Springvale Elementary School

, or Springvale Elementary School (S.E.S) is a school in northern Springvale. Springvale is a town of Virginia located west of Washington, D.C.. The Potomac is visible from the school. The closest settlement is Megaton.

History
In the 21st century, this school educated the young children of the rural communities of Virginia. The students were educated in many topics such as grammar and music. They were, also, taught in basic computer skills. When not being educated, the students played baseball or a variety of activities in the playground.

Springvale Elementary is administered by the school board. The board is a strong proponent of community-based programs, and promotes family reading nights. This school board meets at least once a year. Activities at the school are announced a month in advance.

In the Great War, the school is severely damaged by the bombs. The three upper floors are blasted away, and the side of the school facing the Potomac is torn open. Students and teachers seeking shelter in the school are killed instantly. For two centuries, the school stands abandoned.

In 2077, an enterprising gang of Raiders establishes a base camp at the school. They graffiti the school in their 'colors'. From their camp, the Raiders raided caravans, captured Wastelanders, and even attempted a raid into Megaton. Desiring of greater things, the Raiders begin an ambitious engineering project.

The engineering project envisioned by the Raider leader is a tunnel into Vault 101. Captured Wastelanders, known to the gang as 'scabs', are impressed into service as tunnelers. During the tunneling, the school is damaged further by the use of explosives. Unbeknownst to the Raiders, they were digging into a hive of giant ants who defended their home by killing seven of the tunnelers.

Faced with a threat they couldn't defeat, the Raiders abandon the tunnel, lock the door to the tunnel, and place sentries in the school's basement. The other Raiders retreat to the two surviving floors. Some raiders take up positions in the exposed interior of the school scanning for intruders. This is the situation that the Lone Wanderer finds when he/she visits the school.

Layout
The school faces west. A parking lot and children's playground are in front of the school, while a baseball field is behind the school. A large sign south-west of the school identifies the building. When built, the school was a five-story structure with a basement.

Floor A
This is the uppermost floor of the school accessible. The floor can be entered from the outside by a door in a northern wall reached by a staircase, and stairways from the ground floor within the school. This floor has a library with a storage room, a corridor converted by the Raider leader into his/her sleeping quarters, and a balcony overlooking the foyer. The door to the Raider leader's quarters from the library is locked, and can only be opened by either lockpicking the door or using the Springvale Library Key which can be obtained by killing a specific Raider.

Floor B
This is the ground floor of the school. This floor is entered from the outside by the main entrance, and by stairways from the upper floor and the basement. These were the rooms on this floor: a foyer, a kitchen, two classrooms, a gentlemen's restroom, a ladies restroom, and a storage room. In the exposed interior of the school, there is a classroom and a break room.

Floor C
This is the basement of the school. This floor is entered from the outside by a door in the exposed interior of the school, and stairways from the ground floor. There are two rooms, one of them a store room, within the covered interior of the school. In the exposed interior of the school, there is a locker room and a restroom.

Mining Tunnel
The mining tunnel begins in the larger of the two intact rooms of the basement. This room is protected by a very hard lock door. Advanced lockpicking skills, or obtaining the basement key by killing the Raider leader, can open the door. This tunnel is guarded by giant ants.

In the tunnel, there is a fork. The path to the left leads to a chamber populated by ants, and the path to the right leads to a dead end. This tunnel ends abruptly south of the school under the ruins of Springvale. (However, the compass reading is misleading due to a computer glitch (see Spatial Orientation Issues).)

Inhabitants
The school is inhabited by at least 10 Raiders and their leader. The leader has a Raider Guard Dog. In a chamber under the school, there is a hive of giant ants. Two of their victims, both Wastelanders, lie where they fell.

Notable Loot
Behind the school, there is a power tower guarded by a fence. Access to this tower is through unlocking the very easy gate lock. At the base of this tower, there is a concentration of radioactive barrels. On and around these barrels, there is a Hunting Rifle, a First Aid Box, and Rad Away.

Floor A

 * Nuka-Cola Quantum - Top of the cage as you enter school from the main entrance, on the west side of the school: jump down onto the cage from the second floor, or shoot the bottle off of the cage.
 * Duck and Cover! - To the left of the Raider leader's terminal.
 * Combat Knife - To the left of the Raider's leader's terminal.
 * Ammunition Boxes (3) - In the corridor with Raider's terminal.

Floor B

 * Sheet Music Book - In the south-eastern classroom on the ground floor (the room opposite the letters ABCDEFG on the wall). The Sheet Music Book is resting on the "backplate" of a flipped teacher's desk.
 * First Aid Box - In the north-eastern classroom on the ground floor.
 * First Aid Box - In the south-eastern storage room on the ground floor.

Floor C

 * First Aid Box in the storage room on the basement level.

Mining Tunnel

 * Assault Rifle - in the tunnel by the giant ant nest. There are two dead Wastelanders and dozens of Ant Egg Clutches adjacent to the rifle. This comes in handy, as it is likely one of the very first assault rifles you will acquire in the game.
 * Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual - near the rifle in the ant tunnel. Move the Wastelanders bodies if you can not see it or pick it up.
 * Ant Nectar inside Ant Refuse Piles.

There are quite a few custom weapon components scattered on the premises, as well as some minor loot.

Ruined Building
Walk behind the school and head in a northeast direction. You will come across a derelict building on the water. If you have done the The Waters of Life quest then there will be an Enclave base set up of with at least two soldiers and an officer.

They seem to have been doing research as their terminal reports mainly on Mirelurks and Radroaches. If you go to the building in the center there is a crater which seems to glow and gives off at least 3 rads per second, there is nothing notable here apart from two Rad Away and around 5 bowls of noodles.

Easter Eggs
If you approach on the side with the door opening into "Springvale Elementary" and continue on and around the broken wall, follow the path that leads downward. As you reach the bottom, look to your right. There should be a poster there with a turtle and a bomb. On the bottom part of the picture, it will show the turtle in its shell with the bomb exploding next to it. This is a reference to the famous propaganda film Duck and Cover, which tells you that in the event of a nuclear attack, you should duck and cover your head, using a cartoon turtle to illustrate the point. This same "turtle and bomb" poster can be found in Hannibal Hamlin's "house" on the second floor at the Temple of the Union, and in the burnt out Early Dawn Academy that you pass through on your way to Galaxy News Radio.

Spatial Orientation Issues
This game is plagued with spatial orientation issues. For instance, on the school's exterior, the main entrance faces west. Yet, when in the building, the main entrance faces south. This is best documented on page 320 of the Fallout 3 Official Game Guide.

For this article, I have re-aligned the orientation of the interior spaces to match the exterior.

Glitches
On the Xbox 360 version, the ground in front of the school is occasionally glitched, so the player can see the bottom, similar to the noclip console command for PC. The school may also have unusual triangular spikes jutting through the walls.

On PS3 if you move any of the barrels (or possibly anything) in the foyer they will disappear from sight, but if you jump on and/or move them they re-appear (only to disappear once again).
 * Game may also freeze upon entry and exit of school.
 * Game may also freeze going near the school.

Appearances
 only appears in Fallout 3.