Top 250 Movies Like Tessa

A list of the best movies similar to Tessa. If you liked Tessa then you may also like: Up the Down Staircase, Welcome Home, Bobby, The Wise Kids, Never Been Kissed, Only the Strong and many more great movies featured on this list.

TV show

Dutch remake of the Danish show Rita. Tessa is a single mom and high school teacher. Her students love having her as a teacher, but the adults think she's a piece of work.

Up the Down Staircase

Sylvia, a novice schoolteacher, is hired to teach English in a high school, but she’s met with an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students.

Welcome Home, Bobby

When a Chicago teen is arrested for drug possession, the ensuing investigation reveals that he has had sexual contact with an older man. Discovering his sexual encounter, other students start shunning him and call for his expulsion from school. His father as his conservative blue-collar dad also rejects him, while his mother does try to offer support.

The Wise Kids

A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.

Never Been Kissed

Josie Geller, a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob, Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation -- not to mention her own failed love life -- when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson.

Only the Strong

Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.

Race the Sun

A bunch of high school misfits in Hawaii, introduced by their new teacher, attend a science fair in which they draw up inspiration to build their own solar car and win a trip to compete in the 1990 World Solar Challenge in Australia.

Blackboard Jungle

Richard Dadier is a teacher at North Manual High School, an inner-city school where many of the pupils frequently engage in anti-social behavior. Dadier makes various attempts to engage the students' interest in education, challenging both the school staff and the pupils. He is subjected to violence as well as duplicitous schemes.

Blue Car

Gifted 18-year-old Meg has been abandoned by her father and neglected by her hardworking mother. Left to care for her emotionally disturbed younger sister, her world begins to unravel. She finds an outlet in writing poetry and support from her English teacher, Mr. Auster. But what started out as a mentoring relationship begins to get a bit more complex.

Dirty Teacher

When a high school senior discovers her teacher is seducing her boyfriend, events turn deadly after the teacher tries to cover it up.

Daddy

Two high schoolers are unprepared for the reality of parenthood when the girl becomes pregnant.

Sex & the Single Mom

Jess Gradwell and her teenage daughter boast a superclose relationship. When it comes to sex, however, Mom won't stand for anything less than premarital celibacy. So she gets a pretty healthy dose of her own medicine when she winds up getting pregnant from a brief encounter with a newly single doctor! This new situation poses a major challenge to the mother-daughter dynamic. Tune in to see if Jess and her daughter can rise to the occasion.

Killer Under The Bed

New to town, a bullied teenager discovers a doll, riddled with pins, in her backyard shed. She soon comes to believe that the doll holds supernatural powers.

My Teacher, My Obsession

Riley is struggling to make friends after transferring to a new high school where her father, Chris, is an English teacher. When she meets Kyla, they quickly becomes close friends. However, the friendship takes a strange turn when Riley learns that Kyla is obsessed with her dad. Will Kyla successfully seduce Chris and start a twisted new life with him by removing everyone in her path, or will Riley be able to save her father from Kyla’s treacherous plot before it’s too late?

Freaky Friday

Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.

Ice Princess

With the help of her coach, her mom, and the boy who drives the Zamboni machine, nothing can stop Casey from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.

Before the Dawn

A young high school teacher moves to a new town for a fresh start and falls for a troubled student.

A Teacher

A high school teacher in Austin, Texas takes sexual advantage over one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the details of the relationship are exposed.

The English Teacher

Teacher Linda Sinclair balances her staid home life with an incredible passion for her subject, but her routine is forever altered when a former star pupil and his unsupportive father reenter her life.

This Boy's Life

When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control when her secret letters to every boy she's ever fallen for are mysteriously mailed out.

The History Boys

The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.

The Spectacular Now

Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.

Dumplin'

To prove a point about measuring up and fitting in, Texas teen Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickson enters a local pageant run by her ex-beauty queen mom.

Pay It Forward

Like some other kids, 12-year-old Trevor McKinney believed in the goodness of human nature. Like many other kids, he was determined to change the world for the better. Unlike most other kids, he succeeded.

To Sir, with Love

A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.

Detention

A heroic high school teacher leads a band of students trapped in school by violent drug-runners.

F

A group of teachers must defend themselves from a gang of murderous kids when their school comes under siege after hours.

Fist Fight

When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.

The Glass Menagerie

An aging Southern belle's preoccupation with her past and her dreams for her children's futures threaten to smother her painfully shy daughter and her aspiring writer son.

Hell High

A teacher still haunted by the death of two teens that she accidentally caused as a young girl goes berserk when four teens start harassing her and then attack her in her home.

Mr. Holland's Opus

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Loving Annabelle

Annabelle is the wise-beyond-her-years newcomer to an exclusive Catholic girls school. Having been expelled from her first two schools she's bound to stir some trouble. Sparks fly though when sexual chemistry appears between her and the Head of her dorm and English teacher, Simone Bradley. Annabelle pursues her relentlessly and until the end the older woman manages to avoid the law.

