I would like to know if the building they show at the start of each Head of the Class (the place where Howard Hesseman runs up the stairs to the front doors)is a real building somewhere. If so, what buiding is it and where is it located? Thanks!

okay i know this post is ancient, but i just got here! i know the answer to this. it is a real school, washington high school, i believe in new york city. (although it may be in los angeles, seeing as how the show was filmed in california)

I just read, I can't remember where(maybe on the internet movie database), that the school is Washington Irving high school in Manhattan. That is kind of cool since that is where Fillmore is supposed to be and they used a real Manhattan building!

It is indeed called Washington Irving High School.

It's at 16th Street and Irving Place.

If I ever get to New York I have got to see this building.

At times, I thought the school building portrayed in exterior shots on Head of the Class was the old Stuyvesant High School building. I then realized that that was a completely different building, with a different exterior facade, and was like, half as tall as Washington Irving. Both buildings were designed by C. B. J. Snyder; he was also responsible for designing several other public school buildings in the NYC area using different architectural styles.