Staff members head to the Pennsylvania Educational Conference; Gregory reluctantly attends after a disagreement with Amber; Jacob finds himself charmed by the Addington teachers.
Abott Elementary rallies to fight threat from Charter Schools, Meanwhile Ava plans a festival to draw parents to school and collect their signatures for a petition.
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.
A student steals a bag of candy meant to be given out to the kids at the end of the day and starts distributing it during school hours; Janine is invited to a Halloween party by an old friend and starts to reconsider her personal life.
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.
The Abbott teachers discuss their relationships and plans for Valentine's Day; Janine finds out one of her students has a crush on her; Ava sits in on Jacob's Black History class after receiving a complaint.
After a student is caught smoking, the staff come together to revamp the outdated drug policy; Janine tries to prep the new substitute teacher for her class, but finds it challenging to give up her former role.
Jacob manages to pull off a school-wide field trip to the park, but when Abbott must share the playground, the fun and games turn competitive; Mr. Johnson enjoys having an empty school to himself.
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.
The teachers are back for development week, a time to prepare for the upcoming year; Janine is determined to start the year off right and leave her problems at home; Ava runs a side hustle out of the school parking lot.