The Single Moms Club

A group of single moms are brought together in the aftermath of an incident at their children's school.

Stand and Deliver

Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.

Blame

A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".

Skipped Parts

A woman and her son must leave a small South Carolina town because of her wild behavior.

Girl in Progress

As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.

Hunky Dory

Musical film about the trials and tribulations of an idealistic drama teacher as she tries to put on the end of year show.

The Male Gaze: Strikers & Defenders

Work up a sweat from the soccer field to the locker room in these drama-fueled four films from Germany, France and the UK that explore how rivalry between teams can spill over into teacher-pupil relationships, high school crushes and brotherly compassion. The short films are: Islands [Inseln] (2018); Play It Like a Man [Un été viril] (2018); Colours (2015); Through the Fields [Passer les champs] (2015).

Pretty Persuasion

A 15-year-old girl incites chaos among her friends and a media frenzy when she accuses her drama teacher of sexual harassment.

High School High

Richard Clark has just left the well-known Wellington Academy to teach at Marion Barry High School. Now, he will try to inspire the D-average students into making good grades and try to woo a fellow teacher.

Home Room

A high school shooting has repercussions on the town and students.

Lick the Star

A clique of school girls devise a secret plan that they code-name "Lick the Star".

The Life Before Her Eyes

As the 15th anniversary of a fatal high school shooting approaches, former pupil Diana McFee is haunted by memories of the tragedy. After losing her best friend Maureen in the attack, Diana has been profoundly affected by the incident - her seemingly perfect life shaped by the events of that day.

Mama's Boy

A twenty-nine year-old slacker who lives with his mom realizes his sweet set-up is threatened when she hears wedding bells with her self-help guru beau.

Max Dugan Returns

An English teacher and struggling single mother has her life disrupted when the father who abandoned her as a child comes back into her life.

The Principal

Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the head of security try to clean up the school and stop the narcotics trade, they run up against a teenage mafia. A violent confrontation on the campus leads to a deadly showdown with the drug dealer's gang, and one last chance for Latimer to save his career... and his life.

Scandal in a Small Town

Leda Beth Vincent lives in the small town of Shiloh and works as a cocktail waitress there. She is not too well thought of as she is nothing of a blushing virgin. But she is far from a whore and brings up her daughter Julie, a high school student, as a loving responsible mother. So, when she becomes aware that Julie's very popular history teacher, Mr Baker, spreads antisemitic ideas among his pupils, Leda Beth decides to ask Mr Baker for an explanation. But she comes up against a wall. Nobody in town - Julie less than all others - wants to support her and it looks as if she will have to bring the Board of Education to court. The trouble is that a school dropout and a tramp of her kind does not count for much compared to the holders of knowledge and of morality.

School of Life

At Fallbrook Middle School, the annual student-elected Teacher of the Year award is held. And every year for the last 43 years Norman Warner or most fondly called Stormin' Norman Warner has won the award. Now that he has died, the burden of carrying the legacy falls into the hands of Matt Warner, the son of the late Norman Warner who has always lived in the shadow of his father.

Teachers

A teacher tries to overcome his frustration teaching a high-school that seems to be full of flunkies.

Look

Interconnected stories are told entirely through images captured on security cameras in storage rooms, police cars, parking lots, shopping malls and other locations. Store manager Tony has affairs with the women who work under him, high schooler Sherri schemes to seduce teacher Berry, a pedophile stalks his next victim at a mall food court and two thieves go on a killing spree that links to other tales witnessed by the unseen electronic eyes.

The Good Student

When Ally, a popular teen and local celebrity goes missing, her small suburban town erupts in panic.

Our Miss Brooks

The big-screen translation of the successful television show of the 1950's. Arden stars as Connie Brooks, wisecracking English teacher at Madison High School, still hoping to tie the knot with shy biology teacher Philip Boynton (Robert Rockwell).

The Secret Life of Girls

15-year-old Natalie, confused to begin with, finds out about her father's affair with one of his students. Refusing to simply stand by and watch her family disintegrate, Natalie takes it upon herself to expose the problem, and in doing so calls into question the family's penchant for denial.

Dismissed

A straight-edged teacher finds trouble when an honors student is willing to do anything to get an A.

Daydream Nation

Forced to move to a boring backwater town, a teenager embarks on affairs with a teacher and a stoner classmate.

Candy Jar

Dueling high school debate champs who are at odds on just about everything forge ahead with ambitious plans to get into the colleges of their dreams.

Teacher

A high school English teacher goes to disturbing lengths to protect his favorite students from bullies, and challenge the power of a wealthy patron within the community.

