List of Abbott Elementary characters


Abbott Elementary is an American television series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It stars Brunson as a second grade teacher at Abbott Elementary, a fictional predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. The ensemble cast includes Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, Sheryl Lee Ralph and William Stanford Davis. The following is a list of characters, including the main cast and those who appear alongside the main cast in the series.

Cast overview

; Key

Main characters

Janine Teagues

Janine Teagues is the plucky and optimistic lead of the series who works as a second-grade teacher at Abbott Elementary. Throughout the series she remains unjaded by all of the things the school lacks and strives to make sure her students have enough to learn and grow. While helping the students of Abbott, Janine also deals with challenges and relationships within her personal life.
During the events of the first season, Janine is looked over by the staff of Abbott, particularly Ava who bullies her numerous times. Within the season, she dates Tariq, who she has been with since the 8th grade. She struggles with the thought of ending her relationship with Tariq; with the staff of Abbott siding with their breakup. At the end of the season, she breaks up with him when he decides to move to New York City to pursue his career as a professional rapper. In the second season, Janine struggles to get over Tariq and has trouble paying her rent, since she originally split the bill monthly with Tariq. When trying to rekindle Melissa's relationship with her sister, Janine describes her complicated family history, with a mother who never paid her any attention and a sister who lives in another state. She begins regularly hanging out with Jacob and Erika, an old mutual friend of Tariq, who supports Janine and invites her to parties to increase her social mobility. She dates Gregory's friend Maurice throughout the season, which prompts unspoken jealousy. After Janine breaks up with [|Maurice], she and Gregory confess their feelings for one another but agree to remain friends for personal growth. In the third season, Janine and Gregory move past their awkward conversations as she begins a job working for the Philadelphia school system. In the fourth season, Janine begins dating Gregory.

Relationship with Gregory

While hinted at in the pilot episode, Janine and Gregory have a will-they-won't-they dynamic that is apparent in almost every episode. They teach classes next to each other and have developed a special bond. They almost share a kiss during the Christmas episode, but they are interrupted by Amber. After Gregory breaks up with Amber, he shares a drunken kiss with Janine at a teacher conference but they vow to ignore it.
When asked by late-night host James Corden about the relationship between Gregory and Janine, Tyler James Williams said:
Their relationship has been compared to that of Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly from The Office, which shares a similar mockumentary presentation style with Abbott Elementary.
They officially begin dating during the fourth season premiere.

Gregory Eddie

Gregory Thompson Eddie is the co-lead of the series and a substitute, later full-time, first-grade teacher at Abbott. Gregory harbors a crush on Janine, however at first he hides it well. When he arrives at Abbott during the Pilot episode, Gregory reveals that he originally applied to be the school's principal, and is upset with an unqualified Ava for taking the job he worked hard to obtain.
In the first season, Gregory is hired as a substitute to cover for Tina, he immediately befriends Janine; who teaches a class right beside his. Gregory receives a phone call from his unsupportive father who tells him that he should leave his career of teaching and pursue a more stable career with him as a gardener. He also meets Barbara's daughter Taylor whom he begins dating. He applies to be a full-time teacher in the season finale, which he ultimately gets due to the school being unable to find a full-time replacement for Tina. During the second season, Gregory begins his first year at Abbott as a full-time teacher and continues to date Taylor; however later, Taylor breaks up with him. Following his breakup with Taylor, Gregory begins dating Amber, the parent of a student in Janine's class much to her unspoken jealousy. After a breakup with Amber, Gregory confesses his feelings for Janine who reciprocates them, but argues that they should remain just friends for the time being. In the following seasons, their relationship continues to develop, with Janine even impressing Gregory's father. In the fourth season, after Ava is sacked, Gregory becomes the interim principal but soon everybody realises that Gregory is struggling in his new position due to being awkward at social interactions.

