with a white polo shirt, brown khaki pant and brown shoes

### Girl's Uniforms

The girls wear a light pink blazer with dark pink lining on the lapel and a pale pink shirt is worn under, the uniforms have a reddish pink ribbon to adorn the shirt, the bottom is wear a bubblegum pink mini skirt, White socks are worn with dark pink mary jane shoes to finish.

In summer, this is replaced with a white polo shirt, brown skirt and black mary jane shoes

## Stories

* **First story** - The principal's office, bathrooms, and an unknown classroom are all located on this floor. In the cartoon, it additionally has a lobby for students that enter the school.
* **Second story** - The location of the ballroom in the books, as well as an unknown classroom.
* **Third story** - The location of Mr. Hardgroves's classroom in the books.
* **Fourth story** - The location of the counselor's office in the books. Dr. Pickell works in this office, where he uses a pickle-shaped stone to hypnotize other students and teachers to help them with their problems, albeit occasionally with unwanted side-effects.
* **Fifth story** - The location of an unknown classroom taught by a female teacher in the books, and the pottery class in the cartoon. It may be the location of the kindergarten class, as is seen in "Principles of Principals."
* **Sixth story** - A floor never seen in the books, but is seen in the cartoon, where it is the location of a campground on the balcony.
* **Seventh story** - The location of the school's library. In the books, Mrs. Surlaw works in this room, and organizes the books purely by number of pages. This was not established when the cartoon was released, and thus the books are not organized in such fashion, though in "Myth of Nick" it is shown to have the school's yearbooks, weekbooks, and minutebooks.
* **Eighth story** - Unknown, seen in "Game Day," where Miss Worm fails to catch a watermelon pushed out this story's window, and "Todd & Bull Story," where Myron's props fall out of the window.
* **Ninth story** - Unknown, D.J. sits on the stairs between this story and the tenth in "Kathy and D.J.," and Deedee answers a question asked by Mrs. Surlaw on this floor in "The Ultimate, Ultimate Test."
* **Tenth story** - Likely the location of a classroom, as Deedee knocks over a student from this floor in "An Elephant in Wayside School."
* **Eleventh story** - Unknown, only appears in "Game Day" and "The Ultimate, Ultimate Test."
* **Twelfth story** - The location of the teachers' lounge. In the cartoon, Le Chef prepares food for teachers in this room before being fired. It also appears to be the location of a swimming pool in the cartoon, as the Mushroom Surprise burns a hole down to this room in *Wayside: The Movie*.
* **Thirteenth story** - Appears to be the location of the school's gymnasium in the cartoon, as is seen when the Mushroom Surprise burns a hole down to this room in *Wayside: The Movie*.
* **Fourteenth story** - Although rarely seen in the books, the geography teacher's room is located here in the cartoon, as is seen when the Mushroom Surprise burns a hole through the ceiling in *Wayside: The Movie*. Additionally, Mr. Kidswatter builds a gondola canal on this floor in the episode "Todd Falls in Love."
* **Fifteenth story** - The location of the school's cafeteria and kitchen. Miss Mush and Mr. Pepperadder prepare food for students to eat on this floor.
* **Sixteenth story** - Unseen in the books, but appears to be the location of the science department in the cartoon. Roger teaches in this room.
* **Seventeenth story** - Unseen in the books, but in the cartoon, houses the English teacher's room, where the ceiling is placed too low and the children often hurt their hands when they try raising them.
* **Eighteenth story** - Unknown, usually only seen in reference to the nineteenth story in both the books and cartoon.
* **Nineteenth story** - Non-existent, as it is revealed the builder forgot it, even though he built the eighteenth and twentieth. Miss Zarves teaches the class on this room, and students have been seen reaching it, despite its non-existence.
* **Twentieth story** - Unknown, usually only seen in reference to the nineteenth story in both the books and cartoon.
* **Twenty-first story** - Unseen in the books, but a large, tube-shaped hallway runs through this floor in the cartoon.
* **Twenty-second story** - Unknown.
* **Twenty-third story** - The classroom Nancy attends is located on this story.
* **Twenty-fourth story** - Unseen in the books, appears in the cartoon episode "Oh, Great Leader," where it is stated the nurse's office is located a couple floors above it.
* **Twenty-fifth story** - Unknown, possibly the location of the nurse's office in the cartoon, based on dialogue from "Oh, Great Leader," though this is contradicted by *Wayside: The Movie* and "Dr. Dana," where Miss Mush is stated to be the school nurse.
* **Twenty-sixth story** - Unknown, also a possible location for the nurse's office in the cartoon.
* **Twenty-seventh story** - Unseen in the books, though it appears in a couple episodes of the cartoon, being crowded by cows in "Class Cow," and being the floor Maurecia rescues Jenny from a cow in "Mrs. Gorf."
* **Twenty-eighth story** - An unknown classroom is located on this story. In the cartoon, a basketball court is additionally located on a balcony outside this floor.
* **Twenty-ninth story** - The location of Miss Worm's classroom in the books. In the cartoon, it is instead the location of Miss Mush's honors class, the room of which doubles as an auditorium.
* **Thirtieth story** - The location of Mrs. Jewls's class, which formerly belonged to Mrs. Gorf. It is the main focus of the series, appearing in almost every chapter of the books, and nearly every episode of the cartoon.

