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Kadic Academy
 
|  | Kadic Academy, constructed at the start of the 20th century mainly during the year 1905, is a very vast group of buildings that forms a top-notch educational centre. There would be a lot to say about this school, which is mostly normal despite its proportions, which ridicule some more modest establishments.
The first essential thing to know about Kadic is that it's not only a junior high school, but also a senior high! So it welcomes students from years 6 through to 12. However, it's impossible to know what type of post-junior high classes the school offers; general education or technological subjects.
The idea leading us to believe that Kadic is just a junior high school is however reinforced by the fact that no students older than Yumi and William seem to appear on our screens despite Kadic being a boarding school. This doubtlessly comes from the fact that the broadcasters thought that a change in target would create an environment of senior high students!
It's the same thing for the younger students: we never see students younger than year six! We can put forward the hypothesis that Kadic also welcomes students from primary school and kindergarten, reinforced by Sissi's knowing Ulrich since kindergarten in the French version of episode 36 “Marabounta”.
Perhaps the primary students are in a part of the establishment where the cartoon's secret cameras aren't permitted.
Up until season 3, it wasn't evident if Kadic was a private or a public school, however one line from Ulrich's father cleared things up: “(...) That you show respect for your work! Need I remind you that I'm the one paying, and you're costing me a small fortune!”
Kadic therefore seems to be a private school (unless Ulrich's father's expenses aren't linked to the boarding school).
As the episodes go on, we find out more about the life of boarders at Kadic; for example, we know that breakfast is served at 7am and dinner at 7pm. Boarders aren't allowed to enter the dorms during class hours, which are from 8am to 4:30pm. In episode 61 “Sabotage”, we also witness a dorm room inspection. Of course, animals are forbidden at Kadic, although that hasn't stopped Odd from sneaking Kiwi in. Jim distributes mail in the cafeteria of a morning (episode 84 “Guided Missile”).
The boarding students may remain at Kadic not only over the weekends, but also school holidays except for the summer ones. Jeremy gets himself in trouble in order to stay at Kadic during the holidays in episode 3 “Holiday in the Fog”, and Aelita wishes to stay at Kadic during the Christmas holidays in episode 82 “Distant Memory”.
For a description of the staff and students, I'll send you to the Characters section, and more precisely to the Kadic album.
I'll conclude in saying that Kadic is a lively school, where a number of clubs and activities are held. Here is a list:
- Jim's photography club (episode 64 “Double Trouble”).
- Jim's martial arts club (“XANA Awakens” & 86 “Canine Conundrum”).
- Mr Chardin's cinema club (episodes 50 “Contact” & 91 “Bad Connection”).
- Mr Chardin's theatre troupe (episodes 15 “Laughing Fit” & 60 “Temporary Insanity”).
- The Kadic News, newspaper produced by the two year six students Tamiya and Milly, and which is very popular.
- Various dances and parties organised for certain occasions such as the end of the school year (episodes 1 “Teddygozilla”, 33 “Final Mix”, 52 “The Key”).
- Band created by Odd, Ulrich and Yumi in episode 2 “Seeing is Believing”.
- Safety exercise with firefighters (episode 71 “Maiden Voyage”).
- Outdoor biology exercise (episode 74 “Hot Shower”).
- Camping and natural studies excursion (episode 76 “The Lake”).
Activities are also on offer to students in their rec' room, which opens in episode 69 “Wreck Room”. The students can also ask Jim to do special sports training with him like in episode 74 “I'd Rather Not Talk About It”. Certain events are more exceptional, such as visits from a film producer (James Finson in episode 8 “End of Take”) or even a member of the Subdigitals coming to look for young talents (Chris in episode 68 “Opening Act”).
Welcome to the school; here is a place-by-place visit. | | |
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Kadic's front gate is an architectural masterpiece combining Gothic and Roman influences with a touch of baroque and...
