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Welcome to Sunnydale High. There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule: if they move, kill them.
―Principal Wood[src]

Sunnydale High School was a public high school located in Sunnydale. It was headed by Principal Flutie up until his death in 1997,[1] and then by Principal Snyder. The original school was destroyed on the Class of '99's Graduation Day battle against Mayor Wilkins.[2] It was rebuilt and reopened in 2002, headed by Principal Wood,[3] until it was destroyed yet again with the rest of Sunnydale in 2003.[4]

Campus[]

The campus itself consisted of a large main, two story building with a front entrance behind a walkway. Its interior mainly included halls lined with lockers and doors leading to each classroom. When it was rebuilt, its design was changed dramatically from the previous structure, taking a more modern appearance and having a much larger walkway in its front view.[citation needed]

The front of the school contained a sign that said in Latin "Formatia trans sicere educatorum" ("Enter all ye who seek knowledge").[5] The basements also contained a room where the Seal of Danzalthar, an ancient seal that could open directly into the Hellmouth, was located.[6]

Library[]

Sunnydale High facilities included a library located around the middle of the school over the exact place of the Hellmouth.[7] The library acted as the Scooby Gang's main base of operations and was not often used by the students.[5] Cordelia herself did not enter the library until she needed the gang's help as she claimed that she "had a life."[8] The library has been known to give students "the wiggins" and, when Giles took the position as librarian, he added many historical volumes and biographies,[9] notably about demonology and the occult.[10]

After the school's reconstruction, the site of the old library was replaced by the Principal's office[3] and according to former librarian, Giles, it consisted of nothing but computers.[11] However, this was likely an exaggeration, as a library with books was the place where Dawn befriended Cassie and the base of the Cult of Avilas.[12]

Quad[]

A prominent area was the quad, a large exterior area located at the left of the school with a gate at the end of quad. The quad had benches, palm trees, a water fountain, and a clock tower where in 1999, the bullied and ignored Jonathan almost killed himself.[13] In 1997, the Pack sought fresh prey before thinking of Herbert, the pig mascot.[1] The invisible Marcie pushed Harmony down a staircase, breaking her leg.[8] In 1998, Oz accepted himself like a werewolf here.[14]

When all the student girls fell in love with Xander under Amy's spell, Harmony saved Xander from Willow (who was also charmed) who tried to kill him with a hatchet breaking her heart.[15] Cordy rejected the Cordettes and decided to be Xander's girlfriend. Humiliated by the Cordettes, Cordelia stated her wish to her new friend Anya, sending her into another reality where the quad is almost empty.[16] Many organized events occurred in the quad, such as the announcement of the Mayfair Queen,[8] pep rallies,[13] and the graduation of the Class of '99.

Lounge[]

The school possessed a lounge room contained among the hallways to the left of the entrance. The lounge had tables, couches and artwork displayed on the walls, where students could sit down, talk and eat lunch in between classes. The Scooby Gang tended to hang out in the lounge when not in class or in the library.[17]

In 1997, parent teacher night, organized by Buffy and Sheila, was held in the lounge before the school was attacked by vampires.[18] The students also completed their vocational aptitude tests at the lounge before the Career Fair where the assassin Patrice (disguised as police officer conducting the students selected for law enforcement) attempted to kill Buffy.[19][20] Snyder required all students to sell the supernatural chocolates Milkbar for the school brass band.[21]

Cafeteria[]

The school dining facility.[8] In 1997, Dr. Gregory's beheaded body was found here by Buffy and Cordelia.[22] In 1998, James conjured a large number of snakes in the cafeteria. This resulted in the school being temporarily shutdown and the Sadie Hawkins dance being cancelled.[23]

Buffy collapsed in the school cafeteria due to the large number of thoughts that plagued her mind when she had telepathy; in that moment she heard the thought of someone who wanted to kill all the students. It was later discovered that it was the lunch lady, who tried to kill Xander with a butcher knife in the cafeteria after he found her pouring rat poison in the student's lunch. Buffy came to the rescue and overwhelmed the Lunch Lady.[13] The Scooby Gang had their exchange of the Box of Gavrok for Willow with the Mayor at the cafeteria after school hours.[24]