## Gallery of stories

Todd Maurecia Dana I'm Talking About Me.jpgDana, Maurecia, and Todd on the first story's hallway. ("Cabbage, My Boy")Ballroom.pngJoe, Leslie, and Bebe dancing in the ballroom on the second story. ("Rat in Shining Armor")Third story.PNGKidswatter stopping on the third story. ("Music Lessons")Up and Down Heitz.pngD.J. sees Dr. Pickell in the counselor's office on the fourth story. ("Up and Down")Fifth story.PNGA kindergarten class on the fifth story. ("The Elevator")Sixth story.PNGA campground located on the sixth story. ("Mrs. Gorf")Todd Maurecia Dana Pointing at Picture.jpgMaurecia points to a picture of herself, Dana, and Todd in the library on the seventh story in a minutebook. ("Myth of Nick")Eighth story.PNGA wheelbarrow carrying props accidentally dumps them out of the eighth story window, forming the wishing well. ("Todd & Bull Story")Ninth story.PNGMyron and Louis prepare for the school play on the ninth story. ("Todd & Bull Story")Kathy and D.J. 2003.jpgKathy and D.J. on the staircase to the tenth story. ("Kathy and D.J.")Teachers' lounge.PNGA few teachers relaxing in the teacher's lounge on the twelfth floor. (*Wayside: The Movie*)Fourteenth story.PNGMr. Kidswatter tells students on the fourteenth story to watch their steps so they can avoid the newly constructed gondola canal. ("Todd Falls in Love")Fifteenth story.PNGMiss Mush excitedly opening the kitchen door on the fifteenth floor. (*Wayside: The Movie*)Sixteenth story.PNGThe science department on the sixteenth story. ("Principles of Principals")Seventeenth story.PNGStudents attempting to raise their hands on the seventeenth story. (*Wayside: The Movie*)Eighteenth story.PNGTodd, Dana, and Myron on the eighteenth story. (*Wayside: The Movie*)Nineteenth story.PNGA hole placed where the nineteenth story should be. ("Dana Checks Out")Twentieth story.PNGDana preparing to jump to the nineteenth story from the twentieth story. ("Dana Checks Out")Twenty-first story.PNGDana on the twenty-first story, noting she only has nine stories to go before she gets to Mrs. Jewls's class and beats the perfect attendance record. ("Imperfect Attendance")Twenty-third story.PNGA cow eating the wall of the twenty-third story. (*Wayside: The Movie*)Twenty-fourth story.PNGMr. Kidswatter waking up on the twenty-fourth story, fearing the kids want to eat him. ("Oh, Great Leader")Twenty-seventh story.PNGMaurecia rescues several of the students transformed into apples on the twenty-seventh story. ("Mrs. Gorf")28th Floor.jpgA game of basketball about to start on the twenty-eighth story. ("My Partner Gets All the Credit")Twenty-ninth floor.PNGMaurecia and Sammy attending Honors Class on the twenty-ninth story. ("Honors Class")Thirtieth story.PNGMrs. Jewls's class on the thirtieth story. ("Todd Falls in Love")
## References

1. ↑ "Age of Aquarium"
2. ↑ "Eric, Eric, and Eric"
3. ↑ "The Lost Ear"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Deedee"
5. ↑ "Valooosh"
6. ↑ "The Bells of Wayside"
7. ↑ "A Story with a Disappointing Ending"
8. ↑ "Way-High-Up Ball"
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Mrs. Gorf"
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Allison"
11. ↑ "Mush"
12. ↑ "Rainbow"
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 *Wayside: The Movie*
14. ↑ "Calvin"
15. ↑ "Imperfect Attendance"
16. ↑ "Nancy"
17. ↑ "A Bad Case of the Sillies
18. ↑ "My Partner Gets All the Credit"
19. ↑ "Miss Worm
20. ↑ "Honors Class
21. ↑ "My Fluffy Hair
22. ↑ "Mrs. Jewls"
23. ↑ "Mrs. Gorf"