Let's be serious! There's not much to say about Kadic's gate (hence my attempt to fill the void), which is just a simple fence (that's a little rusty).
We mainly see this gate when the heroes accompany Yumi as she's leaving school. It leads onto the path that goes through the school park and separates into several trails.
It notably appears in episode 29 “Exploration” in which Yumi is accompanied to school by her parents, episode 22 “Routine” where the heroes say goodbye, and episodes 22 “Routine” and 82 “Distant Memory” where the heroes send each other off for the weekend or a holiday. | | |
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The park of Kadic Academy is a much denser topic than the gate – so dense that, in some places, it almost looks like a little wood. It spreads over the whole area of the school, separating the front gate from the buildings and the sports fields. It is somewhat like a buffer zone that separates bystanders from all the paranormal activities that are going on at the school. Thus, in episode 40 “Attack of the Zombies”, the policemen who were called by William do not see what is happening in the lunchrooms, and simply leave.
Even though the park is huge, this is far from purely meaning bad news for our heroes. Whenever the objective of XANA's attack is to keep our heroes prisoner at the school, the program has to watch the whole perimeter of the park, and our heroes always manage to find a way to slip through the net. For example, we can remind episode 40 “Attack of the Zombies”, when an army of XANA-zombified people wander around in the park, and yet does not prevent Yumi from joining Aelita and Jeremy, who can then go to the factory.
The park is always closely monitored by the program because it harbours the manhole cover under which there is a ladder that leads to the secret passage to the factory.
Sometimes, the park directly provides XANA with attack material, like hornets (episode 12 “Swarming Attack”) or even tree roots, which can imprison the heroes (episode 61 “Sabotage”).
In other cases, XANA sends its forces directly onto the site, for example a Krab (episode 39 “A Bad Turn”).
When no war is going on, the park is a very quiet place, an ideal place to rest if you have a one-hour gap in you schedule. Our heroes do not go there that much during their breaks and prefer to stick to the quadrangles, which is a shame because it is always nice to see some green area.
To conclude, let us mention the gardener's shed where tools are stored...tools that our heroes sometimes need to use during their war against XANA. A Kankrelat, savagely slaughtered by Ulrich and Yumi in episode 26 “False Start”, could vouch for this...or not.
Usually, this storehouse is a restricted area in which students are not allowed, as Jim reminds Milly. This does not stop Yumi from taking refuge from xanafied crows in episode 58 “The Pretender”. Odd and Sissi, chased by the whole xanafied school, try to hide there before being caught by the main user of the tool shed: Mr Rouiller (episode 91 “Bad Connection”).
This being said, always look on the bright side of life! The park is a pretty beautiful place if you want to do some training (episode 65 “Final Round”), start a sibling war (episode 77 “Lost At Sea”) or even...flirt with your date? (episode 85 “Kadic Bombshell”).
It is even the ideal place to conclude a series of 97 episodes, by a well-known manhole cover back in its place and getting your sports teacher to say his mythical catch-phrase (episode 95 “Echoes”).
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Located further away from the gate, surrounded by the park, the science building and the gymnasium, the sports fields of Kadic are quite vast and allow our heroes to practise all kinds of outdoor sports such as discus (episode 63 “Triple Trouble”) or javelin (episode 67 “Double Take”), soccer and races of many kinds (500 metres, endurance, and such)... It seems the sports complex is quite developed since it can host inter-school soccer competitions, like in episode 21 “Zero Gravity Zone”!
The sports fields are also the settings in which Jim tortures his stu...gives his sports lessons. Those always start with long, pitiful speeches about the origins, the uses, the history and ancient philosophy of the sports he teaches, absolutely well-founded on conscientious quotations.
Unfortunately, the poor supervisor often gets mixed up in this own explanations; however, once the practice part of the class has begun, there is no more dilly-dallying! You'd better be good and run fast, because if you don't, Jim's cutting comments such as “hopeless” will conclude your performance...