Ava Coleman

Ava Eva Coleman is the school's chaotic, insensitive, grossly incompetent, careless, narcissistic & tone-deaf principal. She also harbors a casual sexual attraction to Gregory, which she does not hide well & in turn makes him uncomfortable. She is also an avid user of social media and often focuses on it rather than her responsibilities of being principal. Apart from being the school principal, she also runs a side business of selling stylish clothing online, hence keeps a cabinet filled with her wares in her office chamber.
The first season showcases Ava's carelessness and antics on full display. She spends her entire time doing livestreaming on Instagram, making Tiktoks, watching Love Island and bullying the staff, especially Janine. During the Pilot episode, it is revealed that Ava obtained her job as principal after blackmailing the superintendent, whom she caught cheating on his wife. However, the superintendent later visits Abbott and tells Ava that he has divorced his wife and is now married to the woman he was caught with by Ava, and that she is at risk of losing her job. In the penultimate episode of the first season, Ava wins over the district and the superintendent, and keeps her job. Following her successful presentation to the district, Ava continues her normal antics in the second season, although as the season progresses, it becomes clear that she is engaging with the job more and that she is developing actual skills as a principal. She also gets more compassionate with children, giving them money for lunches and clothes in need and organising a fundraising campaign for the school by arranging students to sell candy at the local mall, a sharp contrast from the first season, where she pilfered the funds sent by the district board to create a flashy new school signboard featuring herself instead of providing the staff with necessary items. However, she gets into an argument with Barbara after the latter is publicly berated by her fellow church-goer who was overcharged by a student acting upon Ava's instructions. Ava defends her amoral advice by describing her own struggles with poverty and stating that the kid in question was in desperate need of money due to his family's financial strain. After substituting for Janine when she is out sick, and sitting in on Jacob's class to investigate allegations of racism against him, Ava realizes that she actually likes her job and learning and decides to start studying for the principal's certification she should have had to get the job in the first place. She attends Harvard University, using their Wifi to complete her online course in Master of Education and returns completely changed in the third season, but this change doesn't last long. Ava also starts to show more care and compassion for her staff when she starts supporting them in their activities and personal lives and has even started to like Janine a little more. In the fourth season, she blackmails Miles Nathaniel for procuring computers for the impoverished school. At the end of the season, the district authorities find out about Ava's acceptance of the bribed computers and sack her, but the entire staff and students of Abbott Elementary, alongside the parents and the local community rallies behind her, causing in her reinstatement as principal.
Ava maintains an intense rivalry with Crystal, her sorority sister from Grand Canyon University, currently working as a principal in another similarly impoverished public school called Liberty Rings in Philadelphia. In the fourth season, when Ava is unexpectedly invited to a prestigious meeting of the district educators in recognition of her positive impacts to Abbott Elementary, she overhears Crystal, frustrated at Ava's success, bemoaning the loss of opportunity to obtain funding for her impoverished school. Ava, who manages to get a generous amount of aid sanctioned for Abbott Elementary, insists that the aid material be divide among themselves, but Crystal refuses.
A writer for the show is also named Ava Coleman, but this is a coincidence as Coleman started writing for the show in Season 2.

Melissa Schemmenti

Melissa Ann Schemmenti is a second-grade teacher at Abbott, who has a large Italian-American family with questionable connections. She has a close connection with Barbara, with both being veteran teachers at Abbott. Melissa's family is native to the local fire department, and is referenced in numerous episodes. However, she has a somewhat strained relationship with her family due to her status as a divorcee.
During the first season, much of the humor surrounding Melissa's character concerns her family's questionable connections to local municipal agencies and criminal elements. Although these connections generally worry her colleagues, they never question them since a large percentage of the time it benefits the school. Melissa begins going out with the vending machine stocker, Gary, at the end of the first season; the relationship continues into the second and third seasons, until their ultimate breakup after Melissa tells Gary that she does not ever want to get re-married. In the second season, when classes get combined due to a teacher shortage, Melissa receives ten third-grade students in her second-grade class. This proves to be too difficult to keep up with on her own, and the school offers her an aide in the distracting and childish Ashley Garcia, who only causes more problems for Melissa. Melissa is revealed to have a sister, Kristen Marie, a teacher at Addington Elementary, a local charter school with which Abbott Elementary is in competition, with whom she has a rivalry with. When Janine attempts to salvage their bond, Melissa reveals that Kristen Marie left her alone with the responsibilities of her sick grandmother, and disrespected her when the funeral came around. Beginning in the fourth season, Melissa becomes attached to her class' pet guinea pig, who she names Sweet Cheeks. She includes the guinea pig in various events at the school, even dressing up as Sweet Cheeks for Halloween. In the fifth season, she is promoted to teaching mathematics at sixth grade.

