The film starts off with a family in an Audi car, driving through a small town. A woman is talking about she will have to go to the next town to shop. A man is saying how they will have to make the best of it. Then, he turns points out a school, asking a young girl what she thinks about it. A girl pulls her face up to the window, glaring at the school, then sticks out her tongue. This girl is, Chihiro Ogino, a ten year old girl. When her parents decide to move, this comes as an emotional shock to her. Soon everything is packed into a car and all she has to remember her old life are a bouquet of flowers. She says, "The only time I get a bouquet and it's a goodbye present. How depressing." Her mother reminds her Daddy got her a rose for her birthday, but Chihiro says that a rose isn't a bouquet. Chihiro grumbles about this for a while. Finally, she realizes that her flowers are dying. Upon complaining to her mother, she gets the simple reply that she shouldn't have smothered them. Chihiro is silent for a little while longer.
Finally, the car slows to a stop. Chihiro's father points to a house sitting on top of a hill to the far left. He tells everyone that's their house, only, there's no way of getting to it from where they are. He decides to take a shortcut through a forest that's nearby. Her mother says that they should hurry, since the movers will be waiting. Her dad laughs it off, saying they can get started without them, since they have the keys.
Chihiro notices little rocks on the ground, pointing out how they look like little houses. Her mother tells her that they are shrines, and little spirits live in there. Chihiro keeps her eyes on them as they drive away. After a little bit more driving they pass a round looking statue. Soon, her father begins to accelerate the car very fast. Chihiro is peering ahead, but her mother tells her to buckle up. As the car begins to drive faster, her mom panics, saying that he is trying to kill them. Her dad says that the car has four wheel drive and everything will be all right. The car runs into a little strip of water and her mother cries for him to slow down. Chihiro's father verbally asks what something is, as the car veers quickly to something ahead of them. He steps on the breaks hard and they come to a halt.
The car has just barely reached a round statue, similar to the one Chihiro noticed on the way there. Behind the round statue is a huge doorway. Her dad suggests that it is an abandoned theme park. As her parents go into investigate, Chihiro feels the wind against the back of her legs. She says that the wind is trying to push them in. She follows after her parents, clinging to her mother, who tells her in return that she's going to trip.
When they finally arrive outside again after walking through a dark tunnel, they are surrounded by long blades of green grass, a blue sky and a slight breeze. The building they came from, according to Chihiro's father, is an abandoned train station. Her mother comments on how it would be a lovely place to have a picnic. Chihiro watches the building, and as the wind blows a big gust, she claims to see the building moving and moaning. She follows after her parents, crying out for them to wait for her as she stumbles over some large boulders in the way. They pass through a city, with lots of stores and vendors, only there is no people. Her father has his nose in the air, acting like a dog as he searches around for food. Finally, the fresh smell of food leads to him to a vendor with steam coming out. Chihiro and her mother follow him in, where they are surrounded by large plates of delicious, fresh food. Instantly, her parents begin pigging out. Her dad brags that he has credit cards and cash as he grabs two plates for himself. Chihiro has a bad feeling about it and tells her parents that they are going to get in trouble. She urges them to leave, but they are too busy eating.
Feeling nervous that people will find out her parents are eating, Chihiro walks away from the vendor and all the food. She walks around, before seeing a large red bridge that leads into a grand building. She points how it's weird, noticing how it is a bathhouse. There is smoke coming out from behind it, even though no one is around. She hops onto the bridge and peers below, where she sees a train passing by. Suddenly, she turns around to see a boy looking at her. He tells her that she shouldn't be there, and the sky begins to turn dark.
The boy tells her that she shouldn't be there. Chihiro just stands and stares at him. He ushers Chihiro to leave, and blows something out of his hand before rushing her away. She hurries down the stairs, and asks to herself what was up with that boy.