An undeniable advantage of sports lessons, compared to other classes, is that since the heroes are near the park and the secret passages that lead to the factory, they can easily sneak out of Jim's reach in case of emergency!
In episode 67 “Double Take”, our heroes had to stay there and closely watch Jeremy's clone while XANA's influence was causing it to be rather unstable... | | |
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The gymnasium is located south of the sport fields, at the end ot the southern wing of Kadic. According to the principal, it undergoes renovation works in episode 6 “Cruel Dilemma”. Inside, all sorts of indoor sports are practised, such as basketball, rock climbing (episode 44 “Vertigo”) or, why not, handball and so on... In “XANA Awakens”, we also learn that this is the place where Jim manages his martial arts club.
It is rare for the place to be locked, so it is easy for students to go there and train, like Ulrich in episode 35 “The Chips Are Down” or Yumi in episode 58 “The Pretender”. The locker rooms are also located in the gymnasium.
Another capital function of the gymnasium is to be used for festivities at Kadic, or as a multipurpose room, broadly speaking. We can remember the robot competition in episode 20 “The Robots”, or also parties like in episode 33 “Final Mix”, or auditions to find new talents (episode 68 “Opening Act”).
In episode 65 “Final Round”, the gymnasium even hosts a skateboarding turnament.
Jim also uses the gymnasium for his own bemefit in order to punish Odd for broadcasting the picture from Paco the King of Disco in episode 66 “William Returns”. The episode ends on a disco concert given by Jim.
XANA never gets really interested in the gymnasium itself; however, since our heroes spend a lot of time there, it often has to go and get them there. Generally, strong-arms tactics prove to be efficient, be it with a three-metre (nine-foot) tall robot (episode 20 “The Robots”) or with an army of mechanical dogs (episode 86 “Canine Conundrum”)... In other cases, the attacks are more focused on a single hero: for example, a giant ball of electricity getting out of the electrical network (Prequel) or quite violent crows destroying a glass pane to reach and lash out at Yumi (episode 58 “The Pretender”)!
We must also remember the mysterious “attack in the gymnasium”, mentioned in episode 72 “Crash Course”...so, what really happened between Jeremy and Aelita? | | |
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The science building is not part of the € symbol formed by the other buildings. It overlooks the sports fields and there are several floors, even though Ms Hertz is the only known science teacher at Kadic... Throughout the classrooms, one can stumble across everything that is necessary to teach biology, physics or chemistry. The series only shows a few test tubes, chemical products and electrical circuits, but surely the stock ought to be more important that that.
It is also in the science building that the computer room is seen, in episode 23 “Rock Bottom?”, during which Samantha tries to steal a laptop.
Since they contain chemical products, the laboratories are often attacked by XANA: the most striking example is episode 15 “Laughing Fit”, in which XANA takes control of the content of two bottles of laughing gas.
To the heroes, the laboratory is associated with pretty bad memories...twice, they were forced to send someone on a rescue mission: to save Ms Hertz in episode 21 “Zero Gravity Zone” and Samantha in episode 23 “Rock Bottom?”! We can also add that in episode 26 “False Start”, XANA sends its Kankrelats there to find our heroes. | | |
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The boiler room is located beside the gymnasium. Usually, this room is not visited by many students in normal schools. But Kadic is not a normal school.
The first thing you need to know about the boiler room is that it is one of the two accesses to the secret passage to the sewers and the factory. You can enter those trough a door that is not locked, and by the way, it is really surprising that neither the principal nor Jim ever wondered what was behind that door!
However, opening a door is not, by far, the most impressive event that takes place in the boiler room. In episode 45, all the students gather there to take shelter from the incredibly arctic temperature brought about by XANA's attack. In episode 30 “A Great Day”, it even becomes a boxing ring where Ulrich has to fight a xanafied Sissi, who will wreck pretty much everything in the room. When some pipes are damaged, the room is filled up with smoke. It is also by destroying those pipes that Aelita gets the principal and Jim to run away from the room, which allows Jeremy to head for the factory in episode 24 “Ghost Channel”!
