Roseville Elementary School

From Candypedia
Roseville Elementary School
First appearanceUnfulfilled Fantasy, page 4
August 6, 2006
Related charactersLucy, Mike, Paulo, Daisy, David, Sandy

Roseville Elementary School is the school in Roseville where Mike, Lucy, Daisy and David spent their childhood years before moving up to Roseville Middle School, joined by Sandy until her family moved away and by Paulo from fifth grade on. It appears only in flashbacks and memories, and its name comes from the “ROSEVILLE ELEMENTARY” lettering across its facade in Mother’s Day.[1]

Building and grounds

The school is a long, low brick building of a single storey, with its name in block capitals above a continuous band of wide, multi-paned windows.[1] The grounds include a large paved playground, bounded by a brick wall and painted with a numbered hopscotch court,[2] along with a swing and monkey bars.[3] There are grassy patches with tall trees where students eat their lunch,[4] and one especially tall climbing tree with a long, nearly horizontal main branch, which a fifth-grade Paulo scales on two separate occasions.[3][5]

Inside, each classroom puts the teacher at the front by a blackboard,[1] facing rows of loosely spaced one-person wooden desks, which get stocked with cups of crayons and scissors when craft time calls for them.[6] A bulletin board hangs on the side wall,[6] and windows run behind the back row.[7] There is also a wooden slatted bench outside the principal’s office, beneath a board of neatly pinned notices; the principal is never actually seen.[8]

Roseville Elementary announces itself in block capitals before another fifth-grade flashback gets underway.[9]

History

Sorted into a different kindergarten class from Mike,[10] Lucy is turned away first by a group of girls playing princess and then by the boys with the toy cars, on the grounds of “No girls allowed!”, and ends up playing by herself.[11] When first grade puts her back in Mike’s class, she latches onto him and doesn’t let go.[12]

Third grade is when Mike and Sandy find each other. Sandy catches Mike doodling her portrait in class and mangles his name into “Maishul”, a nickname that sticks for good.[13] The two take to eating lunch together under one particular tree every lunch period, with Mike tutoring her on the side,[4][14] while Lucy finds herself pushed out to the edges of the friendship.[12]

Recess carries on around Paulo as he crosses the hopscotch-marked playground alone.[15]

Paulo arrives in fifth grade, freshly moved from Maraschino. The teacher introduces him to the class with a cheery “Please help Paulo feel right at home!”, and Lucy hides a blush at her desk.[16] Daisy shows him around the playground, where he shows off his tree-climbing, but when he and Lucy finally end up face to face they both freeze, and Paulo bolts, leaving Lucy alone with her very first crush.[3]

Paulo shows Daisy that the schoolyard’s trees make excellent climbing frames.[17]

Most of what the comic shows of the school comes from Mother’s Day, also set in fifth grade. The teacher announces a Mother’s Day bake sale and card-making session,[1] and Daisy’s innocent questions drag out the fact that Paulo’s mother has left. “My mom’s in Maraschino,” he admits, and the teacher’s attempt to smooth things over in front of the class only makes it worse.[7][18] Paulo crosses the playground and climbs the tall tree to cry alone, remembering his mother’s parting words.[5]

David follows him up the tree, pesters him, and falls out of it,[19] which lands both boys on the bench outside the principal’s office. There Paulo finally shouts out that his mom and dad are separated, and David’s entire reply is an admiring “COOL”.[8] David’s own father is out of the picture too, and he is entirely sunny about it, pointing out that his mom gets cards on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.[20] He offers Paulo his extra bake-sale tray, and by the time the teacher looms over the bench the matter is settled: “We’re best friends now!”[21]

The school also turns up in a handful of memories from later chapters. Jordan recalls how Sam delivered a death glare at Mike whenever he picked Lucy up from school,[22] and Lucy’s mom remembers Mike rushing over in a panic when Lucy tripped on a rock while horsing around after school.[23] Paulo, Daisy and David also spent playtimes here on games of “Hyper Space Cadets”, with David happily carrying Daisy off as the damsel.[24]

Trivia

  • Mother’s Day, the school’s only full chapter, was originally a Volume 2 print exclusive and only joined the public archive years later, which is why a fifth-grade flashback carries a 2018 publication date.[1]
  • The authors’ commentary on Mother’s Day notes that Paulo moved to Roseville in fifth grade, making that the earliest school year the chapter can take place.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 1
  2. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 5
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chapter 27: Flirting with Disaster, page 3
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chapter 17: Unfulfilled Fantasy, page 5
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 6
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 2
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 3
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 9
  9. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 1
  10. ↑ Chapter 26: Left Behind, page 2
  11. ↑ Chapter 26: Left Behind, page 3
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 26: Left Behind, page 4
  13. ↑ Chapter 17: Unfulfilled Fantasy, page 4
  14. ↑ Chapter 17: Unfulfilled Fantasy, page 7
  15. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 5
  16. ↑ Chapter 27: Flirting with Disaster, page 2
  17. ↑ Chapter 27: Flirting with Disaster, page 3
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 4
  19. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 8
  20. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 10
  21. ↑ Chapter 58: Mother’s Day, page 11
  22. ↑ Chapter 65: Dinner Time, page 8
  23. ↑ Chapter 65: Dinner Time, page 14
  24. ↑ Chapter 89: Guest of Honor, page 28
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