Lawndale High

Lawndale High is a fictional location featured regularly in MTV's animated series Daria.

The high school, located in the fictional town of Lawndale, was the learning/teaching place for most of the show's primary characters and the setting of many stories. Little information was ever given in the series about the history of or educational programs of the school, but it is certain that the subjects English, History, Art, Science, Physical Education, and Economics were taught there in some form, as well as a special self-esteem class for sufferers of a lack thereof.

Lawndale High's History
Now-extinct webpages once found on MTV's Daria site offered information on the high school's origins and internal workings. One was the main page to the Lawndale High School Web Page, which revealed the following tongue-in-cheek info.


 * Lawndale High School is a public co-educational high school set amongst the rolling hills and flatter surfaces of Carter County. Lawndale is an attractive suburban community conveniently located within driving distance of two airports, four malls, and 27 mini-malls. Lawndale is also home to the soon-to-be-landmarked Big Strawberry.


 * LHS was formerly located in that big white building downtown which now houses the place you go to get out of parking tickets. In 1953, the school moved to its present location (formerly the site of Elgin Felt and Dye) after follow-up testing concluded that the presence of leached mercury in the soil had been greatly exaggerated. (Please see the school nurse for an informative cartoon brochure on the subject, especially if you've gotten any of those sores.)


 * LHS has a diverse student body of 1400, with an ethnic balance reflecting Lawndale's proud tradition of multiculturalism (we'd rather not give hard numbers). Many of our students go on to higher education, and of the ones who don't, the vast majority manage to stay out of prison. Our accomplished athletes, extracurricular activities, and high academic standards assure Lawndale High School's reputation as "The Swarthmore of Regional School District 8."


 * * To join the Save the Strawberry campaign, see Mr. O'Neill. He says someone at the National Register of Historic Places finally returned one of his phone calls.

Faculty

 * Angela Li (Principal)
 * Anthony DeMartino (History teacher)
 * Timothy O'Neill (English teacher)
 * Janet Barch (Science teacher)
 * Claire Defoe (Art teacher)
 * Diane Bennett (Economics teacher)
 * Margaret Manson (School psychologist)
 * Ms. Morris*** (Girls Gym teacher)
 * Coach Gibson*** (Football coach)

Students
The following list only includes students of Lawndale High that were seen or referenced in any significant way during the show. It is assumed that hundreds of other students attended and still attend the school, but only a limited number of students are widely known. (See the Backgrounders website for an extensive list of students at LHS.) * Were never given surnames on the series. ** Were already ex-students of Lawndale High by the beginning of the series. *** Were never given first names on the series.
 * Daria Morgendorffer
 * Jane Lane
 * Kevin Thompson
 * Brittany Taylor
 * Charles "Upchuck" Ruttheimer III
 * Jodie Landon
 * Mack Mackenzie
 * Quinn Morgendorffer
 * Sandi Griffin
 * Tiffany Blum-Deckler
 * Stacy Rowe
 * Andrea*
 * Joey*
 * Jeffy*
 * Jamie White
 * Ted DeWitt-Clinton
 * Brooke*
 * Tommy Sherman**
 * Trent Lane**
 * Penny Lane**

Sports, Clubs and Extracurricular Activities
In addition to academia, there are a number of other activities, including sports, in which the students of Lawndale High can engage. They are referenced to in the TV episodes and in the two Daria books (The Daria Diaries and The Daria Database). Extracurricular activities mentioned in canon are listed below with the sources of information on them.

Sports [Note: Multiple sources indicate that most sports at Lawndale High have both boys and girls teams, and might further be subdivided into junior varsity (JV) and varsity teams.]
 * Basketball ("Boxing Daria")
 * Field hockey ("The Lawndale File," The Daria Diaries))
 * Football team (many TV episodes, The Daria Diaries)
 * Lacrosse ("Boxing Daria")
 * Soccer ("The Story of D")
 * Track ("See Jane Run")
 * Volleyball (shown in opening scenes of each episode, but not stated to have competitive teams)
 * Wrestling ("Through a Lens Darkly")

School Newspaper
 * "Lawndale Lowdown" (The Daria Diaries)

Others
 * Archery Club (The Daria Database)
 * Audio/Visual Squad (The Daria Diaries)
 * Band (The Daria Database)
 * Booster Club ("Boxing Daria")
 * Cheerleading (many TV episodes, The Daria Diaries)
 * Chess Club ("Boxing Daria," The Daria Diaries)
 * Debate Team (The Daria Diaries, The Daria Database)
 * Dominoes Club ("Boxing Daria")
 * Drama Horizons / Drama Club (The Daria Database)
 * Fencing Club (The Daria Database)
 * Fashion Club (many TV episodes, The Daria Diaries)
 * Fraternal Brotherhood of Future Marketing and Promotion Executives ("Boxing Daria")
 * French Club ("The New Kid," "Gifted")
 * Glee Club (The Daria Database)
 * Greek Club (The Daria Diaries)
 * Hiking Club (The Daria Database)
 * Latin Club (The Daria Diaries) (inactive?)
 * Leadership Club ("Boxing Daria")
 * Marbles team ("Boxing Daria")
 * Pep Squad ("Esteemsters")
 * Pom-Pom Girls (The Daria Database)
 * Science Club ("The New Kid")
 * Spanish Club (The Daria Database)
 * Student Council ("Gifted")
 * Tennis Club ("Gifted," The Daria Database)
 * Time Capsule (The Daria Database)
 * Yearbook ("The New Kid," "Gifted")
 * Young Optimists (The Daria Database)

Sports not mentioned in canon, so far as can be told, include: baseball, cross-country, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, softball. Roller hockey was shown in "The Big House," but it was a specialty sport played only by faculty competing against local disk jockeys, as a school fund-raising event. Swimming is not mentioned, but Lawndale High has a pool ("This Year's Model").

Other School Personnel
The Daria Diaries and "Quinn the Brain" mention a school janitor or custodian (named Pavlov, or something like that), and several janitors are shown in "The Misery Chick." Security guards are also mentioned in The Daria Diaries.

LHS School Personnel in Fanfic

 * Kyle Armalin - Sociology, LHS Marine Corps R.O.T.C. Adviser
 * Ben Breeck - History teacher and self-insert
 * Alfred Phelps - Mathematics teacher (DWU)

Trivia
There is an actual school in California, U.S.A., called Lawndale High School. No deliberate resemblance to the cartoon school is evident.

About Lawndale High
Lawndale High School Web Page (archived 8/9/2001)


 * Outpost Daria
 * Daria's IMDb page