Chihiro hurries back to her parents, as it has quickly grown dark. Around her, the vendors start to light up and mysterious black blobs begin to take place. She reaches the vendor of food where she left her parents, and after tugging on their shirts, she gasps in realization that these are not her parents - they are pigs, wearing the clothes of her parents. A shadow from beneath the steam starts to whip the pig in the clothes of her father, who wheezes and squeals as it falls to the ground. Chihiro turns and runs, crying for her mother as she passes more black blobs. She runs frantically and suddenly realizes she has just run into water, where previously there was just boulders she struggled to climb over. She kneels down, murmuring to herself that everything was just a dream. She says to herself everything will go away and it was just a dream. She cries out as she realizes her hand has become see through, almost completely transparent. As she holds up her hand, she sees through it and sees a large, colorful white ship in the distance, nearing her. It is booming with music and lights. It docks at the shore a few feet away from her and these beings that are not humans begin to come out.
Chihiro runs away, yet again, and is hiding in a dark corner when someone startles her. It is that same boy who she saw at the bridge before. He tells her not to be afraid and that he won't hurt her. He gives her a small, orange circular piece of food. He tells her to eat this food from the spirit world so she won't disappear. After she does, they both notice a bird circling the sky. He instructs her not to move, and glares at the bird intensely, telling Chihiro that it is looking for her. As she tries to stand up, she says that her legs are stuck and she can't move. The boy says some spell that unbinds her and he grabs her hand and they run quickly into the night. They reach a noisy bridge with lots of things that look like the ones that got out of the boat earlier. The boy instructs her to hold her breath the entire time across the bridge. The spirits are not happy about having a human, which is Chihiro, running around. If she holds her breath, no one will notice her. As they are walking, a talking frog asks the boy how his mission went. The frog calls the boy Master Haku. Chihiro accidentally lets takes in a breath, and the frog realizes she is a human. The boy casts some spell on the frog and they quickly fly to a safe place to hide.
There, the boy tells Chihiro that his name is Haku. He tells her the only way to survive in the world is to get a job. She must talk to the boiler man, Kamaji, and keep insisting to him to get a job. Chihiro asks him how he knows her name, and he tells her that he's known her since she was very little. The last thing he tells her is that he is her friend. They depart ways, and Chihiro hears Haku saying that he has returned from his mission. After they separate, Chihiro has to make her way to the boiler room, to see Kamaji and ask him about getting a job. She has trouble getting down the stairs, and finally reaches the boiler room.
When she enters cautiously, what she finds is something beyond imagination. Little black balls (of soot, she later learns) are carrying rocks into a huge furnace, and scurrying back to get another one. A spider like man sits next to them, pulling down strings from the ceiling and commanding the little black balls. Chihiro tells him Haku sent her there to get a job. He ignores her at first, until she persists again. He finally tells her that he has all the help he needs. All he needs to do is place a spell on the little soot balls and they do all he needs them to do. That's when Chihiro notices a little black ball of soot drop its rock on itself. Chihiro picks it up and the little black ball runs away. The spider like man, Kamaji tells her to finish the job after she asks what she should do with it, since no one seems to be claiming it. She throws it into the furnace, at which all the little black balls protest that she did the job for one of them. So they all drop their rocks on themselves, causing a big ruckus. Kamaji tells her that she has angered the soot balls, saying that the spell can wear off if they don't do their jobs. All the soot balls come out from their rocks and start to mob at Chihiro's ankles. Just then, an older girl enters in through the door, telling Kamaji she has dinner for him. She spots Chihiro and accuses her of being the little human girl everyone is looking for. Kamaji suddenly tells her that Chihiro is his granddaughter, looking for a job. He tells the girl, whose name is Lin, to take Chihiro to see Yubaba, who is the head of the bathhouse. He adds that he thinks Chihiro will be able to handle it. Lin finally agrees and makes Chihiro thank the boiler man before they leave.
They head up through an elevator. Chihiro notices all the different spirits, watching them be bathed by several workers. Several look like normal everyday animals, like chicks and frogs. As they are heading for another elevator, a frog like creature asks Lin if she knows where the human (Chihiro) is. He tells her that she smells like human, and begins to get suspicious. Lin quickly shoves Chihiro into an elevator with a radish spirit and she is sent up a few floors. The radish spirit lets her out, and nods politely as the door closes. Chihiro approaches a door, where she asks for Yubaba. The door handle suddenly spurts that she is a selfish little brat, and then she gets pulled into the office.
