Springvale Elementary School

 is a bombed-out elementary school in Fallout 3. It is now used as a base of operations by a 10-man group of raiders. is easily found by following the road from Vault 101 a few miles NE through Springvale until you see the giant school sign that reads "Springvale Elementary". The raiders there were raiding caravans, but switched tracks after a botched raid on Megaton. They then attempted to dig a tunnel to break into and pillage Vault 101, but their plans were foiled by a giant ant nest.

There are quite a few custom weapon components scattered on the premises, as well as some minor loot. There are three floors, and two main locked doors with keys on the Raiders: one to the library (top floor), and one to the tunnel (basement). The leader of the Raiders holds the key to the tunnel, and is found on the top floor with his or her dog. The Springvale Library Key may be found on a Raider directly adjacent to that door, which may be open already.

There is a small fenced area behind the building containing several radioactive waste barrels (max 8 rads/sec). Picking the very easy lock on the gate gives access to a Hunting Rifle and a First Aid Box. They may be difficult to see, but are directly in front of the gate. On the top of one of the barrels lies a Rad Away.

The Tunnel
Located behind a very hard locked door is the tunnel the group were using to try to break into Vault 101. The Raider leader possesses this key. As her/his Terminal records show, the diggers inadvertently found a Giant Ant nest, the inhabitants of which soon ate most of the workers.

The entrance to the tunnel is not marked on the local map of the lower level, but is on the east side of the basement. The tunnel itself is full of ants. There are two dead Wastelanders at the end of the main tunnel near the main clutch of eggs. If approached, about four or five ants will spawn from two small tunnels; one at 12 o'clock, and one at 5 o'clock.

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.

Oddly enough I came across this and the Enclave Officer attacked me along with only one of the other Two Soldiers. The other just started doing pushups.

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.

Notable Loot

 * 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.
 * Duck and Cover! - to the left of the Raider leader's terminal. The terminal is on the second floor of the school, in a hall with doors to the library.
 * Sheet Music Book - in the south-eastern most room on the ground floor (the room opposite the letters ABCDEFG on the wall). The Sheet Music Book is resting on the "backplate" of flipped Teacher's desk.
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum - Top of the cage as you enter school from the main entrance, on the south side of the school: jump down onto the cage from the second floor, or shoot the bottle off of the cage.
 * Ant Nectar inside Ant Refuse Piles

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.

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.


 * Game may also freeze upon entry and exit of school.
 * Game may also freeze going near the school.

On PS3 if you move any of the barrels (or possibly anything) in the main entrance-lobby-area they will disappear from sight, but if you jump on and/or move them they re-appear (only to disappear once again).

Appearances
 only appears in Fallout 3.