Jacob Hill

Jacob Hill is an awkward and occasionally pessimistic history teacher at Abbott who supports Janine and her mission. Being a white male teacher in a school that predominantly caters to black children, Jacob has had his share of being exposed to reverse discrimination, especially from the parents, with one parent even objecting to him teaching black history in Black History Month due to his race, but Principal Ava defends him on that occasion.
In the first season, Jacob reveals that he is one of two teachers remaining from a large number of new teachers hired in the previous year; the other being Janine. He mentions his boyfriend Zach to Janine, which leads to Janine being upset that he never mentioned him prior. He introduces his boyfriend Zach to the staff to help stop the spread of a TikTok trend. In the second season, Jacob continues to support Janine after a grant of money is given to the school thanks to Barbara. When an educational dance troupe visits Abbott, Jacob reveals that he is a former member of the 'Story Samurai' that travels from school to school. In "Librarian" he and Melissa become roommates and then friends after Jacob and Zach break up.

Barbara Howard

Barbara Howard is an old-school and strictly religious kindergarten teacher whom Janine looks up to. Barbara is based upon Quinta Brunson's mother who was also a teacher. Having served for 20 years at Abbott Elementary, she and Melissa are the seniormost faculty in the school. Although vocal about her Christian faith, it only rarely causes friction in her professional relationships.
During the first season, Barbara reveals that she is wary of new technology and prefers to teach the way she has for her entire career. Barbara cheats a new system provided by the school and is forced to come clean for her mistakes of not wanting to use the new program. Barbara has a husband named Gerald who visits her for lunch on occasion. For an open house, her daughter Taylor visits and she is displeased with her career choice. Taylor eventually begins dating Gregory. She blackmails school board member Delisha Sloss into giving the school a loan, while later pondering retirement while on the school field trip to the zoo during the season finale; after her favorite zoo animal is retired, but ultimately she decides to stay with Abbott. In the second season, Barbara is forced to be the middle man in the relationship of Taylor and Gregory and has to be the one to tell him that their relationship is over. A former student of Barbara named Draemond Winding visits after an ad orchestrated by him takes a jab at the school, with him later targeting Abbott to become a charter school. In the aforementioned ad, all other teachers are portrayed negatively apart from Barbara, whom Draemond wants to recruit for his own school, as gratitude for helping him in times of distress, but Barbara strictly refuses to leave Abbott. Her husband Gerald has a health scare later in the season, as she reveals to Melissa that he was tested for prostate cancer; however she reveals the test came back negative, but it still caused them to worry for his health. It is also shown that Barbara has been getting mistreated by her conservative choir group when she wants to sing a solo because they think she is too "modern" for them due to her friendship with the divorcee Melissa and the gay Jacob. The third season also shows that in addition to her morally uptight persona, she also has a completely different facet of personality, which is never shown on screen but is referred to as 'Sea Barbara' and Melissa referring to her fond consumption of Chardonnay wine. At the end of the fourth season, she briefly substitutes for the music class at Abbott, and in the fifth, takes over full-time.
A running gag of the show is Barbara confusing the names of Hollywood celebrities, which often ends up in her falsely believing some white celebrities being black. This was reportedly inspired from Barbara's actress Sheryl herself.