Yubaba is an older lady, with a huge nose and gray hair in a large bun. She ignores Chihiro upon her entering. After waiting a bit, Chihiro asks Yubaba for a job. Haku had previously told her that if she doesn't get a job, Yubaba will turn her into an animal, as she did for her parents. At first Yubaba refuses, but Chihiro protests. All of the sudden, a loud ruckus explodes from a nearby room. Chihiro watches as Yubaba cautiously approaches, coaxing to what appears to be her baby. As the baby wails and screams, Yubaba accuses Chihiro of waking him up. Chihiro says she won't leave until Yubaba gives her a job. Finally, Yubaba agrees, and gives Chihiro a contract. As she begins to fill it out, Yubaba grumbles to herself that she shouldn't have signed the contract to give the job to everyone who asks. She says she wishes she didn't have to be so nice. Chihiro hands the contract to Yubaba, who hovers her hand over the line with Chihiro's name and the words float up to her hand. Yubaba declares that from that point on, Chihiro's name is now Sen. She dismisses her, sending her away with Haku, who happens to walk in. Sen tries to talk to him, but he tells her not to talk to him, adding she needs to address him as Master Haku. Sen finds Lin back in the sleeping rooms. Lin, who all of the sudden has turned friendly, tells Sen if she needs anything, just talk to her. She adds how she was so worried about Sen, saying that she was such a dope, but she's glad that she pulled through. All the other girls are sleeping, and Lin tells Sen that she probably needs some clothes. She comments on how small Sen is, to find that Sen is crying. Lin asks her what's wrong, and Sen simply says that she doesn't feel good.
The next morning, Sen is startled awake by Haku, who tells her to meet him at the bridge to see her parents. After she meets him, she follows him through a maze of flowers. He warns her that if anyone finds her there without him, she will be turned into a pig, just like her parents. He takes her to her parents, who are in a pig pen. Sen jumps onto the fence and screams at her parents to stop eating so much or else they will be eaten. Haku tells her that they no longer remember they are human. They both sit down by some bushes. Haku gives her her old clothes from yesterday, and Sen pulls out her card from her bouquet of roses. She sees her old name, Chihiro, and says it out loud to herself. Haku tells her that she needs to keep that card hidden, to remember her name or else she can't find her way home. He tells her that that's how Yubaba controls everyone - she takes your name away from you. He comments on how he can't even remember his own name. Sen doubts that, but he tells her for some reason he remembers her name. He tells her if she forgets her name, she will never be able to leave, like him. Finally, Haku gives her some food that he put a spell on to give her strength. After they part, Sen notices a white dragon in the sky. She knows the dragon is Haku.
Sen continues the rest of the day by working. Lin teases her by asking if she's ever worked a day in her life. While she opens the door to dump out some water, she sees a dark spirit standing out in the rain. She leaves the door open for it, thinking that it's a customer.The work is hard for Sen, especially when it comes to cleaning the bathtubs. Lin tells Sen that Kamaji is the one who supplies all the workers with herbals for the water. Soon, Sen's first customer arrives, only it's not what she quite expected. It's a stink spirit, stinking up the entire bathhouse and throwing itself into the biggest bathtub. It's later Sen encounters the same spirit she let in through the door. It tries hard to get her attention, presenting her with bath tokens when she doesn't need them. Meanwhile, all the other workers cower away at the stench of the stink spirit and Yubaba makes Sen bathe it. Sen manages to get the water flowing to help clean it, but she slips from the strong force of the water. The murky shaped stink spirit catches her and brings her to its side, where she feels something wedged. She comments to Lin how it feels like something is stuck, and she can't get it out. She gets the help of all the other spirits and Yubaba to help pull it out. At first it's a bicycle, but then several more objects come out of it. Soon, the spirit frees itself from all the junk that it was surrounded by. It's a long and silky spirit, laughing as it flies out of the bathhouse. Yubaba happily congratulates Sen, saying that the spirit they just bathed was a polluted river spirit. Sen later finds out that it presented her with a gift, which appears to be some magic herbal cake. That night, Sen asks Lin about Haku. Lin tells Sen that Haku is Yubaba's henchman, so she shouldn't trust anything he says. Sen sadly decides to take a bite out of the herbal cake, then instantly starts gagging and spits it out.
