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"Welcome to Sunnydale High. There's no running in the halls, no yelling, no gum chewing. Apart from that, there's only one rule. If they move, kill them."

―Principal Robin Wood^[src]

Sunnydale High School was a public high school located in Sunnydale. It was headed by Principal Robert Flutie up until his death in 1997^[1] and then by Principal Snyder. The original school was destroyed on the class of 1999's Graduation Day in the battle between the Scooby Gang and Mayor Richard Wilkins. It was rebuilt and reopened in 2002 and headed by Principal Robin Wood until it was destroyed yet again, with the rest of Sunnydale in 2003.^[2]

Campus

The campus itself consisted of a large main, two story building with front entrance behind a walkway. Its interior mainly included halls lined with lockers and doors leading to each classroom. Sunnydale High facilities included a library located around the middle of the school over the exact place of the Hellmouth.^[3] The library acted as the Scooby Gang's main base of operations and strangely was not often used by the students with the exception of the more studious.^[4]

Other facilities included a cafeteria,^[5] a gym,^[6] a football field,^[7] and a pool with a steam room.^[8]. The school also had a theater^[9] and even a sitting room with several chairs and couches where students could eat lunch and talk.^[10] Another prominent area was the quad, a large exterior area filled with benches, palm trees, a water fountain, and a clock tower.^[11] Many organized events occurred in the quad, such as the announcement of the Mayfair Queen,^[5] pep rallys,^[11] and graduations.

When it was rebuilt, its design was changed dramatically from the previous structure, taking a more modern appearance and having a much larger walkway in its front view. The site of the old library was also replaced by the Principal's office^[12] and according to former librarian, Rupert Giles, it consisted of nothing but computers,^[13] The basements also contained a room were the Seal of Danzalthar, an ancient seal that can open directly to the Hellmouth, was located.

School Life

Xander: "Something weird is going on. Isn't that our school motto?"

Buffy: "Pretty much."

— Buffy and Xander^[src]

Despite being on the site of a Hellmouth, most students and faculty continued with their lives, living in ignorance of the supernatural forces that cursed their town. The occurrence of strange events and bizarre deaths were ongoing even though acknowledged, yet forgotten while Principal Snyder came up with flimsy rationalizations, often blaming gang-related PCP.^[14] Apart from that, life on Sunnydale High still continued with their very own "it-girl" group called, the Cordettes, and many school social functions, including basketball,^[6] football,^[11] cheerleading,^[6] swing choir,^[15] homecoming dances,^[16] and foreign student exchange programs.^[17]

Faculty

See List of Sunnydale High faculty and staff members

Students

See List of Sunnydale High students

Prominent Events

1955

The student James Stanley had an affair with his teacher Grace Newman, When she tried to break it off, an angry James shot her before shooting himself.

1997

A witch swapped bodies with her daughter, a student, to join the cheerleading squad and cursed several students in the process.
A She-Mantis killed the science teacher to gain employment so that she could mate.
A group of bullies became possessed by demonic hyenas and as a result ate Mr. Flutie and the school mascot.
Moloch the Corruptor was accidentally downloaded into the internet by one of the school computers and had two students killed.
Sid the Dummy killed the last of Brotherhood of Seven after he killed two students and harvested their organs.
The nightmares of various students began coming true and wrecked havoc.
A largely unpopular girl became invisible, injured two students and almost killed a teacher.
The Hellmouth opened and released a multiple-headed demon before closing after the death of the Master. A large group of students were also killed by vampires the same day.
Spike and his gang raided the school during parent teacher night. Several vampires, one parent and one teacher died during the ordeal.
A Tarakan assassin tried to kill Buffy Summers, though only was able to seriously wound Daniel Osbourne.