Computer classroom[]

The computer class taught by Ms. Calendar (1997–1998), then replaced by still student Willow (spring 1998). Moloch the Corruptor mesmerized students like David and Fritz. It was here that David was killed by Fritz under the orders of Moloch after betraying them.[25]

In 1998, Jenny deciphered the remaining text of the Ritual of Restoration before Angel killed her and destroyed the computer containing the deciphered text.[5] Jenny had saved the information on a floppy disk that was eventually found by Willow.[26]

Gym[]

The gymnasium was where indoor sports events were held, such as basketball matches with other schools.[27] Cheerleading practice and auditions were held in the gym; in one of these auditions Amber's hands combusted when she was cursed by a witch.[27] and Dawn Summers gave a disastrous performance.[28]

When heavy storms occurred, all regular gym classes would be cancelled and students were instead forced to play dodge ball.[1] Self-defense classes were also taught during the full moon after a string of werewolf attacks in 1998.[14] It was also the room where, while protecting Billy, Buffy was attacked by the Monster.[29]

The gym for the rebuilt school was not finished before the town's destruction in 2003. There was an attack from Gachnar one night at the building site, leaving the skinless corpse of a boy who had been graffiti painting on a retention wall.[30]

Football field[]

An outdoor area where football was practiced and played with opposing teams from other schools. Xander questioned Cordelia in vain regarding Emily's murder.[31] Giles and Jenny attended a football game on their first date. At the same game, Cordelia, a cheerleader, was kidnapped by Daryl.[32] The Peruvian Bodyguard attacked here Xander and the Inca Princess, a life-stealing mummy posing as Ampata Gutierrez.[33] The Scooby Gang attended a football game which included Hogan.[13]

After the school was rebuilt, Dawn fell in love with R.J. when she saw him with his magical letterman jacket while he was practicing on the field.[28]

Pool and steam room[]

The swimming pool located inside the school for the Sunnydale Razorbacks' swim team to practice and compete in. It had a locker room and a steam room. The steam room was exclusively for swim team members and was used by Coach Marin to provide the swim team with steroids via aromatherapy.[34]

The pool room also lead to a utility room which contained a water hole where Marin kept the students who turned into fish-like monsters due to the steroids. The water hole was also connected to the sewers, which allowed the monsters to roam around the school and the rest of Sunnydale.[34]

Shower and changing rooms[]

The shower and dressing rooms were located inside the school for the students to change and clean up during PE classes. In 1997, Aura discovered the corpse of a former student hidden inside her dressing room locker, frightened.[9] Cordelia menaced Amy Madison (in reality Catherine), provoking her fury.[27] Buffy was almost killed by electrocution in the shower by Fritz under Moloch's orders.[25]

One month later, Marc killed Emily in the female dressing room,[31] and Mitch was attacked by a flying baseball bat in the males'.[8] In 1998, persuaded that Larry was a werewolf, Xander is surprised to find the boy hiding his gay orientation.[14] Later, Xander was attacked by Cameron, who had been transformed into one of the Gill Monsters.[34]

Auditorium[]

The school had an auditorium where the Sunnydale Talent Show was held, including one in 1997 where a demon named Marc posing as a student began killing participants and extracting their organs in order to retain human form, ending at his death which occurred just before the talent show commenced.[31]

When her nightmare becomes reality under influence from Billy, Willow accompanied Aldo Gianfranco on stage here as a soprano to perform Madame Butterfly.[29] In a dream, Willow was present here for play in a representation of Death of a Salesman alongside Harmony, Buffy, and Riley, staged by Giles.[35]

Principal's office[]

