Back-to-school time is almost here. And generally, you love it or you hate it. Parents tend to fall on the back to school love side where kids and teachers are moaning about the supplies, schedules, and homework just around the corner. If you need a little help getting mentally prepared, watch this list of Back To School movies to get you ready for class! And peep the back-to-school memes as well.
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List of Back-To-School Movies To Get You Ready For Class
Some of these take place in schools, some have school adjacent stories, and some are just a lot of fun to watch before you gotta pack that lunch box again!
This list of back to school movies will certainly help you pass the time until you have to set that alarm for the first day of school.
Elementary and Middle School Back-To-School Movies For Kids
These movies take place in the younger years of school and are appropriate for most kids to watch with G, PG or PG-13 ratings.
- Schoolhouse Rock!
- Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- School of Rock
- Kindergarten Cop
- Akeelah and the Bee
- Monsters University
- Matilda
- Inside Out
- Recess: Taking the 5th Grade
- Billy Madison
Best High School Movies
The movies on this back to school movie list are all set in high school.
Bigger kids, bigger problems!
Keep this in mind when deciding if your younger children can watch these.
An 80s PG rating is absolutely NOT the same as a 2000’s PG rating, folks! Check for parents guides for movies to jog your memory for content.
- Breakfast Club
- Mean Girls
- Footloose
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- Grease
- Sixteen Candles
- High School Musical
- Bring It On
- Mr. Holland’s Opus
- Napoleon Dynamite
- Dead Poets Society
- Stand and Deliver
- Clueless
- Lady Bird
- Dazed and Confused
- Fast Times and Ridgemont High
- Remember the Titans
- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
- American Pie
- 10 Things I Hate About You
- Heathers
- Superbad
- How I Got Into College
- Booksmart
- Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure
- Lucas
- Freaky Friday
- Sky High
- Stargirl
- 21 Jump Street
College Back To School Movies
Got young adults in the house? Kids getting ready to flee the nest and looking for some college inspiration?]
We kid! Pretty much none of these movies should be emulated, but they are a lot of fun to watch.
Here are the college movies that made the list.
- Pitch Perfect
- Real Genius
- Legally Blond
- Back To School
- Drum Line
- Animal House
- Old School
- The House Bunny
More School Content You’ll Love
Printable PDF College Packing List For Guys
Clever Back To School PTO Ideas Parents Will Love
Patty Holliday is a parent movie reviewer, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.