The 14 Best High School Movies of All Time

It wouldn't be a high school movie roundup without Mean Girls. The cult classic follows Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) as she starts at a new high school after being homeschooled in Africa her entire life. She finds herself swept up in the drama of the Plastics, the cool clique at school led by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). What follows is totally fetch!

Emma Stone plays Olive Penderghast who, inspired by The Scarlett Letter, embraces rumors about her sex life and wears a red "A" on her clothes. The movie is hilarious and features Emma at her best.

One Saturday in detention brings these five high school students, all from different cliques and walks of life, together. While at first they don't get along, in they end they realize, "each one of [them] is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal." Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club.

The best cheerleader movie ever starred Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union as the captains of two rival cheer squads. When Torrance (Dunst) finds out that her former captain was stealing routines from Isis' (Union) squad, they must create a whole new routine before the national championship.

For anyone with a strict father, 10 Things I Hate About You is all too real. New kid Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) likes Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), but Bianca's dad won't let her date unless her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) is dating. Thus begins a crazy love story between Bianca, Cameron, Kat, and bad boy Patrick (Heath Ledger).

It wouldn't be a high school movie list without High School Musical! Launching the careers of Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and Zac Efron, and bringing us hits like "Breaking Free" and "Get'cha Head in the Game," there are so many reasons to love HSM.

Another John Hughes classic, Pretty in Pink follows Andie (Molly Ringwald) in her senior year of high school, dealing with bullies, guys and, of course, the prom.

Has there ever been a better high school movie? As if! It brought us hotties (Paul Rudd) and great lines ("And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty.") If you haven't seen Clueless stop everything and watch it right now.

Like Clueless, but with a lot more murder, Heathers tells the story of Veronica (Winona Ryder) who is over being in the popular clique at school, so she decides to kill the leader. Heathers is a funny satire on high school cliques and popularity that will leave you glad you don't attend Westerburg High School.

A summer romance turning into something real? That's everyone's dream! But it's not so simple for Sandy, who moves to a new school in the fall and realizes that not only does her summer fling go to the school too, but he's a lot different than she recalls. Everyone knows and loves the story of Danny Zuko, Sandy, the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds.

This movie starring the late Robin Williams tells the tale of an English teacher at an all-boys prep school and his relationship with his students. Dead Poet's Society is both inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time.

You know when you just CAN'T go to school so you exaggerate a cough and complain of a stomach ache to trick your parents into letting you stay in bed all day? Well, if you're not hijacking a parade float you're doing it wrong. Just take Ferris' lead.

Not only did She's the Man give us a great use for tampons (nose bleeds!), it also introduced us to Channing Tatum. This hilarious movie follows Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) as she pretends to be her brother in order to cover for him and try to get on to the boys soccer team at his school. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues.

There is a reason why there are four John Hughes movies and three Molly Ringwald movies on this list: they just get high school right! Sixteen Candles is another example of that, starring Molly as Sam, a high school sophomore who feels rejected when her whole family forgets her birthday.