The Principals Robert Flutie (–1997),[9][1] Snyder (1997–1999),[18][23][36][37][38] and Robin Wood (2002–2003)[12][28][39][40][11] had their own office on Sunnydale High. It was the site of Flutie's death at the hands of a possessed group of students when they were called to his office and devoured him — the official theory being that he was attacked by wild dogs.[1]

When the school was rebuilt, the office was placed where the library used to be, meaning it was directly over the Hellmouth.[3] As a vampire hunter, Wood kept an arsenal of bladed weapons concealed in a cabinet inside his office.[40] In 2003, it was the place where Willow launched the Slayer activation spell.[4]

Basement[]

The basement level of the school with a boiler room. In 1997, student Laura isolated herself there to smoke a cigarette and was beaten by the Ugly Man.[29] In 1998, a tunnel was made in the boiler room that led to the location of the Bezoar, who used its offspring, distributed via eggs in Health Class, to possess the faculty and student body and make them mine underground. This was stopped when Buffy killed the beast.[41]

After the rebuilding of the school, a tormented Spike initially took residence in the basement. During the first day of school, Dawn and two other students became trapped in the basement where they were attacked by a group of vengeful manifestations until Xander destroyed the talisman keeping them alive.[3] The Seal of Danthalzar was located in the basement and was only discovered when Jonathan and Andrew dug it up out of the ground.[6] The seal was a direct entrance to the Hellmouth, containing thousands of Turok-Hans; many attempts were made to open it.[6][39][42][40] Buffy and the Potential Slayers used the seal to enter the Hellmouth and commence the battle at the Hellmouth.[4]

According to Xander, blueprints couldn't be used to find the way around in the basement; it was like the walls moved.[30]

School life[]

“'Something weird is going on.' Isn't that our school motto?
―Xander[src]

Despite being on the site of a Hellmouth, most students and faculty members continued with their lives, living in ignorance of the supernatural forces that cursed their town. The occurrence of strange events and bizarre deaths were ongoing, yet forgotten when Principal Snyder came up with flimsy rationalizations, often blaming gang-related PCP.[18]

Deaths due to supernatural causes was common among both students and teachers. Larry Blaisdell was certain at the start of his senior year that it would be the best football season ever, so long as they can "focus, keep discipline and not have quite as many mysterious deaths,"[43] and the school paper The Sunnydale High Sentinel even had its own obituary section.[13] Despite this, the Class of '99 had the lowest mortality rate of any graduating class in the history of Sunnydale, with at least around 30 student deaths (including sirings) over three years.[44]

Apart from that, life on Sunnydale High still continued with their very own "it girl" group, called the "Cordettes,"[45] and many school social functions, including basketball,[27] football,[13] cheerleading,[27] swing choir,[46] homecoming dances,[47] and foreign student exchange programs.[33]

Faculty[]

See List of Sunnydale High faculty and staff members

Students[]

See List of Sunnydale High students

Prominent events[]

1955[]

  • The student James Stanley had an affair with his teacher Grace Newman, When she tried to break it off; an angry James shot her before shooting himself.[23]

1997[]

  • Darla invaded the building with ex-student Chris Boal after school hours, drained him, and left his body at one of the lockers.[9]
  • The witch Catherine Madison swapped bodies with her daughter, Amy, to join the cheerleading squad, cursing several candidates in the process.[27]
  • A She-Mantis killed the science teacher Dr. Gregory to gain employment so that she could mate.[22]
  • A group of bullies became possessed by hyenas in a Primal ritual and, as a result, ate Mr. Flutie and the school mascot.[1]
  • Darla spied on Buffy and Willow, overhearing a conversation about Angel.[48]
  • Moloch the Corruptor was accidentally downloaded into the internet by one of the school computers and had two students killed.[25]
  • Sid killed the last of Brotherhood of Seven member after he killed two students and harvested their organs.[31]
  • The nightmares of various students began coming true and wrecked havoc.[29]
  • A largely unpopular girl, Marcie Ross, became invisible, injured two students and almost killed the teacher Ms. Miller.[8]
  • The Hellmouth opened and released a multiple-headed demon before closing after the death of the Master. A large group of students were also killed by vampires the same day.[7]
  • The Order of Aurelius kidnapped Willow and Giles as a sacrifice to resurrect the Master.[17]
  • Students Chris Epps and Eric Gittleson kidnapped Cordelia to make the reanimated living-dead bride of Daryl Epps.[32]
  • Spike and his gang of vampires raided the school during parent teacher night. Several vampires, one parent, and one teacher died during the ordeal.[18]
  • The Inca Princess absorbed the life of her bodyguard in the bathroom.[33]
  • Buffy had a visit from her old friend Ford.[49]
  • The vampire Julia stole the Du Lac Manuscript in the library.[49]
  • Eyghon the Sleepwalker killed Philip Henry at the campus, then possessed Jenny Calendar.[50]
  • The Order of Taraka member Patrice tried to kill Buffy, though She was only able to seriously wound Oz.[20]