Mr. Johnson

Mr. Johnson is the school's eccentric, but surprisingly talented, janitor. After being credited as a guest star during the first season, Stanford Davis was upped to a series regular for the second season.
Not much is known about Mr. Johnson outside of Abbott, but he believes in conspiracy theories and shares them with the students despite the teachers being uncomfortable with his suspicions. He once convinced Jacob that the ghost of the former janitor lives in the basement. In one episode, he casually mentions being an ex-Mormon.

Additional school staff

Introduced in season 1

Tina Schwartz

  • Portrayed by Kate Peterman
Tina Schwartz is an overwhelmed teacher who gets fired for physically attacking a student during the pilot episode. She returns in "Delivery Day", revealing that she attended therapy and now works at a more pristine charter school, Addington Elementary. She is featured in the attack ad made against Abbott, orchestrated by Draemond.

Chanae and Devin

  • Portrayed by Nikea Gamby-Turner and Reggie Conquest
Chanae and Devin are underpaid cafeteria workers at Abbott, who find Janine overly pushy and mildly annoying. In "Art Teacher", Devin refuses to allow Jacob and Barbara to make new menu items for the cafeteria, as he and the rest of the cafeteria staff have no time to prepare extra food. He also disrespectfully dismisses Jacob and Barbara's attempts of extending help with the meals.

Sahar

Sahar is Janine's friend who briefly works at Abbott as a volunteer art teacher during the events of "Art Teacher". She and Melissa disagree over the latter's Peter Rabbit project, and though Janine agrees with Melissa, she finds it hard to turn down Sahar's ideas. When Sahar makes an impressive art piece using the books Melissa bought, Janine finally stands up to her. Her real name is revealed to be Sarah.

Denzel Collins

Denzel Collins is the school's superintendent during the first season, who is blackmailed by Ava, resulting in her position as principal; after she caught him in a intimate condition with a deaconess at the church. However, he reveals to Ava that he had married the deaconess in question and divorced his wife in "Open House" which puts her in a tough position. He later allows Ava to keep her job as principal, but is still salty towards her and refuses to grant financial assistance to Abbott Elementary as long as Ava remains principal.

Alley Williams

  • Portrayed by Ambrit Millhouse
Alley Williams is a minor recurring teacher at Abbott who has been a teacher for nine years. She only makes an appearance in one episode during the first season, however she becomes a recurring character during the second season. She is mentioned in "Attack Ad", where Jacob and Gregory talk about a parent of Alley's student who was arrested for protesting at a strip club.

Delisha Sloss

  • Portrayed by Shirley Jordan
Delisha Sloss is a member of the school board and a member of Barbara's church. In "Ava vs. Superintendent", after the superintendent refuses to grant funding to Abbott Elementary, it is revealed that Barbara managed to obtain a decent amount of aid by threatening to reveal about Delisha's stealing from the church funds. Delisha reappears during the second season; being scammed by at the mall by a student participating in a fundraiser, for which she publicly berates Barbara.

Introduced in season 2

Ashley Garcia

Ashley Garcia is a childish and easily distracted teachers aide that is hired by the district for Melissa after she struggled to maintain her combined second and third grade classes. She befriends Ava after buying a shirt from her now defunct web-store. In "Candy Zombies", Ashley is put in charge of watching the bags of candy, however she is distracted by her phone and the candy is stolen and distributed amongst the students.

Draemond Winding

Draemond Winding is the owner of Legendary Schools, a company that runs charter schools in Philadelphia, including Addington Elementary. He plans to make Abbott a charter school. He is a former student of Barbara, as he was a student in her first class at Abbott. He reassures her that his plan will help her, but she insists that it will only cause more problems for the school and its teachers. He appears at an open house in hopes of convincing parents to support his plans, however they turn against him and rally in support of Abbott after questioning charter schools as a whole.

