Meet Ms. Abbott, the Philly teacher who inspired Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary

Joyce Abbott remembers each of her students – those who fought and those who rose.

She wasn’t surprised when Quinta Brunson, one of her sixth graders at Andrew Hamilton Elementary in West Philadelphia, became successful. But Abbott took double hearts when her daughter heard on social media that Brunson, a comedian and writer, had a new TV show.

“She said, ‘Mom, Quinta is creating this show ‘Abbott Elementary.’ I know it has something to do with you, I just know,” Abbott said.

That would be Abbott Elementary, the hit ABC show written, produced and starring Brunson, inspired by Brunson’s own teacher mother. It’s about a fictional, underfunded Philadelphia public school very similar to Hamilton, where Abbott still works—the needs are great and the budget small, but the staff cares and the kids are a delight.

And yes, the name is no coincidence. Brunson chose “Willard Abbott Elementary” as a nod to West Philly icon Will Smith and her favorite teacher, whose life has gotten a lot busier since the show first aired and learned Brunson reconnected with her wanted.

Abbott, who tutored Brunson from 2000 to 2001 and last saw her in 2003 when she graduated from eighth grade, soon got the call.

“We talked for almost an hour that night,” Abbott said. “We both cried”

Brunson was a strong student at Hamilton, but a shy one. She volunteered for everything and was so determined that she cried when she earned a B.

“She was a great student,” Abbott said. “Sometimes she was too hard on herself — she was so driven by excellence.”

» READ MORE: ‘Abbott Elementary’ is full of Philly references. Here is a list of all of them.

Although they spoke and texted each other regularly, they have yet to meet in person. But they had a virtual meeting on Jimmy Kimmel Live Tuesday, where Abbott in Philadelphia surprised her former student in Los Angeles. Brunson wiped tears from her eyes as she saw Abbott on screen.

“Oh my god, I’m so proud of you,” Abbott told Brunson. Kimmel later surprised Abbott, who is planning to retire soon, with a five-day vacation. (Abbott and Brunson plan to meet in person the next time Brunson is in Philadelphia, Abbott said.)

Alumni have flooded Abbott’s inbox. When Abbott got her COVID-19 booster shot, her daughter mentioned that Abbott Elementary was named after her mother, someone asked Abbott to take a picture with her.

It was overwhelming but beautiful. And she’s still trying to inspire a high school student who happened to be a celebrity to write and star in a television show about Philadelphia schools that she named after her.

“It means a lot,” Abbott said. “It’s not like I’m doing the work to be recognized – I’ve never done the work to be recognized. The kids know, the students know, and that’s all that matters.”

Instead, the reward is her students’ pride in their own hard work, their realization that they can do difficult things, their coming back to visit her and telling her about the goals they achieved after their classes.

To get there, Abbott himself has never shied away from hard work. (“I give 150 to 200 percent,” she estimates.) Teaching isn’t a 9-to-3 job, no matter when the bells ring. She made sacrifices to get there, reaching into her own bag to get supplies or groceries for a child’s family, sitting with students in hospitals and opening her own front door to see students on her porch. It’s exhausting sometimes.

But “if you believe in them, put in the work,” Abbott said. “It’s more than a job. You have to give these kids a chance if they want to get out of the neighborhood. The only way is to educate them.”

Abbott herself grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from public schools – Overbrook for high school.

She earned a business degree and joined the Army, served in Desert Storm, and then became a teacher through a program that helped veterans earn educational degrees. She spent a year at Shaw Middle School and then came to Hamilton, where she has worked for 25 years. After a long career, primarily as a sixth grade teacher, Abbott became Hamilton’s dean of studies and then climate manager, responsible for school safety and order. She mediates in conflicts, manages admission and discharge and meets with the parents.

» READ MORE: There’s a new sitcom about Philly public schools. So we asked a city teacher to check it out

Abbott never missed an episode of Abbott Elementary, and she said she loved the show even if she wasn’t involved.

The show has resonated with so many Philadelphia educators, not because of the inside jokes about “jaws” and South Philly gangsters, but because it reflects the efforts that teachers make for their students. When Brunson’s Janine Teagues gave an impassioned speech about the talents of all her students, Abbott nodded.

All of her children deserve the best, Abbott believes. That’s why she urged her like this: Speak in full sentences. “A” are not easy to get. You’re not below basic, the lowest designation on standardized tests, so don’t act like it.

“You should be able to get through those doors and get the quality of a private education, if not better,” Abbott said.

That was what she aspired to in her class – strong education and positive life experiences. When Brunson was a sixth grader, the students held pretzel sales and gathered hoagies to earn enough money for a stretch limousine ride and a gourmet dinner at the fancy Chart House by the end of the school year. Abbott taught her what a salad fork looked like and how to talk to and tip the limousine driver, setting aside class fees for doing so.

Abbott turned down suggestions to aim a little lower, to take a school bus to Olive Garden or TGI Friday’s.

“If you work hard, you get the best,” Abbott said. “When you see the best, you will strive.”

And while Brunson’s recognition is a feather in Abbott’s cap as a teacher, it doesn’t detract from the achievements of the young lady-turned-hairdresser, or the young man, who entered the sixth grade and struggled with reading, and spent Abbott’s preparatory periods in her room, where she went through individual readings with her. He’s in the Air Force now.

“Some of them struggled to get out of high school,” Abbott said, “but they made it, and I’m equally proud of them.”