School

School is where children and teenagers attend to get education during those life stages. School appears in all of The Sims series, except in The Sims Castaway Stories. The school bus takes children and teens to and from school. In the first two games and The Sims 4, the school is located off-screen and is not visible to the player, just like careers. In The Sims 3, the school is a rabbit hole building.

The Sims

Children attend school every day from 9AM to 3PM, as there are no weekends in The Sims. However, they can skip a day by missing the school bus, though this usually requires player intervention. A child who misses the school bus will lose a full grade level. A baby who becomes a child after 8 AM will not be penalized for missing school, as the bus will not come for them until the next day.

Children can boost grades by studying from books or at a computer, but do not get homework. Since children don't grow up, the only eventual reward for good grades is a 100 Simoleon reward from their relatives. (Upon examination of the bookshelf using a hacking program, it is revealed that the presence of the bookshelf is what triggers the reward.)

Children whose grades linger at F for several consecutive days are first given a warning, then banished to military school. Since military school is only mentioned, and never appears in the game, children sent there are never seen again.

The Sims 2

A Sim doing their homework.

Children attend elementary school (primary school) from 9 AM to 3 PM, and teens attend high school (secondary school) from 9 AM to 1 PM. The shorter hours for high school are for the benefit of teens who may also have a part-time job. Both children and teens get the weekend off, and both ages get homework which needs to be done in order to maintain and improve grades. Having an older Sim help the younger Sim with homework will let them complete the task faster in future, and they will gain the memory of learning to study.

Normally, a Sim's grade will increase from C to C+ on the first day of school, but it may increase to B+ if the Sim's first school day is not also his or her first day as a child. This may also happen if the child goes to school in a very good mood and with high aspiration. If both of these things happen, grades may jump all the way to A+, though this is uncommon. After the first day, Sims will gain a full letter grade if they go to school with all homework done, and in a good mood.

Sims go to school on the school bus. If teen or child Sims miss the bus, they will be penalized for missing a school day. If a car or helicopter is available, older Sims can take children and teens to school, and teens can go on their own. Apartment Life also gave child and teen Sims the ability to walk to school, even if a vehicle is not available. Sims who are walking, driving, or being driven to school must leave the lot less than one hour after school begins, otherwise they will be considered late.

Sims with higher grades may, as in The Sims, be in line for cash rewards from their relatives, as well as several other perks, since success in school fulfills high-value wants for themselves and their parents/grandparents. With The Sims 2: University, teen Sims with A or higher report cards can get the SimCity Scholar's Grant, a §1000 college scholarship.

Uniforms worn by Sims who attend Private School

Sims can also be enrolled in private school by inviting the headmaster and suitably impressing him with good food, a guided tour and the right social interactions. The hours are the same, but needs are put under less strain and all students change into a default school uniform before leaving for school. Public school and private school share the same school bus.

Random rewards can be dealt out around 30 game minutes before the end of a Sim's school day. They are worth bonus skill points for Sims at private school, or up to §250 cash at public school. If FreeTime is installed, children and teens may receive hobby chance cards at this time.

Children whose grades linger at F for several days may be taken away by the social worker and won't return to that particular family, but may be adopted by another one. Teens will not be taken away for an F grade, but if they have a job they will be fired regardless of their job performance and the number of days they have missed. They will also not be able to attend college until their grades improve.

If a child is adopted on a school day, he or she will get a free day off, and will not be penalized for missing school. This is because adopted children arrive at 10 AM, after the school bus has already left. However, if the child walks to school or is taken to school, he or she will be counted as having been late. Likewise, if a toddler becomes a child after 8 AM on a school day, he or she will get a free day off.

If Seasons is installed, children and teens may get a "snow day" if there is heavy snow on the ground in the morning. The school bus will not come on a snow day. If a car or helicopter is available, the "go to school" menu options will still be available, but students will not be penalized for not going to school.

It's possible for teens to get a fear of going to school. This happens when a teen has to watch over a baby or toddler when there's no adult on the lot.

The Sims 3

HAHAHAHAHHA HACKED (sorry lol)

The Sims 4

Schools make a come-back in The Sims 4, but not as rabbitholes like in The Sims 3. They're like jobs, as Sims will walk towards their lot's spawnpoint and disappear until school for that day is over.