That night, Sen dreams she is weaving through the field of flowers toward the pig pen. She happily runs in, crying out for her parents, saying the river spirit gave her medicine that can help them. But there are so many pigs, and they all clamor at her for the herbal cake. And Sen can't remember which one of the pigs are her parents. The next day, Sen wakes up to find everyone gone. Lin finds her and says that the spirit that wants Sen's attention - No-Face - is capable of producing real gold. She invites Sen to come with her, but Sen says she wants to find Haku. Lin tells her to forget about him, but Sen doesn't listen to him as she journeys out to find him. Bored, she rests on a balcony and murmurs on how she hopes her father isn't getting too fat. She wishes Haku could come and help her before she forgets what her parents look like. Just then, she sees something in the water. It is Haku, in his dragon form, but he's tossing and turning. Sen realizes he is being attacked by little papers, which are little paper birds. She screams at him to fight back, and opens the window and lets him in. In a bloody mess, he crashes against the wall and trashes around. Sen tries to shoo them away, but Haku's dragon form lunges up and flies outside. Sen scrambles after him, stumbling through a hall in the bathhouse where all the workers are following No-Face around, hoping for some gold. Sen bumps into No-Face, who holds out a handful of gold for her. Everyone gasps, jealous at the treatment he gives her. Sen politely declines, and No-Face insists. She declines again and runs off, in search of Haku. No-Face drops all the gold and the workers dive for it. Then he suddenly reaches out and swallows down two of the staff, causing a great panic.
Meanwhile, Sen climbs out a window as she spots Haku struggling in the sky again. She scrambles across a pipe and busts open a window, realizing she is in the office of Yubaba. Sen makes her way across a huge nursery, filled with toys and stuffed animals. It belongs to Yubaba's baby, named Boh. Sen doesn't see any sign of him, so she makes her way to the door, hearing Yubaba's voice. Yubaba is talking about Haku, and how he is bleeding over the carpet. Suddenly, Yubaba makes her way toward the nursery. Sen jumps into a huge pile of pillows and blankets to avoid being seen. After Yubaba passes, Sen starts to get out to help Haku. But then something grabs her arm - it's Boh. He's a gigantic baby, wearing a red bib with his name in Japanese on it. He asks Sen if she's a germ, and she tells him no. Then he asks if she will play with him. Sen says no again, and Boh starts to squeeze her arm with an immense strength. He says if she won't play with him, he will break her arm and start crying. Boh also adds if he starts crying, his mother, Yubaba, will come in and kill her. Sen quickly shows her palm to Boh, which is covered in Haku's blood. She cries that she has germs. Boh screams and lets her go, beginning to wail loudly. Sen scrambles away and exits. She finds Haku bleeding on the floor, and rushes over to help him. She discovers that a paper bird has stuck to her back, and slowly floats down to the floor. It changes into a woman, who looks exactly like Yubaba, but introduces herself as Zeniba, the twin sister of Yubaba. Boh comes out, as well as the same bird that was looking for her the night she arrived in the spirit world. Zeniba, disgusted at Boh, turns him into a little mouse, claiming his body is the same size as his brain. She also turns the bird into a little fly, who flies over to Boh. Zeniba tells Sen to step aside, saying that Haku has stolen something precious from her. Then, Haku jerks up, his tail slicing through Zeniba, who falls in half, turning back into a piece of paper. She cries out she has a paper cut as she disappears. Sen cries out that she's falling, and soon she and Haku fall into a dark shaft.
They crash through brick walls into the boiler room, startling Kamaji. Sen begs Kamaji to help Haku, who thrashes against the wall, his blood spewing everywhere. Kamaji tells Sen that Haku is bleeding from the inside. Sen decides to give Haku the a piece of the magical herbal cake she received from the river spirit the other day. After shoving it into Haku's mouth, he vomits up a gold seal and a little black slug. Kamaji cries at Sen to squish the slug, who starts to squiggle around. Panicking, Sen accidentally steps on it, revealing under her foot a little black stain. Kamaji tells her that's bad luck, and quickly cures her of it. Haku fades out of his dragon form into his boy form shortly afterward. Sen takes the gold seal and tells Kamaji she wants to find Zeniba and apologize for Haku, in return for his healing. Just then, Lin comes in, explaining to Sen how No-Face has swallowed two of the staff. She adds how he says that Sen let him in. Kamaji gives her train tickets, which he tells her he has been saving for a very long time. The little soot balls return Sen's clothes and her shoes. Lin asks Sen what she's going to do about No-Face. She replies that she will take care of him. As she sets off, Boh and the little fly follow along with her.