1998

A bezoar managed to possess the entire student body and faculty by having its eggs distributed during health class.
The entire female population, both students and faculty, fell under a love spell that had been cast by Amy Madison.
The computer teacher Jenny Calendar was killed by Angelus after translating the Ritual of Restoration.
The school was temporarily shutdown when it became haunted by a poltergeist, who was actually the spirit of James Stanley.
The swim team started turning into fish-like monsters when the coach drugged them with Soviet experiments.
Kendra the Slayer was killed by Drusilla in the library.
A student began taking a special potion which led him into becoming a monster and killing the guidance councilor, his girlfriend and releasing a werewolf out of his cage.

1999

The student's lockers were forcibly searched for witch-related tools.
The Hellmouth was once again opened with the Sisterhood of Jhe loose and a group of zombies who attempted to blow the school up.
Jonathan Levinson attempted to kill himself in the school quad, but was convinced otherwise by Buffy who thought he was going to kill the student body. The lunch lady actually attempted to poison the students with rat poison but this was also prevented by Buffy.
A trade occurred in the cafeteria where the Mayor offered Willow Rosenberg in exchange for the Box of Garvrok.
A group of hellhounds were let loose during Senior Prom but were fortunately killed by Buffy who later received an award at that event.
The school was blown-up at a graduation during a hectic battle between the Mayor and the graduating students.

2000

A trio of Vahrall Demons attempted to reopen the Hellmouth at the destroyed school by preforming a special ritual.
After leaving the Initiative, Riley Finn took shelter in the school's remains.

2002

Shortly after its reopening, three manifestations terrorized Dawn Summers and several other students on their first day.
A group of students attempted to sacrifice Cassie Newton to the demon Avilas. Even though Buffy managed to stop them, Cassie still died of heart failure.
A school jock unknowingly made several females fall in love with him, including Buffy the school counselor, because of a mystical jacket.
Jonathan Levinson was killed by Andrew Wells to open the Seal of Danzalthar.
Amanda and Dawn were chased by a vampire, which was eventually dealt with along with several Bringers.
A Turok-Han Vampire was released from the seal with the blood of Spike.

2003

The demon Lissa nearly released another Turok-Han with the blood of Xander.
The opening of the seal caused a number of strange occurrences at the school. This was stopped by Andrew's tears.
The school, left completely abandoned, was destroyed along with the whole town after the battle at the Hellmouth.

Undated Events

Andrew Wells summoned a pack of flying monkeys to attack the school's production of Romeo & Juliet.

Groups and Clubs

The sports teams, known as the Razorbacks
- Swim Team
- Gymnastics Team
- Basketball Team
- Football Team
- Cheerleading Squad
The Sunnydale High Sentinel, the school newspaper
The yearbook committee, a group focused on creating the Sunnydale High Yearbook
The Scooby Gang, a demon-fighting vigilante group based in the school.

Notable Alumni

As the main high school in Sunnydale, situated over a Hellmouth, many of its alumni, and even its faculty, went on to do great things, or at least become supernaturally empowered.

Buffy eventually became leader to the Slayers and many-time savior of the world.

Amanda became a Slayer.

Willow Rosenberg, Amy Madison, and Catherine Madison all became very powerful witches. Willow was responsible both for nearly ending and also saving the world. Amy became significantly involved with the US army. Amy's mother Catherine had become a less powerful witch years beforehand.

Daniel Osbourne became a werewolf, and learned to control his transformations.

Cordelia Chase went on to become a powerful seer, and later ascended to become a higher Power. Her acting career, however, floundered.

Harmony Kendall, became a vampire during the battle between the Scooby Gang and Richard Wilkins and later became the star of the reality TV show, Harmony Bites.

Warren Mears, a genius roboticist, Jonathan Levinson, a powerful sorcerer, and Andrew Wells, a skilled demon-summoner, conspired to conquer the world, but had trouble conquering Sunnydale. Warren found life after death, and continued to hone his abilities while Andrew became an important Watcher. Andrew's brother, Tucker Wells, also an adept summoner, was less successful.