Frequently, to block access to the secret passage and the factory, XANA blocks the way to the boiler room. This happens in episode 10 “The Girl of the Dreams with the armour, and also in episode 86 with Kiwi 2s.
The violent battle against XANA is not the only thing that can transform the boiler room: Sissi's stupidity is also pretty efficient, when it comes to that. In episode 48, the room goes through an extreme makeover and it is turned into a perfect set for a séance: candles, pentagrams on the floor, somewhat gullible followers and a real spectre for a touch of realism!
A séance, how come? you might ask. Quite simply because of some old rumour that has been around for a while, concerning Kadic and its boiler room. Do you want me to tell it to you...?
In the unlordly year of our Lord 1905, while Kadic was still being built, it is told that Leon Courbet, building worker, was immured alive in the boiler room and that thereon his ghost has been haunting the place and terrifying the children... | | |
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This is the most important part of Kadic Academy: the big building of classrooms and dormitories are, from an aerial point of view, approximately shaped like a C, with two little horizontal bars that roughly turn it into a Euro symbol: €.
Since the classrooms are only located in the outside perimeter and in one of the bars, the shape is basically that of an E.
The classrooms are as generic as you can get, with blackboards, old-fashioned sticks of chalk, a teacher's desk and desks for students, which are invariably shared into rows of two.
These classrooms are used to teach all subjects except for sports and sciences.
When they are not on Lyoko, this is where our heroes spend most of their time, locked up with teachers who try to fill their heads with lessons and exercises.
But as soon as the Superscan's alarm rings, you need to find a good excuse to leave the room... Headache, bathroom break, anything goes as long as it sounds convincing enough for the teacher (or does not leave them enough time to think of an appropriate reaction).
It is even easier when the whole school is targeted by XANA's attack: then, our 5 heroes have no difficulty weaving in and out between panicked students and teachers who are alarmed by the events. | | |
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The dormitories were built right above the classrooms. After a certain time, students must go there and leaving them is forbidden and punishable by suspension. Indeed, night trips may be sanctioned with serious sentences at Kadic. Very luckily for them, our heroes will only experience it once, which is very rare compared to all the night infractions they perpetrated. In episode 70 “Skidbladnir”, Aelita is caught being in Jeremy's room by Jim. 4 hours of detention.
So, those long corridors occupy the second and third floors of Kadic. To make a long story short, who could refuse one of good old Jim's tirades?
“May I remind you that in the evening, girls and boys are prohibited from straying from their respective floors. Ok, for any of you who might be thinking of trying to pull anything, remember that the floors are different from each other in that they are either upstairs from or downstairs from the one...above!
Girls are upstairs, and boys downstairs! Comings and goings from upstairs to downstairs and from downstairs to upstairs are strictly forbidden. And if I ever catch anyone from downstairs upstairs or anyone going from upstairs to downstairs, he or she's really going to regret it stairs!”
Let us just note that this golden rule shouted by the drill sergeant GI-Jim is not that golden in every episode. Sometimes, Aelita's room is seen to be on the same floor as Jeremy's; in episode 22 “Routine”, Ulrich and Emily shouldn't have come across each other either.
In Kadic's long corridors, extraordinary amounts of doors line up, leading to rooms of a more or less equal surface area. We can see that students are either alone in their room (like Jeremy, Sissi or Aelita), or have a roommate (like Ulrich and Odd, but also Milly and Tamiya).
Inside the rooms, a lot of things are allowed (Walkmans, MP3, posters, computers connected to the Internet); each student can decorate his or her room according to their own tastes. Sissi's room, for example, reflects her character quite well: a mirror, pictures of celebrities, lots of clothing, make-up and beauty items everywhere! Jeremy's, on the other hand, is equipped with all sorts of computing paraphernalia, stuff with which to build little robots himself – and not to mention Einstein's famous picture, a classic!
