You go to School Where?

Robyn Jacobs is back in school and already bored stiff with the same old math, English, history and science - until she hears about Langford Elementary, a school where you get to stay home all day. It turns out Langford Elementary is just Esther Langford's house, because Esther is homeschooled... and she's every bit as curious about regular school as Robyn is about staying home. So Whit hatches a plan: the two girls will trade places for one day and write down everything that happens. Esther dives into nation ball, packed schedules, computers, a huge library and an orchestra assembly that wins her heart. Robyn adds up a year of electric bills instead of plain old numbers, slides down the pole at the fire station, and even climbs a ladder to rescue Mrs. McGillicuty's cat. When the day is done, both girls agree the swap was wonderful - and that they'd rather stay right where they are.

Found on No Album Album NA · 11 episodes

The run See every episode

0079 Our Best Vacation Ever! When the family budget rules out a summer trip, the Barclays discover that a real vacation might not require going anywhere at all.

0080 A Prisoner for Christ Hiding out at Whit's End after ruining Eugene's college project, Nicholas takes a test ride in the Imagination Station and lands in ancient Rome, where he's swept into the flight of a runaway slave with a slave catcher hot on their heels.

0081 Good Business When a coveted dress proves too expensive for her allowance, Robyn sets out to find a way to make lots of money without actually working for it.

0082 Heatwave During a sweltering Odyssey heat wave, a self-styled kid detective in a trench coat drags his reluctant sidekick into investigating a mysterious boy who disappears into the woods every day with an armload of lumber.

1 of 2 0083 The Battle When Whit finally visits Blackgaard's Castle, the rival arcade's charm masks a scheme that reaches into the heart of Whit's End - and puts young Lucy in the middle of it.

2 of 2 0084 The Battle With Whit's End shuttered and a child in the hospital, a guilt-ridden teenager caught between a ruthless schemer and the people he betrayed must decide where his loyalties truly lie.

0085 You go to School Where? When Robyn Jacobs discovers that a new friend is homeschooled, the two girls agree to trade places for a day - and each gets a schooling she never expected.

0086 Isaac the Insecure After getting cut from the soccer team, an insecure middle schooler is paired for a class report with the popular team captain he's convinced is everything he isn't.

1 of 2 0087 Elijah When a rebuilt invention at Whit's End whisks two kids into the age of the prophet Elijah, one falls into the clutches of Israel's wicked queen while the other must journey with the prophet himself to find her.

2 of 2 0088 Elijah Trapped in ancient Israel, two kids get caught between a vengeful queen and the prophet Elijah as he prepares a fiery showdown to prove whose god is real.

0089 That's Not Fair! Three kids fed up with parents, siblings, and teachers agree to Whit's experiment: for a few days, everyone will treat them absolutely fairly - no more, no less.

0090 But, You Promised A small four-second fib to a friend snowballs until Robyn finds herself in a police station, staring at two strangers her imagination put there.

0091 A Mission for Jimmy Reluctantly stuck running his Sunday school's missionary fundraiser, Jimmy Barclay falls asleep over a missionary's memoir and gets a firsthand lesson in what mission work really costs.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 10 more roles

10 supporting roles

Librarian Phil Lollar Fire chief Bob Luttrell Dan Bryant Perry Moore Esther Langford Esther Kay Harry (a) Dave Arnold Laurie Erin Bolte Martha Brooke Bellessi Mr. Burke Rob Gregory Helen Langford May Keller Mrs. McGillicuty Rosemary Morton

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

School has started again in Odyssey, and Robyn Jacobs is not exactly thrilled about it. She and her father, Dale, stop by Whit's End to keep a time-honored tradition they invented about five minutes earlier: the annual back-to-school chocolate soda. While Whit works the counter and mops up after Laurie, who has a gift for spilling milkshakes, Robyn admits that her teacher is perfectly nice but the subjects are the same old math, English, history and science. What she really wants is to go to Langford Elementary, a school she has just heard about from a girl she met at the church picnic.

Whit has never heard of any Langford Elementary, and neither has the city council. The mystery clears up when Helen Langford walks in with her daughter, Esther. Langford Elementary, it turns out, is the nickname Esther made up for her own house, because Esther is homeschooled. Robyn can hardly believe it. Esther gets to stay home all day, and her parents actually want her to. Robyn immediately wants to know how she can get in on this.

Helen mentions that Esther has been just as curious about what regular school is like, and Whit spots an opportunity. Why not let the two girls trade places for a single day? Each will keep a journal of everything that happens, and Dale can turn those journals into his next newspaper column.

Esther's day at Odyssey Elementary begins on a playground full of kids playing a game she has never seen, until a girl named Martha explains that nation ball is a bit like dodge ball, only you get to catch the ball. Inside, Esther stares at the schedule on the blackboard and cannot believe how much gets packed into one morning. When she asks Mr. Burke whether there will be time to talk about what has been happening in everyone's lives, he gently explains that his class learns about each other while they work. Esther misses the talking, but she loves the huge maps, the computers and the school library.

Robyn's day at the Langford home starts with no desk, no other students and no math at all - just a friendly conversation, which Robyn fills with a confusing story about jumping and beating her friend before revealing that she is describing a checkers game. The lessons that follow are surprisingly practical. Instead of adding a plain column of numbers, Robyn adds up a year of her family's electric bills and lists ways to lower them.

The afternoons are what make the day unforgettable. At a school assembly, Mr. Bryant, the district music director, demonstrates the instruments of the orchestra, and Esther falls in love with all of them before happily settling on the violin. Meanwhile Robyn tours the fire station, slides down the fire pole with the chief's help, and talks her way onto the truck when Harry sounds the alarm for Mrs. McGillicuty's cat. Since Harry is allergic to cats, it is Robyn who pulls on the gloves, climbs the ladder behind the chief and carries Gertrude safely back down.

When the column runs, both girls agree that the visit was wonderful and that they would rather stay right where they are. As Whit puts it, walking in someone else's shoes for a day leaves them both richer, more thankful for what they have and more willing to learn from others.