- After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
- After being fired from his own rock band, a struggling musician poses as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school. After getting to know his class, he does everything to form a band with them for a competition called "Battle of the Bands". They do everything in order to prepare themselves for the competition without anyone else discovering the real truth.—RECB3
- After being kicked out of his rock band, guitarist slacker Dewey Finn faces a mountain of debts and depression. He shares an apartment with his best friend, Ned Schneebly, an old band member who is now a substitute teacher. Dewey pretends to be his roommate Ned and accepts a job as a substitute teacher at a snobbish private elementary school where his attitude and hijinks have a powerful result on his students. He learns they are talented young musicians, and he decides to form a rock band with them to win the $20,000 prize money in a local band contest. Once Dewey wins a competition called "Battle of the Bands", the prize money would solve his financial problems and put him back in the rock music spotlight.—Steve Shedloski
- After being fired from his own rock band, guitarist slacker Dewey Finn needs to raise some money to pay for his rent and his bills. When his best friend and substitute teacher Ned Schneebly is called to a temporary work in an expensive private school, Dewey pretends to be Ned and accepts the job. He finds talented young musicians in his class, and he decides to form a rock band with the students to play in a local band contest. However, he must do this secretly so that the school's principal and the students' parents know nothing about his plan. Once Dewey wins a competition called "Battle of the Bands", he can raise the $20,000 prize money and be recognized in the rock music business.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- A rock band called No Vacancy performs at a nightclub three weeks before auditioning for the Battle of the Bands competition. Guitarist slacker Dewey Finn (Jack Black) creates on-stage antics, including a failed stage dive that abruptly ends the band's performance. The next morning, Dewey wakes up in the apartment he lives with Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and his domineering girlfriend Patty Di Marco (Sarah Silverman). They inform him that he must make up for his overdue share of the rent or move out. When he meets No Vacancy at a rehearsal session, he finds out that he has been fired from the band and replaced by another guitarist named Spider. Later, while attempting to sell some of his equipment for rent money, Dewey answers a phone call from Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack), the principal of the Horace Green prep school, inquiring for Ned about a short-term position as a substitute teacher. Needing money, Dewey impersonates Ned and is hired for the job. On his first day at the school, Dewey adopts the name "Mr. S" as he is unable to spell the name Schneebly, and spends the day behaving erratically, much to the students' confusion.
The next day, Dewey overhears the students in music class and devises a plan to form them into a new band to audition for the Battle of the Bands competition. He casts Zack Mooneyham as lead guitarist, Freddy Jones as drummer, cello player Katie on bass guitar, Lawrence on keyboards, and himself as lead vocalist and guitarist. He assigns the rest of the class to various roles of co-lead and backup singers, groupies, roadies and security, with overachiever Summer Hathaway (Miranda Cosgrove) as band manager. The project takes over normal lessons, but helps the students embrace their talents and overcome their insecurities, as well as realizing that rock and roll can help them stand up for themselves. Dewey reassures Lawrence, who feels nerdy, and is worried about not being cool enough for the rest of the band; Zach, whose overbearing father personally disapproves of rock music; and Tomika, an overweight girl who is too self-conscious to even audition for co-lead and backup singer, despite having an amazing voice.
Two weeks into his hiring, Dewey sneaks his main band members out of the school to audition for the Battle of the Bands competition, while the rest of the class remain behind to maintain cover. When Freddy wanders away to be with other much older musicians, Dewey retrieves him and chastises him for doing such. Unfortunately, the group is rejected because the bill is full. However, Hathaway comes up with a plan to deceive the organizers into thinking that the children all have a terminal disease. The plan works, and the band is ready to perform at the Battle of the Bands competition. The next day, band groupies Michelle and Eleni, with Hathaway's approval, name the band "The School of Rock". Almost immediately afterwards, Rosalie decides to check on Dewey's teaching program, forcing Dewey to teach actual material. Rosalie informs that a parents' night will take place at the school the day before the Battle of the Bands competition, rendering Dewey somewhat concerned.
While Dewey prepares for the parents' night, Ned receives a paycheck from the school using mail and realizes that Dewey has been impersonating him. During the parents' meeting, the parents question what Finn has been teaching the children, so he explains to the parents as best he can. However, the meeting is stopped when Ned, Patty and the police (who were called by Patty) arrive at the school and confront Dewey. With Rosalie bursting into question what is going on, Dewey reveals his true identity, admits he is not a licensed teacher and escapes to his apartment where he and Patty later argue. Ned eventually intervenes to break up the argument, Dewey apologizes to Ned and admits that he cannot give up rock music. Understanding, Ned opens up to Dewey, stating that he misses his old life being part of a rock band called Maggot Death, and explains that he chose to move on with his life after realizing that it was not becoming the career he had hoped it would be. Ned suggests that Dewey should do the same thing, and also leave in the morning.
The next morning, the parents angrily confront Rosalie in her office. The children decide not to allow their hard work to go to waste and sneak out of the school. When the new substitute discovers that the children are missing, she informs Rosalie, who determines that they have gone to the Battle of the Bands competition. Patty makes one last attempt to stop them, but Ned eventually stands up to her and leaves her to see them perform. A school bus with the children comes to pick up Dewey, which takes them to the Battle of the Bands competition where they decide to play the song written by Zack. Initially dismissed as a gimmick, the band wins over the entire crowd. Much to Dewey's dismay, his old band No Vacancy wins, but the audience chants for School of Rock and demands an encore. The band retakes the stage and begins performing "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" by AC/DC. Meanwhile, angry at the deception, Ned, Rosalie and most of the children's parents have arrived in the audience. They are impressed and proud of Dewey and the band for their talent and confidence on stage, with Rosalie even becoming ecstatic.
Some time later, an after-school program known as the School of Rock has opened and Summer has obtained many offers for shows and record deals from the band. Dewey now has his own residence and continues to coach the students he played with before, while having rediscovered his passion for rock music, Ned has dumped Patty and teaches beginner students.
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