Ulrich and Odd's room is simpler. A simple table to work on and personal belongings in the closet.
Jim also has a room of his own, amongst the students', and one can mainly see there sports equipment and athlete posters...or even a few compromising pictures from the past of our favourite supervisor!
Each floor has its own shared bathroom with several shower units, and large sinks that students use every morning and night. Generally speaking, nothing really breath-taking or even interesting ever happens here, except when Aelita suffered from hallucinations or when Sissi sends her to the boys' bathroom.
Same thing goes for the dormitories: not a lot of action. Most of the time, Jeremy warns our heroes that XANA is on the move and they leave the dormitories before they have the time to notice anything. However, when those attacks happen at night like in episode 48 “Is There Anybody Out There?”, or when they are unexpected like in episode 10 “The Girl of the Dreams”, xanafied armour or an insensitive spectre might be running about the corridors...
The students are allowed to stay in their room when they are sick, but apart from that, staying in the dormitories between 8am and 4:30pm is strictly forbidden, because students are supposed to be in class or studying. Of course, Jim sees that the rules are respected.
The dormitories themselves were once the main objective of one of XANA's attacks against the school, when it tried to make the building collapse creating ultrasounds (episode 13 “Just in Time”).
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This place is a new area that opens its doors for the first time in episode 69 “Wreck Room”. The principal gives it to the students on the one condition that they look after it. To the great displeasure of our heroes, William's clone is elected to be responsible for the room, and it turns out that indeed, it is not able to handle it correctly, due to its far too basic intellectual abilities. After a return to the past, our heroes see that the post is given to Sissi.
The recreational (or rec') room contains a lot of different stuff for students to spend their spare time on: a TV (the fight for the remote control is often pretty intense), a foosball table (useful when you want to make friends with a newcomer, like Jeremy's cousin (episode 88 “Cousins Once Removed”)) and a ping-pong table where Jim, the “Killer Racquet”, can challenge students.
Like many other places at Kadic, the recreational room soon becomes a place where students gather and talk. Our heroes, however, avoid mentioning XANA because of the people around, but which does not prevent them from spending some time together around the foosball table.
One of XANA's attacks is initiated here: in episode 69, it takes control of William's clone and use it to fight our heroes. | | |
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Yolanda Perraudin constantly sees to it that hurt or sick students are well-treated. Even for the slightest problem, the nurse can provide you with a solution. All patients have to do is to lie down on an infirmary bed and wait for the cure. Yolanda is even able to treat sprains and allowed to do a medical check-up, which shows that she is quite skilled.
When Yolanda finds herself helpless in front of an injury or a condition, it often means that our heroes' enemy has something to do with it (for instance, Odd's condition in episode 18 “Killer Music” or Jeremy's in episode 38 “Temptation”). Those cases are rare, but the result is always the same: after very carefully and anxiously observing the patient's condition, Yolanda, panicky, turns to the principal and asks him to call the hospital!
The fact that, during the war against XANA, the infirmary is staffed by a skilled person is a reassuring fact for our heroes, and also important for the victims of those attacks.
Electric shock, headache, stomach ache, sudden weakness or fit of insanity: everything is dealt with at the infirmary...as well, of course, as typical high-school problems such as excessive sweating or acne. | | |
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There are two quadrangles, surrounded by the classrooms and the administrative building. The northern one is the one in which you can find the students' toilets but, above all, the well-known vending machine that Odd and Nicolas find far too often out-of-order. So if you suddenly desire to drink a black coffee, put in the coins and pray that the drink is poured into a cup, or even poured at all (unlike what happens in episode 63 “Triple Trouble”)!
The southern one is where the two lunchrooms are located: therefore, you can't avoid setting foot in it if you want to get something in your stomach.
At Kadic Academy, quadrangles are the place where, by the strewn benches and under the foliage of scattered trees, you will see seasons pass and time and life flow by. As it is in any school and for any student, including our heroes, quadrangles are a theatre, and they are the actors.
