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Storybrooke Schools

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After a stint behind bars, how tough can a room full of fourth graders be?

—Mary Margaret src


Storybrooke Schools are Storybrooke locations featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. They first appear in the first episode of the first season.

The Storybrooke Schools consist of the Storybrooke Elementary School;[4] the Storybrooke Secondary School,[nb 1], also known as the Storybrooke High;[3] and the Storybrooke College, also known as SBC.[5]

History

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During First Curse

Casting a curse to trap everyone with no memories of their past lives, Regina spends relishing in her work. The former Snow White, Mary Margaret, is now a school teacher. On the first day of the curse, she conducts a lesson, teaching her students how to build a birdhouse, before dismissing them. Regina visits, and with an air of smugness, she leads Mary Margaret to the hospital, where the teacher's past true love, David, lies in an eternal coma. ("Welcome to Storybrooke")

As Henry grows up, he begins attending the elementary school in Storybrooke. One day, he is given an assignment by his teacher, Ms. Blanchard, to complete a family tree. When he doesn't turn in his homework, she approaches him during lunchroom to ask if everything is all right. Henry, feeling out of place in town, vents frustration about not belonging as well as not being loved by either his adoptive mother Regina or the woman who gave him up for adoption. To lift his spirits, Mary Margaret gives him a fairytale book as proof he can have a happy ending like in the stories. As his teacher departs, he flips through the book to a page with a prince and princess cradling a baby girl. When Henry calls after Mary Margaret, she stops walking and turns around, to which he sees a hallucination of her as the princess in the book. A moment later, the illusion disappears as he shakes out of his stupor. Looking back down to the book page, Henry mysteriously realizes the baby girl's name is Emma. ("Going Home")

Convinced by the storybook that Regina is actually an Evil Queen who cast a curse on the townspeople, Henry resolves to bring the savior, Emma, to Storybrooke so she can save everyone. Although he believes the time freeze affecting town will reverse with Emma's arrival, he finds nothing has changed by the next day. In his disappointment, he disappears to his playground as a worried Regina reluctantly allows Emma to help search for him. Mary Margaret, having just dismissed her class, is confronted by Regina about Henry using her credit card to track down Emma. The school teacher checks her wallet, discovering the boy did take her card without permission, as a frustrated Regina knocks over some books on her way out. As Emma helps clean up, Mary Margaret reveals Henry might be at the playground. ("Pilot")

Distrustful of Regina's capabilities as Henry's mother, Emma decides to stay in town for a week to ensure the boy's well-being. At the diner, Henry asks her to accompany him on his walk to school, where he shows her the torn-out storybook pages proving she is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming, though she is skeptical. Once they reach school grounds, Henry runs off to class. Mary Margaret approaches, pleased that Emma is staying in Storybrooke for Henry's sake, and they talk about the boy's fascination with fairy tales. Learning that Henry believes Mary Margaret is in the book as well, Emma inquiries who he thinks she might be. The schoolteacher names Snow White, which shocks Emma since the boy previously insisted Snow White is her mother. Mary Margaret wonders who Henry thinks Emma is, but the blonde murmurs that she is not in the book. ("The Thing You Love Most")

After Second Curse
In the six weeks after Ingrid's defeat and Mr. Gold's banishment from Storybrooke, Mary Margaret returns to her teaching job at the school while Regina returns to her position as mayor. During class, Mary Margaret shows off a lovebird on her hand as she asks her students for the name referencing the study of birds. Henry raises his hand, and he correctly states it is ornithology. ("Darkness on the Edge of Town")

After Third Curse
Upon deciding to return to teaching once more, Snow walks to school with Henry. Violet Morgan, Henry's girlfriend, greets him with a kiss on the cheek, before leading him into the classroom. Snow bumps into her new teacher's aide, Shirin, who helps her distribute materials during class. She tries to teach her students about Newton's law of physics, however, they have trouble learning and later do poorly on an exam. Snow mulls over why her teaching methods don't work anymore, and Shirin suggests it's because she's no longer the person she once was under the curse and that she should assert herself as who she is now. Shirin alludes to her own past as a princess who did not embrace the hero she could have been, and because of this, her kingdom fell. At an outdoor class, Snow tacks her students' exams to a tree trunk, looses an arrow on them to demonstrate Newton's law of physics and then allows each student to have their turn at archery. Later that night, as Shirin is leaving the school, Snow gifts her an apple and asks if she ever fixed things in her kingdom. Shirin simply states that she didn't and that she left the princess in the Land of Untold Stories. ("Strange Case")