Venus

  • Portrayed by Erika T. Johnson
Venus is a staff member of Abbott who works closely with Ava, typically delivering mail to her office during important occasions.

Joseph Morton

Joseph Morton, or more commonly known as Mr. Morton, is an eighth grade science teacher who works with Jacob, despite their butting-head relationship. First appearing in "Egg Drop", he is annoyed with Janine for insisting her class take part in his egg drop experiment that he is conducting with his class. He does not like Jacob and both have a passive aggressive relationship with one another. He reappears in the third season, having had a troublesome marriage fallout over the summer. The teachers observe as he becomes increasingly misogynistic and questionable throughout the school year. He is seen serving as a barrier in the developments of Janine and Gregory’s relationship by explaining that his wife, a former co-worker, drove them apart despite initially being fully in love with one another.

Tasha Hoffman

  • Portrayed by Taylor Garron
Tasha Hoffman is a teacher at Abbott who typically avoids Janine, and is very briefly befriended by Melissa and Barbara when she is away. Jacob takes a disliking to her, given her disrespect towards Janine. She returns as a recurring character in the fourth season.

Introduced in season 3

Manny

Manny is the leader of a group of school district representatives for Philadelphia that come to Abbott in hopes of improving its quality. When Barbara pushes their agenda back, he tells her that his mother was a teacher and was inspired by her to help other educators. Throughout the season, Gregory worries that Manny has a thing for Janine, setting him up as a romantic rival.

Simon

  • Portrayed by Benjamin Norris
One of two Philadelphia school district representatives under Manny, who work alongside Janine. He is briefly set up with Erika, but they end up breaking up in season 4 in the episode “Karaoke”

Emily

One of two Philadelphia school district representatives under Manny, who work alongside Janine, and is also openly gay.

Rosalyn Inez

Rosalyn Inez is a librarian hired by the district for Abbott, being the first school to take part in a library program organized by Janine. Barbara is at first resistant to Inez and the program as a whole, but ultimately comes around to it after seeing how devoted Janine is to the program.

John Reynolds

John Reynolds is the district's new superintendent who approves of Janine's library program in "Panel", and later appears in subsequent episodes. Throughout the season he is adamant about the district spending as little money as possible, and when he offers Janine a full-time job, she rejects it, wanting to return to teaching instead of helping every school in the district.

Warren

  • Portrayed by Ben Onyx Dowdy
Warren is a recurring character throughout Janine's stint at the district, working for Human Resources. He is often openly expressive about how much he dislikes Janine, and is not affected when she leaves. Additionally, he was not given a name until the fourth season premiere.

Crystal Riley

Crystal Riley is a former sorority sister of Ava who becomes the principal of another school in Philadelphia. Her school often comes into clash with the teachers of Abbott, specifically with Ava. She and Ava maintain an intense rivalry, with Ava stating that she pursued the job of principal simply to spite Crystal, who appears to be far more competent and experienced in her job. Crystal disdainfully rejected Ava's offer to share the material necessities between their schools, bluntly stating that she doesn't wants to survive on Ava's scraps. Crystal discovers the blackmailing of the PGA lawyer and reports it to the authorities, which causes Ava to be sacked. But in 'Rally', she comes out in open support of Ava and her support turns to be vital in Ava's reinstatement.

Introduced in season 4

O'Shon

O'Shon is an IT representative from the district who goes behind their back to protect Abbott after they begin taking unauthorized equipment from the nearby golf course construction crew. He forms a connection with Ava, one that is at-first one-sided. They begin dating in the episode "Karaoke", and enter an official relationship during the fourth season finale.

Thomas and Rick

Thomas and Rick are both auditors from the district. Initially, they are sent to Abbott during "Audit" to audit the school after reports of stolen equipment from the nearby golf course. Both characters return later in the season in an attempt to keep Ava from returning to her position as principal.