1998[]

  • A Bezoar managed to possess the entire student body and faculty, by having its eggs distributed during health class.[41]
  • The entire female population, both students and faculty, fell under a love spell that had been cast by Amy Madison in favor of Xander.[15]
  • The computer teacher Jenny Calendar was killed by Angel after translating the Ritual of Restoration.[5]
  • The school was temporarily shutdown when it became haunted by a poltergeist, who was actually the spirit of James Stanley.[23]
  • The swim team started turning into fish-like monsters when Coach Marin drugged them with Soviet experimental drugs.[34]
  • The Slayer Kendra was killed by Drusilla in the library, kidnapping Giles and injuring Willow.[26]
  • Pete Clarner, a student, began taking a special potion which led him into becoming a monster, killing the guidance counselor Stephen Platt and his own girlfriend Debbie Foley, and releasing a werewolf out of his cage.[51]
  • During SlayerFest '98, Lyle Gorch, Candy Gorch, Hans Gruenshtahler, and Frederick Gruenshtahler attacked Buffy, Cordelia, and Giles. The homecoming party was being hold at the same night.[47]
  • Under the magic effect of chocolate bars sold to raise funds to the school band, all the staff was reversed to their teenage self.[21]
  • Willow attempted to perform a delusting spell at the lab, when Spike kidnapped her and Xander.[52]

1999[]

  • The student's lockers were forcibly searched for witch-related objects and several books on the occult at the library removed and burnt.[10]
  • The Hellmouth was once again opened by the Sisterhood of Jhe, while a group of zombies attempted to blow the school up.[53]
  • Giles and Wesley were kidnapped by the El Eliminati vampires.
  • Willow was attacked by her vampiric counterpart at the library, who was momentarily imprisoned at the book cage, then attempted to attack Cordelia and Wesley.[38]
  • Jonathan Levinson attempted to kill himself in the school clock-tower, but was convinced otherwise by Buffy. A the same time, the lunch lady actually attempted to poison the students with rat poison, but this was also prevented by Buffy.[13]
  • A trade occurred in the cafeteria where the Mayor offered Willow in exchange for the Box of Gavrok.[24]
  • A group of hellhounds were let loose during the Senior Prom, but were killed by Buffy. She later received a Class Protector Award at the event.[44]
  • The school was blown-up, concluding a hectic battle between the Mayor and the graduating students.[2]

2000[]

2002[]

0

The reopening.

  • Shortly after its reopening, three manifestations terrorized Dawn and several other students on their first day.[3]
  • A group of students led by Peter Nicols attempted to sacrifice Cassie to perform the invocation of Avilas. Even though Buffy managed to stop them, Cassie still died of heart failure at the school.[12]
  • Student R.J. unknowingly made several females fall in love with him, including Buffy the school counselor, because of a magical jacket.[28]
  • Jonathan was killed by Andrew Wells to open the Seal of Danzalthar.[6]
  • Amanda and Dawn were chased by a vampire, which was eventually dealt with along with several Harbingers of Death.[46]
  • A Turok-Han was released from the seal with the blood of Spike.[39]