Known Students

Trivia

On-Screen Notes

  • The administration of the school e-mails students their class schedule.[16] ("Pilot")
  • When he was cursed, David had (false) memories of reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in school. ("We Are Both")
  • The school is open on weekends, including Sundays. This is supported by the classroom scene in "Pilot" taking place on the day after Emma's birthday (October 22nd), with October 23rd 2011 being a Sunday. Since the original script specified it as a Catholic school, with Mary Margaret written as a nun, this suggests she was teaching Sunday school classes.
    • As evidenced by her phone records in "Dreamy", Kathryn vanished on a Sunday, February 19th 2012, after confronting Mary Margaret in the school's hall the day before. The next afternoon, Emma gives his storybook back to Henry.

Novel Notes

Production Notes

Disney

Popular Culture

Props Notes

  • When Mary Margaret is teaching, she receives not an apple from her student, but a pear.[24] This is fitting as she was poisoned by an apple. ("Pilot")
  • The top header on one edition of the Storybrooke Daily Mirror says "Comet Marley Makes Debut Appearance".[25] Fittingly enough, the lesson plan on the chalkboard in Mary Margaret's classroom that day mentions comets and other astronomical objects.[26] ("The Shepherd")
  • In Mary Margaret's apartment, there are framed photographs of herself with her students.[27] Emma picks up one of the photographs when she searches the dwelling. ("Heart of Darkness" et al.)
  • One of Mary Margaret's physics test[28] is based on a science worksheet from the website of the charity organization Great Schools. Even the illustration is the same.[29] ("Strange Case")
    • The other test includes the following text:[30]
"Identify which of Newton's Laws is demonstrated in each of the fol[obscured] then explain why the example demonstrates that law.
1. FIRST SECOND THIRD A party entertaine[obscured] a pile of dishes and cups on a table without distu[link]
EXPLAIN"
It is adapted from the Microsoft Word document "Identifying Newton's Laws" from the website Mrs. Mikula,[31] which is run by a physics teacher. The original version reads:
"Identify which of Newton's Laws is demonstrated in each of the following examples and explain why the example demonstrates that law.
1. FIRST SECOND THIRD : A magician pulls a table cloth out from under dishes and glasses on a table without disturbing them.
a. Explain:"

Set Dressing

Filming Locations

Script Notes

  • In the original "Pilot" script, the Storybrooke Elementary School is a Catholic school. Mary Margaret is both a nun and a school teacher.[51]