Introduced in season 5

Dominic Clark

  • Portrayed by Luke Tennie
Dominic Clark is a fourth-grade teacher at Abbott. Introduced in the fifth season, Dominic is a former student of Barbara, having been in her kindergarten class twenty-years prior. Initially, Barbara welcomes him with open arms, however he finds true help and assistance from Janine.

Craig

Craig is an employee of the district sent to Abbott to help them complete team building activities, those being disguised punishments for Abbott taking bribes from the golf course. Craig is very confident and loving of his job.

Friends and family of staff

Introduced in season 1

Tariq Temple

Tariq Temple is Janine's insensitive but well-meaning ex- boyfriend since middle school, who is an aspiring rapper and self-proclaimed feminist. Throughout the first season, his career and gigs as a rapper take priority over the simple things Janine wants him to do for their relationship. He gets a call from New York during "Zoo Balloon", where he is given an opportunity of more gigs. He assumes they'd pursue a long distance relationship, but Janine decides it's time for them to go their separate ways. He returns in "Attack Ad" to gather the things he left at Janine's apartment. He asks Janine out to dinner at Bahama Breeze, and she accepts. Later however, she ultimately does not go. He is briefly hired by Legendary Charters during the second season, but is eventually fired following a lawsuit since the jingle he made for Legendary sounded too similar to "California Love". He returns to Philadelphia at the end of the second season, and in the third season, becomes stepfather to one of Barbara's students, eventually being elected the president of the Parent Teacher Association, in which capacity he also becomes sort of a leader of the local Black community. Tariq's leadership skills becomes apparent when he unites the previously unwilling parents against Draemond's plans to convert Abbott into a charter school and when he rallies up the PTA in support of Ava in "Rally".

Amber

  • Portrayed by Naté Jones
Amber is the parent of a student at Abbott. In the first season, Amber brings her son Joel into Gregory's class late, unknowingly preventing him from exceeding the amount of learning he should accomplish. Her son is moved to Janine's class in the second season, where she attempts to ask Gregory out by giving him her phone number through Janine. She and Gregory begin dating afterwards, much to Janine's jealousy. However their relationship ends towards the end of the season, after both realize they are polar opposites.

Gary

  • Portrayed by Bruno Amato
Gary is a charming vending machine stocker who later becomes Melissa's affectionate boyfriend. Despite their love for each other, both decide to breakup during the season three premiere after Gary insists on a marriage Melissa does not want.

Taylor Howard

Taylor Howard is Barbara's daughter who begins dating Gregory after visiting the school for open house. She works for an alcohol-adjacent company, which Barbara disapproves of; instead wanting her to be a teacher, much like Janine. She accompanies the school during their field trip to the zoo. In the second season, while unseen, Taylor breaks up with Gregory for being a "broke boi".

Martin Eddie

Martin Eddie is Gregory's unsupportive father who wants him to do more with his life than just be a school teacher. He is a retired Military Lieutenant Colonel and owns a landscaping business; which he attempts to force Gregory into. He makes an appearance via a video call during the first season and appears physically during "Fight".
Jones was cast as Gregory's father after online Twitter users pointed out that Jones and Williams look exactly alike.

Zach

Zach is Jacob's boyfriend who helps the school, and accompanies them on their field trip to the zoo, by serving as a chaperone. He returns during the second season cameoing in "Holiday Hookah", where he volunteers as a music teacher for the school. He returns later in the season, becoming a recurring character.
In season three Zach and Jacob break up. However, Zach and Jacob have a run-in in season 4 in the episode “Karaoke”.

Introduced in season 2

Kristen Marie Schemmenti

Kristin Marie Schemmenti is Melissa's sister who works at Addington Elementary, a rival charter school. First seen in the second season episode "Delivery Day", Kristin Marie is shamed by Melissa while visiting Addington, leading to Janine to discover that her and Melissa are sisters. In "The Principals Office", Janine attempts to rekindle her relationship with Melissa, but fails. She returns later in the season, where she and Melissa begin to rekindle their relationship; telling Melissa about Draemond's plan to turn Abbott into a charter school.

