'Abbott Elementary' Opens Second Season with Emphasis on Accessibility

Hit ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary returned to the airwaves on September 21, bringing with it an emphasis on accessibility and representation in elementary schools.

Following a successful first season that hooked viewers with an endearing, yet harshly realistic, look into the teachers and students that make up the Philadelphia Public School System, the sitcom's second season premiere picked up where its predecessor left off.

As faculty, staff members and fan-favorite Principal Ava Coleman, played by Janelle James, prepare for yet another year at the fictional Willard R. Abbott Public School, two teachers facing unique challenges are spotlighted alongside star and Emmy Award-winning showrunner Quinta Brunson.

Kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard, played by fellow Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph, is tasked with finding a specialized desk for a new student who uses a wheelchair, largely as a result of broken promises associated with a grant awarded to the school at the end of the first season.

History teacher Jacob Hill, played by Chris Perfetti, is in a slightly different position. After taking a summer course in American Sign Language (ASL), Hill expresses his desire to relay his learnings to the rest of the Abbott Elementary crew, but is met with lackluster response.

However, Hill's signing capabilities—though rudimentary—come into use by the end of the episode, when a deaf student arrives on the first day of school and Hill is able to introduce himself and begin a warm and welcoming dialogue.

Howard's resolution is more drawn out, but just as rewarding.

Despite difficulties acquiring a wheelchair-accessible desk, it is revealed that a portion of the grant money from Season 1 was used to install a ramp in front of the school. And as the episode comes to a close, first grade teacher Gregory Eddie, played by Tyler James Williams, employs a bit of resourcefulness and locates the exact desk needed stowed away in the school's storage area.

During a recent Zoom roundtable, United Press International reported that Brunson pointed to her mother's experiences teaching a blind student as inspiration for both storylines involving accessibility—or lack thereof—in school settings.

"They weren't necessarily giving my mom resources to help her with this blind student," Brunson said. "When something like a disability comes into play, what does that mean for someone like Barbara who wants to do the most for her students but isn't being helped?

"A lot of people in this country have disabilities," Brunson added. "All of them aren't visible."

Like many instances throughout the first season of Abbott Elementary, the emphasis on increasing accessibility in underfunded schools caught the attention of Twitter users, many of whom were moved by the pronounced focus on proper representation.

"The way #abbottelementary is being so realistic about inclusion and diversity," one Twitter user posted, attaching a clip of Hill using ASL to communicate with a deaf student. "As a teacher I see these kids every day and they are often not represented in any kind of media at all, thank you [Abbott] for that!"

"Watching Abbott Elementary on lunch break and the choice to help and advocate for Black disabled kids has me crying," @robertjmonson echoed, including clips of both Hill and Howard.

"This scene and when Greg sought out a desk for the precious one in a wheelchair?" they added, attaching multiple crying emojis.

"So many times in my life as a student I had ill-fitting desks or none at all, especially in lecture halls," Twitter user @SFdirewolf added. "Seeing the wheelchair using student so pumped for school in #AbbottElementary going up the ramp [and] in the classroom gave me all the FEELS.

"This is why #RepresentationMatters," they added.

Abbott Elementary airs at 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday nights on ABC.

Newsweek reached out to ABC for comment.