Lawndale High School, more commonly referred to as Lawndale High, is the high school in Daria which all of the students attend. The principal is Angela Li and services the mostly middle-class, mostly white suburb of Lawndale—which (as shown in Fizz Ed) has little interest in properly funding the school with their taxes.
Overview[]
Lawndale High offers a variety of classes—as well as a special self-esteem class for sufferers of a lack thereof—but what's really important is the Lawndale Lions football team, who are given frequent passes on having to learn. The school's main rival is Oakwood High School and the Oakwood Taproots.
Under Principal Li, the school's security is absurdly over the top, complete with bomb-sniffer dogs, bulletproof skylights over the swimming pool, and regular urine tests. As shown on LHS letterhead featured in The Daria Database, the school motto is "High Security for High Performance." The school budget always finds room for security measures.
A Parent-Teacher Association is known to exist, as per See Jane Run. Unfortunately, that same episode revealed the PTA were aware of grade-fixing for sports team members (and even of blackmail threats made to keep Jane Lane competing).
There is an annual Diane Fossey Award for graduating students who had high academic achievement.
History[]
The school first had a website in 1994, made by student Todd K. Feichmann. "It consisted of his resume and a 3000-word essay on mutant battle psychology as encountered in the first six levels of DOOM." After he graduated, the website was passed on to members of the Computer Club. Jodie Landon and Mack were given control, with the Club's help ("we wish to recognize their contribution and the fact that they are not as weird as you might think") and Claire Defoe as design consultant ("the batik computer cozies look great").
Around 1999, Angela Li created (and announced on the website) the Track-Tastic system, "which comprehensively cross-references confidential student information, local law-enforcement files, and multiple consumer-spending databases, all while continuously monitoring e-Bay for stun-gun auctions."
Campus from above, as seen in Daria!
Faculty[]
For a school the size of Lawndale, this is an oddly low number of teachers and they seem to teach every class in their chosen subjects (and far too many in O'Neill's case). In real life, this is because the writers wanted to use the same characters throughout the show; in-universe, Li's budgeting can certainly be blamed for this.
During the titular strike in Lucky Strike, non-union substitutes are found: Mrs. Stoller, Ken Edwards and, when Edwards is fired for creeping on students, Li was desperate enough to hire Daria Morgendorffer.
The Daria Diaries and Quinn the Brain mention a school janitor or custodian named Pavlov, and several janitors are shown in The Misery Chick. Security guards are also mentioned in Diaries. The school nurse, Nurse Chase, is mentioned in Ill and later overheard.
| Staff | Role |
|---|---|
| Angela Li | Principal |
| Anthony DeMartino | History Teacher; Head of the Teacher's Union |
| Timothy O'Neill | English, Language Arts, and "Dramatic Horizons" Teacher; Self-Esteem Workshop Teacher |
| Janet Barch | Science Teacher |
| Claire Defoe | Art Teacher |
| Diane Bennett | Economics Teacher |
| Margaret Manson | School Psychologist |
| Coach Gibson | Football Coach |
| A tall black man in a blue suit | Not Known; Shown in Lucky Strike |
| A pudgy black man with glasses | Not Known; Shown in Lucky Strike |
| A brunette woman in a yellow blouse | Not Known; Shown in Lucky Strike |
| A bald man with a large brown beard | Not Known; Shown in Lucky Strike |
| A skinny, seemingly middle-aged woman with short, spiky blonde hair | Not Known; Shown in Lucky Strike |
A scene from the teacher's staff room, from The Daria Database. L to R: DeMartino, Barch, Bennett, Morris, O'Neill, Li, and a handyman
Sports & Clubs[]
Sports are considered of high importance, and corruption is rife: students in the important sports clubs and teams have their grades fixed so they can keep playing (See Jane Run, Murder, She Snored) and this is known to their parents and the PTA (See Jane Run, Mart of Darkness). Principal Li explicitly puts the football team ahead of academics.
| Sport | Mentioned |
|---|---|
| Basketball | Boxing Daria |
| Field Hockey | The Lawndale File, The Daria Diaries |
| Lawndale Lions Football Team | many episode mentions, The Daria Diaries |
| Cheerleading/Pep Squad/ Pom Pom Girls | many TV episodes, The Daria Diaries, LHS Web Page (2001 |
| Lacrosse | Boxing Daria |
| Girls' Soccer | The Story of D |
| Track | See Jane Run |
| Wrestling | Through a Lens Darkly |
Other Extracurricular Activities[]
| Activity | Mentioned |
|---|---|
| Archery Club | The Daria Database, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Audio/Visual Squad | The Daria Diaries |
| Band | The Daria Database |
| Booster Club | Boxing Daria |
| Chess Club | The New Kid, Boxing Daria, The Daria Diaries, LHS Web Page |
| Clay Club | LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Computer Club | webpage |
| Debate Team | The Daria Diaries, The Daria Database, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Dominoes Club | Boxing Daria |
| Drama Horizons / Drama Club | The Daria Database, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Fashion Club | (many TV episodes, The Daria Diaries, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Fencing Club | (The Daria Database, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| 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 Database |
| Hiking Club | LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Honor Society | LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Latin Club | The Daria Hunter |
| Lawndale Lowdown (School Newspaper) | The Daria Diaries, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Leadership Club | Boxing Daria |
| Marbles Team | Boxing Daria |
| Matador Club | LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Math Club | LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Science Club | The New Kid, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Spanish Club | The Daria Database |
| Student Council | Gifted |
| Take Back the Night Lawndale High School Women's Self-Defense Club | The New Kid, LHS Web Page (2001) |
| Tennis Club | Gifted, The Daria Database |
| Time Capsule | The Daria Database |
| Yearbook | The New Kid, Gifted |
| Young Optimists | The Daria Database |
Website[]
As well as a history of the school, the Lawndale High website contained a section by Mack 'encouraging' students to join a sports team ("It's better than going to war"); a message board (in which Kevin falls for a pyramid scheme); and a statement from Li:
Statement from the School's Website[]
Welcome to Lawndale High School's award-winning Web page. (Not that we've won any awards yet, but in my excitement I just can't resist using an anticipatory compound adjective. Know your parts of speech, people!)
As you explore Lawndale's "face on the webbing," I'm sure you will recognize the superior managerial derring-do that allows innovative projects such as this one to flourish. In addition to this site, I am thrilled to announce our newest high-tech wonder: the Track-Tastic system, which comprehensively cross-references confidential student information, local law-enforcement files, and multiple consumer-spending databases, all while continuously monitoring e-Bay for stun-gun auctions.
Now if you're anything like me, the first thing on your mind when you contemplate our techno-laden future is: "What about those morally bankrupt online hooligans known by the disingenuously whimsical term, 'hackers?' Do they pose a threat to our computer nirvana?" Rest assured, people, that I will personally deal with any individual who attempts to compromise the integrity of our network. Such electronic skulduggery must and shall be nipped in the bud. To report any suspicious behavior in the computer lab or anywhere else on or off campus, in the continental United States or beyond, just stop by my office or drop a note into the brightly-painted "Tips" box outside my door. It goes without saying that all information received will be kept pretty confidential.
-Yours in Lawndale Pride, Angela Li Principal and Honorary Webmistress
Campus from above, as seen in Daria!
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:
"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.