Remembering Mrs. Garrett's First Visit to Eastland Academy in "Diff'rent Strokes"

I'm still smarting a bit following the news of Charlotte Rae's recent passing. I turned on the television earlier this afternoon and immediately noticed that MeTV is doing a series of tribute episodes of different programs that featured her work, including the first episode of "The Facts of Life," an episode of "The Love Boat," and the final episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" season one. I know that I must have seen this episode -- titled "Girls School," but I really don't remember watching it. This is the episode that first introduced Mrs. Garrett and the TV viewers to Eastland Academy.

Here is the set-up: Kimberly Drummond apparently goes back and forth between her home and her boarding school. Because why wouldn't you? Her dorm mother was chased from the school by its obnoxious headmaster, Mr. Crocker, and somebody needs to help Kimberly make costumes for a really bad school play. So she recruits her family's maid, Mrs. Garrett, and brings her to her dorm to meet all of her friends.

And all of her friends are pretty much everyone from "The Facts of Life" season one: Nancy, Sue-Anne, Blair, Tootie, and Molly. Plus some chick named Jennifer. But no Natalie or Cindy. And don't even think of asking about Jo. She won't be around for a couple more years!


Mrs. Garrett is given a bunch of costumes to sew and very little time to do it. That doesn't stop her from reading the badly-written script, sparring with the headmaster, and digging into Nancy's private family business. It seems that Nancy's father just lost his job and she'll need to leave Eastland at the end of the school term. So Mrs. Garrett spends half of the program trying to convince Mr. Crocker that he should dig up a bunch of money for a special scholarship to keep Nancy around until she graduates.


Which is more than she ever did during the numerous episodes for poor Jo struggled to pay for her own tuition! I mean, Mrs. Garrett and Jo were tight. They worked together. They lived together. They laughed together. They ate together.

Mrs. Garrett just met Nancy and she was already pulling strings with the Drummonds and the Eastland hierarchy to keep the girl around! I guess money really does matter!

"Girls School" featured a self-centered, obnoxious headmaster named Mr. Crocker. He re-wrote "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and tried passing it off as his own. He was rude to the students, to Mrs. Garrett, and to pretty much anyone else. It doesn't surprise me that he didn't last very long at the school!


Anyway, that was our first glimpse of Eastland Academy -- and the first indications that Edna Garrett was ready to be more than a housekeeper! She was asked to come to the school to be the girls' new dorm mother. And she initially declined the offer. But she was back within six months!