Suffolk County Charter School

Suffolk County Charter School is a location in the Commonwealth in 2287.

Background
In exchange for funding, Principal Jackie Hudson agreed to implement the government's experimental Nutritional Alternative Paste Program (NAPP) at the school. Participation required limiting food consumption within the school to a food paste developed by Vault-Tec and the United States government. This decision was apparently made without the consent of faculty, students, or parents.

Per Principal Hudson's announcements, the NAPP was launched on October 18 and any outside food was to be confiscated. These announcements can be heard on three holotapes found throughout the school. According to a letter drafted on Mr. Davidson's terminal, both faculty and students were unhappy with the NAPP. The draft indicates that a week of paste consumption seemingly resulted in an increase in problematic student behavior and "pinker" complexions in everyone.

Layout
The school grounds are inhabited by pink feral ghouls. Two main floor entrances are available, including the southwest front door and the southeast back door. Just outside the school, at the northeast corner, is a water pump. To the south of the school is the Murkwater construction site, which is home to a mirelurk queen.

The interior is also inhabited by pink feral ghouls, including a glowing one in the upstairs library. A chemistry station is upstairs in the lab classroom to the west, and a cooking stove is behind a Novice-locked door adjacent to the stage in the cafeteria.

The building consists of three levels, including the first floor, second floor, and basement. Upon entry through the front door, the reception office and adjoined principal's office are on the right, and a hole in the wall on the left leads to a restroom. In the center is a collapsed stairway to the second floor, with a hallway on either side. The hallway to the left leads to the restrooms and a series of classrooms, and the hallway to the right leads to the cafeteria, the entrance to which is initially chained from the opposite side.

The collapsed staircase can be used to reach the second floor by jumping from the railing or topmost step. The second floor can also be accessed using an intact back staircase via the working elevator that runs between the basement and first floor. Due to rubble blocking direct access to the staircase, this method requires one to traverse through the classrooms off the first floor's left hallway, and then through the basement via the hole in the cafeteria floor. In the basement, behind a door opened from an Expert-locked terminal, a mattress can be found.

Notable loot

 * 16 samples of food paste - Scattered throughout the school.
 * 12 Vault-Tec lunchboxes - In classrooms, on desks, on the floor, or in lockers. Eight can be found on the first floor, and four can be found on the second floor.
 * Five overdue books:
 * One on the first floor, on the counter outside the principal's office next to a broken terminal.
 * One on the first floor, on a student desk in a room behind a large Novice-locked door off the cafeteria.
 * One on the second floor, on a table behind an Expert-locked door.
 * One on the second floor, in the library next to the dead body in a pink dress. The library also features a book return terminal.
 * One in the basement, behind the security door and next to the Stealth Boy.
 * Three school announcements holotapes by Principal Hudson regarding the school's participation in and adherence to the NAPP:
 * The first is for the 18th of October, and is on the first floor in the principal's office, on the desk.
 * The second is for the 20th of October, and is on the first floor in the cafeteria, on the podium.
 * The third is for the 22nd of October, and is on the second floor in the library, on the desk next to the Unstoppables magazine.
 * Unstoppables issue #4 - On the second floor in the library, on the desk.
 * Note - On the second floor, on a teacher's desk in a classroom behind a Novice-locked door in the southwest corner.
 * Stealth Boy - In the basement, behind a door secured with an Expert-locked terminal.
 * Fusion core - In the basement, inside the farthest generator.

Related quests

 * Cleansing the Commonwealth: Knight Rhys gives the Sole Survivor an assignment to clear the location of what he calls "abominations" to further the aims of the Brotherhood of Steel.
 * Ghoul Problem: Settlers have asked the player character for help in taking care of some feral ghouls that have been terrorizing a nearby location.
 * Leading by Example: Lancer Captain Kells requests the Sole Survivor's help in training a Brotherhood squire by allowing him to accompany them on a mission.
 * Quartermastery: Scribe Haylen has identified the location of a piece of technology she wishes to retrieve and catalog. She asks the Sole Survivor for help in bringing back the technology in one piece.
 * Pest Control: Dr. Binet of the Institute's Robotics division asks the Sole Survivor to eliminate some feral ghouls that are causing problems for a synth scavenger team.
 * Randolph Safehouse: The Railroad agent Mister Tims will leave dead drops in the form of six holotapes for the Sole Survivor, containing information about possible hazards to the Railroad's escort and escape of synths out of the Commonwealth. They can assist in these efforts by clearing out the location of hostiles.

Appearances
Suffolk County Charter School appears only in Fallout 4 and is mentioned in Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.

Behind the scenes

 * Suffolk County Charter School was created by level designer Justin Schram.
 * The 200-year-old message on the board at the front of the school is "Education is what survives when what has been learnt is forgotten." This is a quote from B. F. Skinner, famous for describing the psychological concept of operant conditioning.
 * The pink food paste may be a reference to The Stuff, a 1985 horror movie in which a popular gooey dessert food turns people into mindless killer zombies. English teacher Smith even refers to the pink paste as "the stuff" in his draft letter of complaint. The pink food paste may also allude to pink slime, more commonly known as lean finely textured beef or LFTB, usually used in fast food.