2003[]

  • The demon Lissa nearly released another Turok-Han with the blood of Xander.[40]
  • The opening of the seal caused a number of strange occurrences at the school. This was stopped by Andrew's tears of repentance.[56]
  • Faith and Robin spoke of their night when they had sex and the Slayer was for once convinced to go farther.[4]
  • Willow, under Kennedy's protection, launched the spell with the to activate multiple Slayers at once.[4]
  • The school, left completely abandoned, was destroyed along with the whole town after the battle at the Hellmouth.[4]

Undated events[]

  • Andrew summoned a pack of flying monkeys to attack the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.[57]

Alternate timeline[]

  • Cordelia Chase was visited by the vengeance demon Anyanka, posing as a Sunnydale High student. This caused an alternate timeline to exist in which Buffy had never moved to Sunnydale. With this, many of the student population, including Willow and Xander, has been killed and sired by vampires, changed completely the school's behavior.[16]

Groups and clubs[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • The school was originally called Berryman High School in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot.
  • The real building was Torrance High School, located in southern California.
  • The second school was filmed at California State University in Northridge, California.
  • The building was also used as the location for the high school in the 1999 teen romantic comedy She's All That.
  • In addition, it was also used as the high school location for the 2000 film Bring It On, starring Eliza Dushku and Clare Kramer. The music for the film was also done by Christophe Beck.
  • The school was also used in various TV shows and movies.
    • TV: Fox's Beverly Hills 90210 and The CW spinoff 90210, NBC's Medium, and ABC Family/Freeform's The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
    • Movies: The Wild Life, Not Another Teen Movie, Cursed, Bruce Almighty, Whatever It Takes, and Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough.

Appearances[]

Canonical[]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel


Other[]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic
Buffy the Animated Series
Buffy: The High School Years
Novels
Games

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "The Pack"
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Graduation Day, Part Two"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Lessons"
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Chosen"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Passion"
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Conversations with Dead People"
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Prophecy Girl"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
  10. 10.0 10.1 "Gingerbread"
  11. 11.0 11.1 "Lies My Parents Told Me"
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Help"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 "Earshot"
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Phases"
  15. 15.0 15.1 "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"
  16. 16.0 16.1 "The Wish"
  17. 17.0 17.1 "When She Was Bad"
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 "School Hard"
  19. "What's My Line? Part One"
  20. 20.0 20.1 "What's My Line? Part Two"
  21. 21.0 21.1 "Band Candy"
  22. 22.0 22.1 "Teacher's Pet"
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 "I Only Have Eyes for You"
  24. 24.0 24.1 "Choices"
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 "I Robot, You Jane"
  26. 26.0 26.1 "Becoming, Part One"
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 "Witch"
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 "Him"
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 "Nightmares"
  30. 30.0 30.1 "Same Time, Same Place"
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 "The Puppet Show"
  32. 32.0 32.1 "Some Assembly Required"
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 "Inca Mummy Girl"
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 "Go Fish"
  35. "Restless"
  36. "Dead Man's Party"
  37. "Faith, Hope & Trick"
  38. 38.0 38.1 "Doppelgängland"
  39. 39.0 39.1 39.2 "Never Leave Me"
  40. 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 "First Date"
  41. 41.0 41.1 "Bad Eggs"
  42. "Bring on the Night
  43. 43.0 43.1 43.2 "Anne"
  44. 44.0 44.1 "The Prom"
  45. 45.0 45.1 "Rm w/a Vu"
  46. 46.0 46.1 "Potential"
  47. 47.0 47.1 "Homecoming"
  48. "Angel"
  49. 49.0 49.1 "Lie to Me"
  50. "The Dark Age"
  51. "Beauty and the Beasts"
  52. "Lovers Walk"
  53. "The Zeppo"
  54. "Doomed"
  55. "New Moon Rising"
  56. "Storyteller"
  57. "Flooded"
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