Erika

Erika is a friend of Janine from her relationship with Tariq, and is the aunt of a student in Janine's class. She later becomes Janine's best-friend and invites her to parties in hopes of improving her social mobility, while also being aware of Janine and Gregory's will-they won’t-they relationship. She also has an on-and-off again relationship with Simon.

Krystal

Krystal is the mother of a student who studies at Barbara's class. While not a staff member of Abbott, she leads the PTA alongside Tariq and makes frequent appearances at the school. When first introduced, Barbara gets judgmental about Krystal for her choice of having cuss words tattooed upon her body and wearing clothing embroidered with cuss words, her application of body piercings and her profession of selling lingerie online, thereby recommending her to a support group for single mothers, to which Krystal reveals that she is already married. Krystal prohibits the Abbott Elementary staff from reading out a fairytale book of magic and demands the book in question be banned from the school library due to her Christian beliefs, which put her at conflict with Tariq.

Maurice

Maurice is charming and a close friend of Gregory who takes a liking to Janine. He first appears during "Holiday Hookah", where he visits a hookah bar with Gregory; and later appears during "The Fundraiser", where he asks Janine out on a date, to which she accepts. They begin dating following this, much to the unspoken jealousy of Gregory. Following Janine and Gregory kissing at a teacher conference, they both decide to tell Maurice the truth, to which he takes well. However, when Janine breaks up with him, he pushes both of them away. He is nicknamed "Mo" by the staff of Abbott.

Captain Robinson

Captain Robinson is the captain of the local Philadelphia fire station who first visits Abbott after Barbara accidentally starts a fire in the teachers lounge. Robinson appears again in the third season, this time sparking a romance with Melissa.

Ayesha Teagues

Ayesha is Janine's distant sister who she has a struggle with getting to visit her. She is first mentioned during "The Principals Office" when Janine expresses her relationship with Ayesha to Melissa in an attempt to rekindle her relationship with her sister, and later during "Fight" where Janine calls Ayesha asking her to visit. She ultimately appears in a FaceTime call during "Valentine's Day", when Janine calls Ayesha for her birthday with the company of Jacob.

Vanetta Teagues

Vanetta Teagues is Ayesha and Janine's troubled mother who treats herself before them. She is regularly mentioned by Janine during many episodes, but physically appears during the penultimate episode of the second season, subtly asking Janine for money when her phone is turned off.

Introduced in season 3

Avi

Avi is an EMT who works alongside Captain Robinson and later begins hanging out with Jacob, however, they are not romantically involved. He introduces his friend Olivia to Gregory during a double date, however Gregory’s attraction to Janine causes the duo to not work out.

Olivia

Olivia is an EMT and a coworker of Avi who is invited on a double date with him, Jacob and Gregory. However, the sudden appearance of Janine and Manny at the bar the group attends to, causes friction in the date.

Introduced in season 4

Miles Nathaniel

Miles Nathaniel is a PGA lawyer who is blackmailed by Abbott staff when they learn that he is covering up the fact that PGA is utilizing non-unionized workers in the construction of a new golf-course adjacent to Abbott Elementary. After this, they continue to find ways to blackmail Nathaniel, with him eventually coming back and using them for clout. He has a particular habit of referring himself as a white saviour while interacting with Abbott staff.

Caleb Hill

  • Portrayed by Tyler Perez
Caleb Hill is Jacob’s little brother who lives with their parents. Jacob is estranged from his brother and hasn’t seen him in years until Caleb comes to visit for Christmas. He is the polar opposite of Jacob, being athletic and goofy.

Frank Coleman

Frank Coleman is Ava's father who works as a barber in Philadelphia. He is introduced when he happens to cut Gregory’s hair, and is brought onto the science fair as a sponsor, hoping to get close to Ava. Ava says that she was estranged from her father due to him divorcing her mother in order to marry a waitress. In 'Rally', he assembles all the local business-owners in a show of support for Ava before the officials.

