The Most Memorable Movie High Schools

Culture
The Most Memorable Movie High Schools
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As much as it pains us to say it, real life just isn’t like the movies. And one genre where this is particularly apparent is that of high school movies, where real-world teenage awkwardness stands in stark contrast to the romance and adventure on screen. Still, it’s fun to imagine what it would be like to live that cinematic experience, and this sense of wonder has led some fictional schools to become almost as famous and beloved as the characters who attend them. Have you ever imagined ruling the school as the most popular kid, or perhaps the rebel, and winning the hearts of your fellow students? Us, too! So pack your bags and remember your locker combination, because we’re heading to the most famous movie high schools ever to ring the bell on the big screen!

By Victoria Luxford

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Rydell High (Grease, 1978) – The quintessential high school movie, Grease has endured in popularity for over forty years, thanks in part to the vivid world contained within Rydell High. A sparkling retro fantasy where everybody can burst into song at any moment, many fans have dreamed of earning their jacket in the Pink Lady clique, or helping the T-Birds fix up Greased Lightning in time for the big race. There always seemed to be something exciting happening at Rydell, and that’s before you even get to the whirlwind romance between Danny and Sandy (John Travolta and the beloved late Olivia Newton-John), the summer lovers who were destined for each other.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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East High School (High School Musical films, 2006-2011) – In many ways, High School Musical was the 21st-century update of Grease, incorporating many of the same themes and making East High the kind of school that everyone wanted to attend. Following the trials of Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens), a couple torn between their love of performing and their other talents, East High is a technicolour dream where everyone has a favourite star. If Troy and Gabriella didn’t make you sigh, perhaps you wanted to hang out with the sassy Sharpay and Ryan (Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel). There was a hero for all types, with everyone getting their chance to shine.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters (The X-Men films, 2000-Present) – The institution at the centre of the X-Men films, a school founded by Professor X (Patrick Stewart, and later James McAvoy), provided a haven for mutant youngsters while doubling as a superhero base for the all-powerful X-Men. In the past, lessons may have been interrupted by villainous attacks, such as the storming of the school by William Stryker in X-Men 2. However, having classmates who can teleport or shoot fire would make school life more interesting!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (The Harry Potter franchise, 2001-2011) – Like Xavier’s school, Hogwarts would come with its own mixture of dangers and delights. Practically every inch of the enchanted grounds has some kind of magical augmentation, from talking portraits to lively games of Quidditch. If you have ever been engrossed in the world of the Harry Potter movies, chances are you have imagined yourself having dinner in the Great Hall or taking lessons from Professor Snape. Quite simply one of the most famous fictional schools of all time, millions of fans across the world have taken online tests to sort themselves into Hogwarts’ various houses, while replica versions of Hogwarts have been built to various extents in the US, UK and Japan.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Sky High School (Sky High, 2005) – In today’s superhero-obsessed culture, who wouldn’t want to attend a school that levitates in the sky, where you are taught to be a superhero by a former Wonder Woman? That’s exactly the premise of Sky High, the cult family movie from the mid-2000s which also featured Kurt Russell and a young Mary Elizabeth Winstead. There are a couple of catches, however: entrance is only open to the children of superheroes, and once inside the school, there is strict segregation between the popular ‘heroes’ and the second-string ‘sidekicks’ – groups which you are sorted into based on your abilities.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Patterson Park High School (Hairspray, 1988) – We’re choosing the original John Waters version of Hairspray, rather than the 2007 musical, because there’s a little bit more bite to this celebration of difference. While it’s true that the restrictive culture of 1950s Baltimore wouldn’t have been the best place to get an education, it is heartening to think of students such as Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) using their energy and optimism to bring about change at a time of racial segregation and body shaming. From the most maverick of filmmakers came a lesson society took years to learn – and in many ways, is still learning.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Forks High School (Twilight, 2008) – The high school in the sleepy forest town of Forks isn’t as flashy as some of the places on this list. However, how many other schools have groups of vampires hanging out in the lunchroom? The school where Bella and Edward (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson) first meet in Twilight doesn’t sound cheery – the book it’s based on describes it as “frightening” and claustrophobic with just 358 kids in the entire student body. Forks High is a real-life school as well, and while it has enjoyed a lot of attention due to the books and films, we imagine it’s slightly more welcoming – and definitely has fewer vampires!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Sunnydale High School (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1997-2003) – Forks High might have had gloomy vampires, but the poor students and faculty of Sunnydale found themselves at the epicentre of a supernatural battle between good and evil. They received some help from vampire slayer Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Giles the librarian (Anthony Head), but any school built over the mouth of hell is unlikely to meet with a happy end. We are cheating a little bit here: Buffy was originally a 1992 movie, but its popularity and the invention of Sunnydale came with the TV series. Still, it was too intriguing not to include!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Bronson Alcott High School (Clueless, 1995) – Clueless’ Cher Horowitz was an inspiration to a generation (including rapper Iggy Azalea, who channelled the character for the music video for her song “Fancy”). However, the bright and oh-so-’90s atmosphere of Bronson Alcott High (named after director Amy Heckerling’s boyfriend) was just as much a part of the fun, with its charming but, well, clueless rich kids stumbling through life and love. A contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, Clueless proved the hallways of high school can be just as daunting as high society in a classic novel!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Padua High School (10 Things I Hate About You, 1999) – Another film based on a literary masterpiece, this ‘90s take on The Taming of the Shrew leans on some high school tropes, but does it so well that it barely seems to matter. Focusing on Aussie bad boy Cameron (the late Heath Ledger) in his pursuit of the ill-tempered Kat (Julia Stiles), we meet all varieties of high school archetypes, such as Kat’s superficial but popular younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and the nerdy wingman Michael (David Krumholtz). It may not sound all that original, but the deft performances and memorable moments, such as Ledger’s musical performance on the school football field, make for a film you won’t forget in a hurry.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Rushmore Academy (Rushmore, 1998) – Who wouldn’t want to attend a school where everything was styled like a Wes Anderson film? Even if the classes seem to be lacking in academic rigour, at least for precocious student Max Fischer, the school plays are a different story. Directed by (and usually starring) Max himself, students and parents are treated to imaginative plays based on the Vietnam War and the Al Pacino cop drama Serpico. Add to this the clean, quirky aesthetic of all Anderson films, and Rushmore Academy feels like an artsy paradise.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Bates High School (Carrie, 1976) – Some schools have their issues, but in the horror genre, the school experience can be genuinely terrifying. The first-ever movie adaptation of a Stephen King novel, Carrie mixes the supernatural with real-life teenage issues as a meek young woman (Sissy Spacek) is pushed to the edge by her cruel classmates and abusive mother. The infamous prom scene, where Carrie is tricked into going on stage and covered in pig’s blood, is one of the most nightmarish scenes set in a school, or anywhere for that matter. Creepily, Bates High’s name is different from the novel (Ewen High), with the new name being a tribute to Psycho villain Norman Bates (director Brian De Palma was a noted lover of Alfred Hitchcock).

