Mr. Terupt arrives as the new fifth-grade teacher and responds to Peter's testing with humor instead of anger.

Luke's homemade science experiment creates smoke and triggers the school's fire alarm during the plant unit.

Mr. Terupt assigns a book featuring a character with Down Syndrome and brings the class to visit the Collaborative Classroom.

Peter uses an ableist slur to describe the students in the Collaborative Classroom during the first visit.

Alexia bullies Danielle during the holiday project and Mr. Terupt removes her from the group to speak with her privately.

Peter's water prank leaves a puddle that causes Mrs. Williams to slip and fall in the classroom.

Mr. Terupt's class earns a free play day as a reward for achieving enough consecutive days of good behavior.

Mr. Terupt obtains special permission from Mrs. Williams to allow the class to play outside in the snow.

The outdoor snow play turns into a rough fight and Peter throws a snowball that strikes Mr. Terupt in the head.

Mr. Terupt falls into a coma and a substitute teacher takes over the class the very next day.

Anna organizes a group hospital visit with Jessica and Danielle to go see Mr. Terupt together.

At James's going-away party, James hugs Peter and repeats to the room that the accident was not Peter's fault.

Luke steps forward at the going-away party and tells everyone about Mr. Terupt's previous concussions and his own role in the snow fight.

Students gather in the hospital lounge together to wait for the outcome of Mr. Terupt's brain surgery.

Mr. Terupt makes a surprise return to the classroom on the last day of school and hugs each student.

Mr. Terupt arrives as a new teacher who allows his students unusual freedom, which both energizes and endangers them. A series of escalating pranks and incidents foreshadow a larger catastrophe, culminating in Peter's snowball striking Mr. Terupt in the head during a snow play day. Mr. Terupt falls into a coma, throwing the class into guilt and grief that each student processes alone. The students struggle separately until a goodbye party for a student from the Collaborative Classroom brings them together and forces a public reckoning with the truth. The class then supports Mr. Terupt through brain surgery, bonding over shared stories and hard-won forgiveness. Their year ends with Mr. Terupt making a miraculous return to his classroom on the last day of school.

The headline events that shaped Mr. Terupt's fifth-grade year.

Jessica arrives at Snow Hill School as a new student and Mr. Terupt promises her a happy ending to the year.

Alexia attempts to control Jessica's friendships and steer her away from Danielle from the very first day of school.

Mr. Terupt takes the blame himself in front of the principal and fire marshal for Luke's smoking science experiment.

Jessica decides to speak directly to Danielle rather than accept Alexia's version of who she should befriend.

Alexia knocks Jessica's book from her hands when she sees Jessica and Danielle growing closer together.

Jeffrey visits the Collaborative Classroom and bonds with the students there, drawing on his experience with his late brother Michael.

Peter suggests inviting the students from the Collaborative Classroom to join the class's multicultural holiday party.

Jeffrey confides to Jessica that his older brother Michael had Down Syndrome and leukemia and that Jeffrey was born to try to save him.

Anna invites Jessica and Danielle to come over to her house for the very first time.

Jessica visits Anna's house and their mothers meet and begin forming a friendship over coffee.

The class holds a meeting to plan the free play day and Danielle suggests spending part of it outside in the snow.

The girls arrive at the hospital to visit Mr. Terupt and find Alexia already there, crying alone at his bedside.

Jessica comforts Alexia at the hospital and the girls exchange strong hugs and apologies with one another.

Mrs. Williams steps in as the permanent substitute for Mr. Terupt's class following the accident.

Mrs. Williams announces to the class that Mr. Terupt will return as their teacher again for sixth grade.

From the very first day of school, friendships and rivalries begin forming in Mr. Terupt's fifth-grade class, with Alexia's bullying creating deep divisions among the girls. Mr. Terupt's inventive projects bring students together in unexpected ways, including a Collaborative Classroom visit that helps Jeffrey connect with others while carrying the grief of losing his brother. The girls slowly break through the barriers Alexia creates, forming genuine friendships through honest conversations and shared experiences outside of school. After Mr. Terupt's accident, the girls find strength in visiting the hospital together, where they encounter Alexia alone and extend forgiveness to her. The class continues to struggle without their teacher until Mrs. Williams steps in as a steady presence and eventually delivers the news everyone has been hoping for. The year closes with the promise of reunion, as the class learns they will stay together with Mr. Terupt for sixth grade.

The friendships, rivalries, and quiet moments that built the class community.

Anna notices Mr. Terupt is not wearing a wedding ring and begins quietly wondering about his personal life.

Mr. Terupt insists on keeping student artwork on the classroom walls when the fire marshal orders it removed.

Danielle confronts Alexia and asks why she is kind to Collaborative Classroom students but cruel to her own classmates.

Danielle and Jessica seal their growing friendship with a hug after Danielle finally stands up to Alexia.

Mr. Terupt reprimands Jessica, Anna, Danielle, and Jeffrey for not standing up to Alexia's bullying themselves.

Jessica's mother agrees to let her visit Anna's home despite knowing about Anna's family situation.

Luke resolves to get revenge on Peter after Peter wins recognition for a correct answer Luke had worked hard to find.

Luke and Jeffrey hold Peter's face in the snow during the escalating outdoor play fight before the snowball is thrown.

Anna finds the courage to ask her mother Terri whether she blames Anna for the social ostracism their family faces.

Luke visits the hospital a second time and learns that Mr. Terupt's history of wrestling concussions left his brain more vulnerable to injury.

Danielle harshly tells Anna that her family would never allow Danielle's brother to marry Anna's mother.

Jeffrey tells his grieving mother it is not her fault and begins sitting with her quietly each day after school.

Jeffrey places the class microphone in the hospital waiting room so students can share stories about Mr. Terupt while they wait.

Jessica overhears a fellow teacher confide to Mrs. Williams that Mr. Terupt has resisted building close personal relationships.

It is revealed that Jeffrey was the one who ran immediately to find adult help the moment Mr. Terupt collapsed in the snow.

Small observations and quiet confrontations throughout the school year set the stage for larger revelations about blame, guilt, and forgiveness. Danielle finds her voice by standing up to Alexia, and Mr. Terupt challenges his students to take personal responsibility for one another rather than waiting for an adult to act. The outdoor snow fight and its devastating outcome force each student to confront their own role in what went wrong, including Luke's private knowledge about Mr. Terupt's medical history and his own part in the violence. Students then begin the difficult work of forgiving themselves and each other, with Jeffrey making the first brave move toward healing his family's grief at home. At the hospital, the class finds unexpected ways to process their fear and guilt, including sharing stories over a microphone while waiting for news of Mr. Terupt's surgery. By the end of the year, a series of hidden truths come to light, most powerfully the revelation of Jeffrey's quiet act of heroism in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Terupt's fall.

The key decisions, hidden truths, and emotional breakthroughs that changed each student.