The Griebling Academy was a private K-12 school set outside of a small Minnesota township, with a rather large campus. Part of the reason was that all the administrators, teachers, and staff lived on that campus along with their students. Another reason was that the faculty and students all were clowns. Literally.
The whole culture of the school was built around Western-style circus clowning. Students and faculty were all expected to live their day to day lives as clowns, at least while they were on the school grounds. They would be expected to put on their clown make-up the moment they got up and remove it only before going to bed. A special powder was issued to said said makeup so it wouldn't smear or smude, not even when sweating or in the shower, and could only be removed with a special towelette wipe. Likewise, they had to wear elaborate clown costumes and wigs whenever class was in session although they usually dressed in more casual clothes during off hours-although even those would usually be of a colorful sort, such as tie died t-shirts. Also, everyone associated with the school had to wear the kind of round red clown noses that honked when squeezed; these were put on with a special glue and could only be removed with a special solvent. The only time they would dress as their 'normal' selves, was when they left the campus, usually on dates or for visits to their families.
The entire social order of the school was based on clown archetypes-the administrators would be 'neat' or 'classic' whiteface clown with simple elegant makeup, small noses, and colorful but otherwise ordinary looking suits. Directly below them, the teachers of the mainly academic subjects would be 'comedy' or 'grotesque' whitefaces who had gaudier looking makeup, bigger sized clown noses, and gaudier costumes. Right below them, the librarians, art teachers, shop teachers, and gym coaches would be augustes. with orange or pink based makeup and white around the eyes and mouth. At the very bottom, the janitors, cleaning staff, and cafeteria crew would be shabby looking hoboes and bag ladies.
Students, on the other hand classed primarily by their academic performance. The top students were classic whitefaces like the administrators, the students below them, depending on various factors such as personality profile and GPA, would be either comedy whitefaces or augustes. At the very bottom, the students with the least academic acumen would be assigned as hoboes and bag ladies. Unlike faculty, however, a student's classification would change if his or her performance in class shifted either upward or down.
Whenever a new student or faculty member arrived at Griebling, he or she would be taken to a designer and a basic clown face would be designed for him or her. The student would also be taught the basics of clown makeup, and given a sample of clothes to wear, both in class and casual as well as various wigs and accessories. The months passed, that person would start adding his or own touches to the makeup, and it would become that person's own.
And the clown culture of Griebling didn't end at merely looking like clowns. Students and faculty would speak to each other in goofy or silly voices, use exaggerated hand gestures while talking, and even punctuate their words with guffaws and giggles, and frequently ended sentences by honking their clown noses. Teachers would hold their students' attention by doing things like dropping their pants or drawing out multicolored handkerchiefs from their pockets. Students who got answers wrong would frequently be squirted with seltzer water or sprayed with silly string.
Despite the school's strangeness, Griebling Academy was a fully accredited and respectable school. Many of its top students got accepted into Ivy League colleges, and even less prestigious students usually would go on to have successful careers. Not surprisingly, many actually became professional clowns, and many others would at least part time clown as a hobby. It was also very good a setting straight the problem children sent as students and reforming them into responsible and respectable adults.
It was the beginning of the new school year for the academy; older students would returning, new students arriving, and the teachers and other faculty preparing for the curriculum.