A group of passionate teachers - and a slightly tone-deaf principal - are determined to try to help their students succeed at a Philadelphia public school.
Janine takes it upon herself to fix every problem when she notices a flicking light bulb in the hallway; Gregory asks Barbara for help talking to a parent, which leads him to spend his lunch period in an unexpected way.
When a new computer program is introduced at Abbott, Janine is excited to finally help Barbara with something; Barbara is reluctant to accept change and finds herself in a tricky situation; Melissa surprises Jacob.
After a negative teacher review, Janine gets a confidence boost when a student gets transferred from Melissa's class into hers; Jacob tries to forge a friendship with an uninterested Gregory.
Janine is thrilled when her best friend from college is hired as the art teacher; Jacob and Barbara decide to start a school garden. Janine's college friend is hired.
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn't know the other teachers as well as she thought; Gregory's stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform.
Ava asks Janine to help her teach the after-school step class, but they don't agree on how to run the program; Gregory must reveal a secret when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan a pizza "eat-off."
Janine prepares to meet her student's mother during open house, while the rest of the faculty uses the time to relax; Gregory is taken aback when he learns how Ava got the principal job; Barbara's daughter's visit creates a commotion.
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it; Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; the teachers meet Jacob's boyfriend.
With the school board threatening to pull their funds, Janine and Gregory decide to help Ava with her presentation; their plan is derailed when a curveball is thrown; Barbara offends Melissa when she doesn't agree with her blackmail idea.
While on Abbott's annual zoo field trip, Tariq reveals that he has been offered a job in New York; Janine struggles with a big choice; Barbara starts questioning her future after finding out her favorite tuatara has been retired.