Sen finally finds Yubaba, who is barely holding off No-Face. No-Face keeps yelling that he wants Sen, and the workers are terrified of how bigger and bigger he keeps getting. Yubaba throws Sen inside the room, telling her to suck up to him and get every last ounce of gold he has to pay for the damage done to the bathhouse. Sen cautiously enters, finding No-Face next to a huge pile of food offered to him. He offers her some, but she declines. She asks him if he is going to eat her, and also asks him if he has any friends or family. No-Face replies by saying he's lonely, then forcefully insists on giving her gold. Sen tells him that she has a gift from the river spirit, and gives it to him. No-Face becomes violently ill and starts vomiting up all that he has eaten. Sen quickly runs away and starts to head outside of the bathhouse, with No-Face chasing after her. She calls after him to make sure he follows her. As he is chasing her through the bathhouse, No-Face spits out all the workers that he has eaten, and begins to become very tired. His big form begins to shrink and soon he turns into his normal form that Sen first met him as. Finally, Sen meets Lin outside, who is in a boat. The recent rain for the past few days has made the surrounding land fill up with water. As they start to leave, Sen calls over No-Face, who jumps off of the bathhouse and falls into the water. Lin tells Sen not to make him follow them, but Sen tells him that he's good. Finally, Lin drops Sen off at the train station, and apologizes for being so rude to her when they first met. As Lin leaves, she threatens No-Face if he puts a scratch on Sen, he'll be sorry.
The train finally arrives, and Sen, Boh, and the little fly all board. The conductor gestures behind her, to reveal that No-Face is standing there. Sen asks him if he wants to come, and he nods silently. They all board the train and set off to Zeniba's house. While they're gone, Yubaba is complaining about the damage that No-Face has caused. She has a hearty stack of gold and is examining it proudly. She thinks that Sen has run away, even though she doesn't know that her baby Boh is missing. She tells the workers to find Sen's pig parents and prepare them for dinner, since they should be fat enough already. Just then, Haku comes in, startling Yubaba, because she believes he is dead. He tells her that she doesn't notice something precious from her has been taken away. Yubaba quickly looks down at her gold, then back up at Haku. Then, it dawns on her, and she quickly runs to the nursery in search of Boh. Haku calmly follows her as she screams and thrashes around the room, looking for Boh. Finally, in a blaze of angry fire, she runs up to Haku, demanding what he has done with her baby. Haku calmly states that he is with Zeniba, and Yubaba realizes what Haku wants to do. She says that he will return her baby Boh for a price. Haku says that when Boh is returned, Yubaba must tear up Sen's contract and release her parents and her to the human world. Yubaba agrees, but adds that she gets to give Sen one final test. If she passes, she cannot return home.
The train finally reaches Swamp Bottom, the stop to get to Zeniba's house. After Sen, Boh, the little fly and No-Face get off, a hopping lamp comes up to them. Sen bows politely at it, and it leads them to Zeniba's house. Sen cautiously knocks on the door, and they all enter. Zeniba says she will prepare some tea, adding that she is glad they came. Sen quickly goes up to Zeniba and returns the seal, apologizing sincerely for Haku. She also adds that she squished the little black slug and apologizes for that, to which Zeniba bursts out laughing. Zeniba says that the black slug Sen squashed was what Yubaba placed in Haku to control him. She also added that anyone who stole her gold seal would die, and only true love would break the spell, in which it did. Sen asks Zeniba if she can turn the Boh mouse and the little fly back into their original forms. Zeniba says that the spell wore off on them a long time ago, and that out of their own free will they are still in the forms that they are in.