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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North Shore High School (Mean Girls, 2004) – North Shore probably isn’t the most pleasant place to attend high school, but one thing’s for certain: you’ll never be bored. A biting satire of teen life and tribalism, the students ranged from the vacuous popular clique The Plastics, to the hilarious and “too gay to function” Damien (Daniel Franzese), all seen through the eyes of the delightfully naïve new student Cady (Lindsay Lohan). It’s nasty, it’s cringey… it’s high school, and the film is a cult favourite for a reason.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic High School (Lady Bird, 2017) – That rare mix of awkwardness and confidence that many of us go experience on the cusp of adulthood is summed up perfectly in Lady Bird, as the unique and passionate title character (Saoirse Ronan) struggles to find fulfilment in her quiet hometown and dreams of attending college in “a city with culture”. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic High School will strike a chord with anyone who attended a faith-based school, as tradition and conservatism clash with hormones, and characters like the suave drama student Kyle (Timothée Chalamet) fuel Lady Bird’s sense that something spectacular is around the corner.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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St Trinian’s (St. Trinian’s Film Series, 1954-2009) – Whether you’re talking about the black-and-white British farce series of the ‘50s, or the 2000s reboot with Gemma Arterton and Colin Firth, St Trinian’s has always been a byword for anarchy! An upper-class girls’ boarding school is thrown into chaos by unruly students, usually using their skill sets for good when the school becomes embroiled in some kind of financial trouble. Light-hearted and satirical, the films were an early example of gender norms being flipped, and female characters getting the opportunity to be both terrors and heroes!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Welton Academy (Dead Poets Society, 1989) – A film that inspired so many to “seize the day”, a phrase uttered by a character who inspired a generation of future educators. A group of lost, lonely boarding school boys have their imaginations captured by English teacher John Keating, played by Robin Williams. The academy itself is oppressive and harsh, but the film shows the power of one teacher to reach their students, and show them how to “make their lives extraordinary”. Twenty-five years later, when Williams tragically passed away, millions on social media revealed what the character meant to them, re-enacting the famous closing scene in tribute: standing on a table and declaring “O Captain! My Captain!”

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Westerburg High School (Heathers, 1989) – Whereas some movies offer up dream versions of the high school experience, Heathers presents the nightmare scenario. Westerburg may be fun to watch, but we can’t help think that being a student there would be murder! The student body is clearly divided by popularity – you’re either part of the bullying popular groups like the Heathers, or persecuted by them – and on top of all this, there’s a serious risk to your health when love-struck outcasts Veronica and JD (Winona Ryder and Christian Slater) begin killing people!

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools.
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Crockett High School (Booksmart, 2019) – While many films reinforce teenage stereotypes, Booksmart sought to smash them. Main characters Molly and Amy (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) are studious teens who are shocked to learn that their hard-partying classmates have also earned great grades and landed spots at top colleges, thanks to managing their priorities. As the two seek to redress the balance during a night of debauchery, we see a world where cultures and classes of popularity are blended, where everyone is freer to be themselves. It sounds terrific, if only because of the fun you might have with Gigi, the hilariously unhinged wealthy student played brilliantly by Billie Lourd.

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The Most Memorable Movie High Schools

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