Appearances

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Once Upon a Time - Storybrooke Newspaper 'Heartless' (3212). iCollector (March 2019). Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. (File:117Prop4.jpg)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 1
  4. ↑ File:104BusDrivesOff.png
  5. ↑ "Is This Henry Mills?", Once Upon a Time, ABC.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 File:119Card.png
  7. ↑ Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 27
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 4
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 File:119Card2.png
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 5
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 6
  12. ↑ Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 12
  13. ↑ File:604ExamPaper.png
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 File:118EveryTime.png
  15. ↑ File:609AtTheseGrades.png
  16. ↑ File:101HenrysEmails.png
  17. ↑ Henry and Violet, Kingswell Teen, May 2018, Ch. 25
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis on Season One Blu-ray/DVD Commentary for "Pilot"
  19. ↑ File:107OtherLives.png
  20. ↑ Dove, Dove (December 12, 2018). Storybrooke Secrets: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. ABC. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. “There are giant sea shells in Mary Margaret’s classroom, a reference to The Little Mermaid.”
  21. ↑ Funk & Wagnalls Wildlife Encyclopedia, Vol. 6. Amazon. Retrieved on August 28, 2018.
  22. ↑ File:106LooksSharp.png
  23. ↑ File:604ThinkImLost.png
  24. ↑ File:101WhyThankYou.png
  25. ↑ File:106Newspaper3.png
  26. ↑ File:106YouCant.png
  27. ↑ File:116AboutToLieDown.png
  28. ↑ File:604ExamPaper2.png
  29. ↑ Learning about gravity. GreatSchools. Retrieved on August 28, 2018.
    May the force be with you! (PDF). GreatSchools. Retrieved on August 28, 2018.
  30. ↑ File:604ExamPaper.png
  31. ↑ Identifying Newton's Laws (Microsoft Word). Mrs. Mikula. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. (Note that the direct link does not seem to be working with Google Chrome, so a back-up link at the Wayback Machine is used as the main reference.)
  32. ↑ File:101SoSorry.png
  33. ↑ File:106SeeYou.png
  34. ↑ File:106LeaveYourWife.png
  35. ↑ File:107AreYouOkay.png
  36. ↑ File:113ScrewYou.png
  37. ↑ File:114School.png
  38. ↑ File:114SawTheLight.png
  39. ↑ File:412VeryGood.png
  40. ↑ Amethyst Meaning, Powers and History. Jewels for Me. “When worn close to the head, as in a pair of amethyst earrings, not only are they said they alleviate a headache, but they will also help clear one's thinking process, allowing one to process information more efficiently. It is believed to loosen blocks in the mind where mental functioning has become confused and undirected, and frees the way to clearer thinking. They are also believed to help people who suffer from a faulty memory.”
  41. ↑ File:622LettingTheBirdGo.png
  42. ↑ File:220AnArrowIntoHerHeart.png
  43. ↑ Gittins, Susan (March 17, 2011). BIG READ: ONCE UPON A TIME in Steveston Village. Hollywood North Buzz. “Greg Beeman, an executive producer of sci-fi smash Falling Skies, also arrived early in Vancouver to prep for directing Once Upon a Time’s second episode. Filming started on Tuesday, July 19th, with a return to Kerrisdale School (featured in the pilot), with Ginnifer Goodwin in her real world role as Henry’s teacher.”
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Movies Filmed at Kerrisdale Elementary. MovieMaps. Retrieved on August 28, 2018.
  45. ↑ TwitterLogo Adam Horowitz (@AdamHorowitzLA) on X, formerly Twitter: #OnceUponATime Trivia: Henry's classroom is filmed in the same classroom as Neverending Story. (April 22, 2017). (backup link) (archive screenshot)
  46. ↑ A Once Upon a Time fan's guide to Vancouver. Daily Hive (May 31, 2013). “The exterior of the old Lynn Valley library stands in for Emma's office, while inside you'll find sets for the sheriff’s office and town jail cell, as well as the insane asylum where the queen held Belle prisoner for 28 years, a hospital room, classroom, a bed and breakfast room.”
  47. ↑ TwitterLogo YVRShoots (@yvrshoots) on X, formerly Twitter: #OnceUponaTime filming at Lord Strathcona School this morning. Probably in inner courtyard. (backup link; the user's account and the original post have been deleted – they are now using a different account with the handle "yvrshootstweets," and the name "YVRShoots Tweets") (archive screenshot)

    Knopp, Sam. February 10th, 2011 – Walking Home Projects explores DTES & Chinatown with a class from Lord Strathcona Elementary. Artists Walking Home. (Contains a picture of the school)

    File:113School.png (picture of the school seen in "What Happened to Frederick")
  48. ↑ Gittins, Susan (November 14, 2013). SHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME's #CaptainSwan (Jennifer Morrison & Colin O'Donoghue) in Stanley Park as NYC's Central Park. Hollywood North Buzz. “On Tuesday, Once Upon a Time shot scenes at Strathcona School and in Gastown's Koret Lofts, part of a recent shift out of studio and back into more on-location filming in and around Vancouver.”

    Once Upon a Spoiler (Facebook). Once Upon a Spoiler (November 9, 2013). Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. (Note: You have to scroll down to the bottom to see the filming notice) (Back-up copy: File:FBOnceUponASpoiler-311.png) (Filming notice: File:FBOnceUponASpoiler-311-2.jpg)
  49. ↑ TwitterLogo Simon Little ~ simonplittle.bsky.social (@simonplittle) on X, formerly Twitter: That's a first- just got waved off by a film crew for #Sabrina shooting at Lord Strathcona school. "No pictures!" @yvrshoots @WhatsFilming #bcfilm. (backup link)
  50. ↑ Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss on the Blu-ray/DVD commentary for "Welcome to Storybrooke"
  51. ↑ ONCE UPON A TIME "Pilot" by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz (PDF) pp. 44. “INT. CATHOLIC SCHOOL - CLASSROOM - DAY (...) REVEAL -- SISTER MARY MARGARET BLANCHARD. A nun and their teacher.”
  52. ↑ File:116LookingAtPhotograph.png
  53. ↑ File:418HeyPongo.png
  54. ↑ File:518AlwaysThisLong.png

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 A newspaper ad in "Kansas" reads "5 minute walk to Storybrooke elementary; 10 minutes walk to Storybrooke secondary". (File:320Ads.png)
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