School is a place for learning, and Wayside School is no different than any other school even though the lessons it teaches may differ from those of a traditional classroom. What lessons does the book aim to teach? Which students learn these lessons, and which do not?

Some students behave badly and reap the consequences. Other students find themselves in unpleasant circumstances through no fault of their own. What does this inequity suggest about fairness? What does it suggest about one’s agency in their own conflict?

Foil characters are defined as those who possess opposite characteristics, which thus serve to highlight those character traits. Which of the book’s characters are foils of one another, and how so?