Plain Clothes

To prove his brother's innocence, undercover officer Nick enrolls in high school again, dealing with crushes, bullies, humiliations, popularity swings, and quirky teachers and staff to find the real murderer.

Whatever

A New Jersey teen faces her impending adulthood, dreaming of a life as a successful New York artist. But when she gets caught up in the carefree sport of pre-AIDS sex and drugs, her future becomes less certain.

The Marc Pease Experience

Former high school musical star, Marc Pease, finds himself still living in the past, eight years after graduating.

Lesson Plan

"Lesson Plan" is a documentary film about The Third Wave (aka The Wave & Die Welle) classroom experiment, as told by the original students and teacher Ron Jones.

American Teacher

As the debate over the state of America's public school system rages on, one thing everyone agrees on is the need for great teachers. Yet, while research proves that teachers are the most important school factor in a child's future success, America's teachers are so woefully underpaid that almost a third must divide their time between a second job in order to make a living. Chronicling the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, American Teacher reveals the frustrating realities of today's educators, the difficulty of attracting talented new teachers, and why so many of our best teachers feel forced to leave the profession altogether. But this wake-up call to our system's failings also looks at possibilities for reform. Can we re-value teaching in the United States and turn it into a prestigious, financially attractive and competitive profession? With almost half of American teachers leaving the field in the next five years, now is the time to find out.

For My Daughter's Honor

Fourteen-year-old high school student, Amy Dustin, becomes an object of romantic affection to the school's biology teacher and football coach, Pete Nash. They take a sudden interest in each other, sending each other notes and talking on the telephone. Although Pete has a family, the two begin a secret relationship. People then begin to suspect that Pete and Amy are having an affair.

Student Seduction

Christie Dawson always wanted to be the "cool" teacher. But her world is shaken up after a pupil's crush spirals out of control and he sexually assaults her. Suddenly, her colleagues, neighbors and even her hubby are wondering whether she crossed the line and tempted her student. But school isn't out for Christine just yet she's gonna fight back, and big time!

The Truth About Jane

Jane, a high school teenager, tries to deal with the discovery that she is a lesbian after developing an intense friendship with another girl who makes her discover her true sexuality, which is only the start of Jane's troubles when Jane's unaccepting mother, Janice, struggles with her surprising revelation of brought forth by her only daughter.

Plainsong

Tom Guthrie, a high school history teacher, is faced with raising two young sons after his wife leaves him. Maggie Jones, a fellow teacher, tries to provide comfort and support.

Boys Life 2

Compilation of four short films, "Must Be the Music", "Nunzio's Second Cousin", "Alkali, Iowa", and "The Dadshuttle", of gay interest.

Carjacked

A single mom and her child are carjacked by a bank robber who has no intention of letting them go.

Thriller

Years after a childhood prank goes horribly wrong, a clique of South Central LA teens find themselves terrorized during Homecoming weekend by a killer hell-bent on revenge.

Trading Mom

The Martin kids learn of a magic spell that will take them to the 'mommy market' so they can get a more user friendly model. After giving a few other moms a try, they want their own back. But that is not so easy.

Sweet Home Carolina

Diane is a struggling single mom in LA. Just when things are at their worst, but she will have to live in small town USA for a year and take care of a dog for a year before the house is hers.

Puppy Love

When single mom Megan Nolan moves to a new town, she feels guilty for uprooting her ten-year-old daughter Caitlin. Seeing that the little girl's only friend is a neighbor's dog, Megan decides to adopt a shelter pet for Caitlin. She immediately regrets her decision when Caitlin gravitates to the biggest, sloppiest dog in the pound, Jake. Megan's beautiful new home is now in shambles and, as Megan considers returning Jake to the shelter, handsome ballplayer Ben shows up claiming Jake is his dog, the regrettable outcome of his roommate leaving a gate open. Megan and Ben butt heads. Ben wants to take his dog and leave, until he sees that Caitlin loves Jake as much as he ever could. Now it is clear: the pound puppy everyone loves deserves no less than joint custody.

Christmas Solo

Two single parents stumble into the possibility of love for Christmas, only to discover that their daughters are embroiled in a nasty rivalry at school. When the rivalry gets out of control, can hope and healing lead everyone to a peaceful and merry Christmas?

A Girl of the Limberlost

A teenage girl living in 1908 rural Indiana attends high school despite her mother's fierce opposition of her life, the friendship of a free-spirted older woman helps her stick to her goals.

My Mother's Future Husband

Headly, a 15-year-old teenager, thinks her mother has mourned her father's death long enough, so she decides to find her a new husband by the end of the summer.

Like Mom, Like Me

A middle-aged mom and her teenage daughter adjust to life together after Dad's affair breaks up the family.

The Mighty Pawns

Inner city kids are given new direction when they are convinced to join the school chess team.

