Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher with a can-do attitude at New York"s inner city Calvin Coolidge High. Crowded classes, broken windows, lack of chalk and books are a few of the problems facing Sylvia, yet she carries on - even as a promising student drops out, another sleeps through class, a girl with a crush on a male teacher gets suicidal, and a bright but troublesome student misunderstands Sylvia"s reaching out.