Elijah

Elijah is a guy Jacob flirts with at a karaoke bar, and later becomes his love interest.

Students and other minor characters

Courtney Pierce

  • Portrayed by Lela Hoffmeister
Courtney is formerly a student of Melissa who is later troublesome for Janine when transferred to her class. After discussion, Melissa and Janine realize that Courtney is not challenged as much as she should be. She later returns in the second season, aiding Ava during her Shark Tank-style debate for the school's grant money. She re-appears later in the series, in various episodes.

Will

  • Portrayed by Levi Mynatt
Will is a student of Abbott who is primarily known amongst other students for his dancing. In the episode "New Tech", Ava asks Will, the lowest-performing student in his class, to read Becoming at a school assembly, unaware that his teacher Barbara has cheated a new reading system. Will tries his hardest but Barbara still comes clean about cheating. Will appears in various other episodes as a background character.

Clarence

  • Portrayed by Zakai Biagas Bey
Clarence is a student of Jacob who regularly calls him "Mr. C". In "Read-A-Thon", Clarence becomes a member of the podcasting club started by Jacob and Gregory; but ultimately leaves after Jacob refuses to take him and the other member seriously. He rejoins, and interviews Janine about her night with Gregory at the hookah club.

Alex Perkins

  • Portrayed by Mason Renfro
Alex Perkins is a student in Janine’s classroom who, for a brief period, misses school on a daily basis while she is away working at the district. Janine and Gregory work together to visit Alex at home and convince him to return to school. Alex later appears in subsequent episodes during the season, with a recurring joke of him saying he may or may-not return to school.

Other characters

Appearing in the second season:
  • Andre Iguodala as Iggy, a professional basketball player who Ava is dating. However, their relationship doesn't last long.
  • Shalita Grant as Miss Janet, a counselor sent to Abbott following Barbara's accidental fire.
  • Shwayze as Gabe, a representative of the Philadelphia mural arts who visits Abbott after being invited by Jacob.
  • Darryl Lee-Canyon as Darrell, a teacher at Abbott. Lee-Canyon appears in multiple episodes since the second, third and fourth seasons in a non-speaking role.
  • June Diane Raphael as Elizabeth Washington, Chief Education Officer of the Philadelphia Board of Education who visits Abbott to document an award ceremony. Raphael also guest-stars in the third and fourth seasons.
Appearing in the third season:
  • Sabrina Brier as Jessca, a substitute teacher for Janine's classroom.
  • Casey Frey as Timothy, a F.A.D.E. representative who aspires to be like Tariq.
  • Aparna Nancherla as Caroline, an unhelpful F.A.D.E. representative who follows Timothy.
  • Sabrina Wu as Mx. Geoffrey, a substitute for Janine who she and Melissa believe is lying about their qualifications.
  • Shea Couleé as Lisa Condo, a drag artist friend of Ava's performing at Mother's Day brunch.
Appearing in the fourth season:
  • Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly, a co-owner and janitor of Paddy's Pub in South Philadelphia assigned to community service at Abbott. He assists Jacob on the school's many maintenance problems and Melissa and Barbara help him to read.
  • Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds, a co-owner and bartender at Paddy's Pub assigned to community service at Abbott. He is skeptical of the cameras filming at Abbott and makes himself scarce as a result.
  • Rob McElhenney as Ronald "Mac" McDonald, a co-owner and bouncer at Paddy's Pub assigned to community service at Abbott. He ends up running personal tasks for Ava.
  • Kaitlin Olson as Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds, a bartender at Paddy's Pub assigned to community service at Abbott. She connects with Janine over their experience at Penn, and flirts shamelessly with Gregory, much to Janine's annoyance.
  • Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds, the owner of Paddy's Pub assigned to community service at Abbott. He clashes with Mr. Johnson and Gregory on tending the school's community garden.