Love stories, Valentine's Day jealousies, chats and comments about classes, teachers, tests to come and academic results... In the quadrangles, couples are born and broken, friendships weaved and unweaved, people kiss, hug and sulk, and the Kadic News is handed out...
The quadrangles are surrounded by archways under which you can seek shelter if it is raining.
For our heroes, the quadrangles are not just a stage before reaching the factory. It is where they gather to quickly review the situation and entrust each other with different tasks when XANA attacks. Even though they never linger there more than necessary, what they do and decide there is paramount for the episode. Yet, when it comes to for XANA's attacks, they rarely start there and never stay there for long. Consequently, the two quadrangles are mostly used as a transition between the place where the attack began (dormitory, infirmary, classroom) and the secret passages. For example, let us remember the chase between Ulrich and William in episode 69 “Wreck Room”.
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As we previously explained, there are actually two of these, located in the southern quadrangle, and set to be parallel to each other. They are perfectly ordinary self-service cafeterias where students help themselves to an appetiser, dessert and cheese before Rosa gives them their share of the main menu.
Strangely, the service is always done by Rosa, which makes us wonder how she can always be in the two lunchrooms at the same time! Or, maybe, our heroes always eat in the same lunchroom – does it depend on what class they're in?
All the students have lunch at the cafeteria, but only boarders have breakfasts and dinners at the academy.
The lunchroom is a place where Kadic's students meet, talk and live. Friends gather to eat, so not being welcomed when sitting at a table is a clear sign that you are on bad terms with a group (poor William in episode 94 “Fight to the Finish”)... In short, a typical high-school place under the supervision of Rosa and our irreplaceable Jim.
Speaking of Jim, he does not hesitate to impose his presence at a student's table, just to make sure that they will be on time to begin their detention (episode 70 “Skidbladnir”).
The adults also eat in the cafeteria, without their private table, like at other schools. Even parents or guests are not an exception (be it JT in episode 45 “Cold War” or William's parents in episode 93 “Down To Earth”).
Let us also point out that the cafeteria is where the mail is distributed (episode 84 “Guided Missile”) and announcements are made (like the assault on a teacher in episode 10 “The Girl of the Dreams” or the fire drill in episode 71 “Maiden Voyage”).
XANA often tries to hold our heroes prisoners in the cafeteria to prevent them from reaching Lyoko. In episode 16 “Claustrophobia”, it electrifies the walls and ceiling, and in episodes 11 “Plagued”, 12 “Swarming Attack” and 40 “Attack of the Zombies”, it sends armies of rats, bees and zombies to besiege the building. | | |
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The library is located in the northern part of the academy, near the surrounding walls... This building, isolated from the others, is where students go to do research during the gaps in their schedule. It might look a little odd, but there is no known librarian: it is as if the books were just left there for the students to pick up!
In this place, there is but one golden rule: absolute, permanent silence. Of course, whose role is it to see that it is respected? Dear, omnipresent Jim, there you are! Our supervisor stalks through the shelves, hunting down any student who dares to whisper or do anything other than their homework.
The only advantage is that if XANA attacks, all you have to do to get thrown out of the place and rush to the factory is stand up and shout (episode 57 “Aelita”).
The library also seems to fulfil another function: that is, the detention room. When a student has been misbehaving or disrespectful, they often get to do a one-way trip to the library, like William in episode 59 “The Secret” and episode 39 “A Bad Turn” with Ulrich, or Aelita and Jeremy in episode 70 “Skidbladnir”, in which we see an easily-tricked Jim. Indeed, it seems that all you need to turn our zealous supervisor into a fat lazybones is a Sumo magazine.
In episode 90 “Wrong Exposure”, the whole group gets locked up while the principal investigates a shady case about Franz Hopper. That is, until the xanafied principal comes and requisitions Aelita, so that her four comrades have to bring Jim down in order to leave the room. | | |
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