Crossing the Line

A former basketball star moves to a small town to assistant coach for a high school championship-winning basketball team.

Cancel Christmas

The Christmas Board of Directors has decided to cancel Christmas since children everywhere have lost the true spirit of giving. But Santa Claus, not willing to give up his favorite holiday without a fight, demands 30 days to prove them wrong. The board assigns him what seems like an impossible mission: he must change the hearts of two self-absorbed kids and make them see the true meaning of Christmas.

Campfire Kiss

Feeling disconnected with her teenage son, a protective mother decides to step outside of her comfort zone and take him camping. But as soon as she arrives, she begins butting heads with her cabin neighbor, a single father and outdoorsman who is also in search of a connection with his teen daughter. Stars Danica McKellar and Paul Greene.

Campus Confidential

School... there is the popular crowd. Teachers favor some students over others. Because of this, Violet decides to start a school paper, which exposes many embarrassing secrets of popular kids who think they run the campus.

Christmas at Cartwright's

With Christmas approaching, a struggling single mom finds herself working as a department store Santa Claus, as a real-life angel delivers good fortune and the possibility of holiday romance.

Radical

In a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence, a frustrated teacher tries a radical new method to break through his students’ apathy and unlock their curiosity, their potential… and maybe even their genius. Based on a true story.

Critical Thinking

Based on a true story from 1998, five Latino and Black teenagers from the toughest underserved ghetto in Miami fight their way into the National Chess Championship under the guidance of their unconventional but inspirational teacher.

Amy & Isabelle

In 1971, in the small town of Shirley Falls, in Maine, the odd and lonely secretary Isabelle Goodrow raises her teenager daughter Amy alone. She has only two friends in her job among her gossiper colleagues. When her overprotected daughter is seduced by her mathematic teacher Peter Robertson, the world of Isabelle falls apart. She becomes lost and loses her confidence on Amy, spoiling their relationship. Their bond gets tied again when Isabelle discloses her inner secrets from the past to Amy.

The Violation of Sarah McDavid

Sarah McDavid, an idealistic young teacher, takes a job in a rough high school where she is eventually attacked and raped in her classroom after school hours and decides to buck the school system in an attempt to make schools safer for students and teachers alike, against the advice of the school's principal, Dr. Keys, who tries to gloss over the hazardous conditions and the incident itself to avoid bad publicity and decreased enrollment.

The Girls of Huntington House

An unmarried teacher in a school for unwed mothers finds herself becoming too emotionally attached to her students and their problems.

Dawn Anna

The true story of a single mom who overcomes many of life's obstacles.

More Sex & the Single Mom

Single, divorced lawyer Jess Gradwell returns in this sequel as she tries to raise her new three-year-old son, Jake, while dealing with her teenage daughter, Sara's, growing carnal desires with a photographer she meets while planning her high school graduation. It all comes to a head when Jess' former flame and father of Jake, Alex Lofton, returns never knowing he has a son out of his and Jess' lustful fling and wants to be a part of her life again, despite Jess not wanting anything to do with Alex.

The Music Teacher

Music Teacher revolves around Alyson Daley (Potts), a high school music teacher who is on the brink of losing her beloved school music program because of district budget cuts. In an effort to spare the program, Daley's former students band together to stage a musical to raise money to keep the program alive.

Orca Park

A high school science teacher and her sixteen year old student, run away together and take refuge behind the doors of a murky motel room in rural Orca Park, Florida. When an unhinged private investigator shows up and starts asking questions, the lover's idyllic world plummets into a well of suspicion, jealousy and deceit.

Northpole

Northpole, the magical city where Santa and his elves live and work is in trouble. Families around the globe have gotten too busy to enjoy the season together, and Northpole depends on their holiday happiness to keep running. In the hopes of turning things around, a determined young elf befriends a little boy with a lot of spirit. His skeptical journalist mom doesn’t have room in her heart for anything but the facts, so it’s going to take a little nudge from his charming teacher to create an unbeatable Christmas team to turn around this town and share the importance of the season with the whole world.

Bad Tutor

When a single mom hires a tutor to help her daughter graduate high school, the tutor becomes dangerously obsessed.

A Lethal Lesson

High school teacher Lauren finds her life up side down when her job, the custody of her adopted daughter and even her safety is in danger when an angry student falsely claims to have had an affair with her.

My Birthday Romance

Callie Fitzgerald is tired of her family fixing her up and questioning her single status. She is determined to find a pretend boyfriend for her 35th birthday party just so her family will leave her alone. What she didn’t expect was to actually fall for him.

Eden Cried

Surrounds two high school students, who fall in love, get married and realize problems multiply, compared to their previous single life as carefree teenagers.

The Jinglebell Jubilee

A city manager recruits the help of a childhood friend in setting right his town’s Christmas Charity event, while she sets to work setting him up with her close friend.

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