Unlike The Sims 2, there aren't positive grades, such as A+, B+ or C+. In order for a child or teen sims to improve their grades, they'll have to go to school with a positive emotion (Focused is suggested as it says so in the school panel), completing their homework, doing extra credit work, working hard at class, and get extra performance boost from chance cards that randomly pop up while the Sim is still at school. These chance cards may give a large performance boost, a medium performance boost, a small performance boost, and the same goes for performance losses.

School starts at 8:00 am and ends at 3:00 pm, and if the Sim doesn't show up for school as expected, at around 9:00 am, their principal will call the Sim who is missing school and inform them that if they keep missing school, their grades will suffer. Even though the Sim is considered missing school by then, they can still be sent to school by selecting the Sim, clicking on them, and selecting "Go To School" (for kids) or "Go To High School" (for teens).

While the child/teen is at school, their options are, Normal (Default, neutral state), Slack Off (Leads to performance loss, fun gain, chance for a happy moodlet after school), Make Friends (Social gain, random notifications will appear saying the Sim met someone at school and no matter the Sim's age, they'll gain both teen and child friends that can later on be interacted with outside school if seen), Study hard (Performance need, lowers fun need, chance for a tense moodlet after school).

Also, while at school, Sims cannot get mortified, hysterical, or die. The needs that the Sim gains while at school are, social, fun and energy (if slacking off), and hunger.

The known schools available are the Landgraab Elementary and Buckingham High.

There are no disadvantages when a teen or a child has the lowest grade possible, except from an embarrassed moodlet.

If a child with the socially gifted trait, or a teen reach enough mischief skill, they can have a partner in crime, and plan with them to do mischievous things at school such as throwing geeks at the lockers, flooding the school, fill the class with plastic watercups, etc. If the prank succeeds, the Sim will get a +2 confident moodlet, but if it fails, they'll get a +2 embarrassed moodlet and performance loss.

To reach grade C when having an F grade, the Sim will need to get one skill to level one, to reach grade B they'll need to get one skill at level 2 at one skill, and to reach grade A the Sim must get level 4 at one skill.

While a child is doing homework, a parent or older Sim, even a teen, can help them with their homework, to give the child a +3 focused boost, and finish homework earlier, granding the Sim that helped the child a +3 confident moodlet. The homework will be at the child's inventory and can be ordered from the bookshelf. When the child ages to teen, the grade school homework will be replaced with High School homework in their inventory and as before, can be purchased from the bookshelf. A child or teen with grade B and up has a new interaction on the homework after finishing homework called "Do Extra Credit Work", which grands more performance gain from just doing homework. Children also benefit from having higher Skill levels when it comes to homework. Each Skill that they get to level 10 will increase the rate homework is done by 70%. When all 4 available child skills (Mental, Social, Motor and Creativity) are maxed, the child will finish their homework x8 times faster. And if they have a +2 focused moodlet and a parent helping them, they'll finish it x10 times faster.

Like in The Sims 3, if the player is controlling a ghost child or a teen, they wont go to school.

In The Sims 4: City Living, there's a new available lot trait called Good Schools, which will help teens and children with more school performance gain.

In The Sims 4: Parenthood, a child or teen can work on school projects with up to five Sims working on a single project. If finished successfully, the children and/or teens that helped make the project will gain a performance boost.

Trivia

• In The Sims 2: Seasons, children and teens do not get summer holiday, but they will get a snow day when it snows heavily.
  • In The Sims 3: Seasons, children and teens do not have to go to school on Leisure Day, which can be considered to be their summer holiday.
  • In The Sims 4: Seasons, players can make holidays where children and teens don't have to go to school.
• The names called during the graduation ceremony at city hall often sound like common names with the first letters of the first and last names switched, i.e. Geronica Vonzalez, Rant Grodiek.
• The Gooder Public School in Starlight Shores is probably named after the Gooder family, a wealthy family from the same town. It's a little odd, considering it's a public school, and the family backstory doesn't seem to be associated with school nor education.
• In The Sims 2 there is a glitch where using the aging on/off cheat may prevent Sims from getting a higher grade than C+.

Notes

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