While sitting down for a meal, Boh and the little fly help to spin some threads. Zeniba talks about how she and her sister, Yubaba, may be twins, but they are the complete opposites. She apologizes to Sen that her sister turned her parents into pigs. She says that there's nothing she can do about it, because that's the way that things happen. Sen tells Zeniba about Haku. She adds in that she feels like she's met Haku somewhere, but she can't remember where. Zeniba tells her that once you forget someone, you never forget them. It just takes a while for the memories to return. Afterwards, Zeniba tells Sen to sit and try and remember, while she and the boys make her a present. She also tells Sen to call her Granny. After a while, Sen goes up to Zeniba and cries that she can't remember anything. She says that Haku could be dead and her parents could have been eaten for dinner. Zeniba replies that she just has to wait for now. She gives Sen a present that she and the boys have made for her. It's a beautiful, purple elastic band to put up her hair. Zeniba tells her that it will protect her. Just then, they hear a sound outside of the door. Zeniba comments on how they have another visitor, and tells Sen to open the door. To her surprise, it's Haku, in his dragon form. Sen happily runs out to him, hugging him and expressing her happiness. Boh and the little fly hop on her shoulder to depart. Zeniba asks that No-Face stays with her, since he is a very good helper. As they prepare to leave, Sen gives Zeniba a hug, thanking her for everything. Zeniba tells her that everything will be okay. Sen adds that she wants her to know her real name: Chihiro. Zeniba comments on how it is a pretty name, and tells her to take good care of it. Sen promises to and hops up onto Haku and they fly off into the night.
As they fly, memories start to come back to Sen. She remembers being in water, and seeing a little shoe float off into the distance. She tells Haku to listen to her, because she has something that might help him. She tells him that when she was little, her shoe fell into a river. When she tried to grab it, she fell in. But when she thought that she was going to drown, the river brought her back to shore. She tells him the name of that river was the Kahaku River. She finally cries out that his name is the Kahaku River. Just then, Haku's eyes go wide, and then his dragon form erupts into little white shards. He slowly dissipates back into his human form, and they slowly begin to fall. Sen grabs his hands and he looks at her with an amazed look. He tells her that she did it. He proudly remembers that he was the spirit of the Kahaku River. Sen replies by saying the Kahaku River is all apartments now, since it was built over. Haku says that he remembers saving her, and he remembers her little pink shoe. As they fly back to the bathhouse, Sen says that she knew Haku was good.
By the time they arrive back at the bathhouse, it is morning. Everyone is waiting by the entrance, looking anxious for Sen and Haku's arrival. There are a line of pigs behind Yubaba, who looks angry. Yubaba huffs at Haku that they failed to return her baby. Just then, the Boh mouse jumps off of Sen and changes back into his large baby form. Yubaba runs over to Boh, checking him over and asking if anyone did traumatizing things to him. She realizes that he is standing on his own, which he couldn't do previously. Boh tells her that he and Sen had a good time. Yubaba then tells Sen she has to take her final test. The crowd of bathhouse workers, including Lin and Kamaji, all start yelling loudly in protest at this. Yubaba justifies it by saying that a deal is a deal. Boh even gets mad, threatening to his mother that if she makes Sen cry, he won't like her anymore. But Sen agrees, saying that a deal is a deal. She follows Yubaba over to the line of pigs. Yubaba instructs her to tell everyone which out of all the pigs are her parents. She has one try only, so she must look carefully. Sen thoroughly examines the pigs, looking to see which of them are her parents. Looking confused, she tells Yubaba that there must be some kind of a mistake. She says that none of the pigs in front of her are her parents. Yubaba asks her if that is her final answer, and just then, Sen's contract which is in her hand explodes. All the pigs change back into bathhouse workers, congratulating Chihiro for getting it correct. Yubaba tells Chihiro to get out of her sight, and Chihiro waves goodbye at everybody, grabbing Haku's hand as they head away from the bathhouse.
Haku tells Chihiro that when she passed the test, her parents woke up on the other side of the river. He tells her that they are waiting for her right now. They stop at the steps before the rocks, since Haku can't go on any further. He instructs her not to look back, no matter what happens, until she crosses the entrance. Chihiro asks him if they'll meet again, and Haku says they will. Since he has his name now, he can go anywhere he wants. He is no longer in Yubaba's control. He says after Chihiro leaves, he's going to have a talk with Yubaba and get rid of his contract. They finally part ways, their hands slowly sliding apart. Chihiro runs as fast as she can to the entrance, where her parents are waiting for her. She runs up to them happily, and they simply tell her that she shouldn't run off like that. Her dad adds that she could get into trouble. Chihiro asks them if they're okay, then follows them back to the car. Before she does, however, she starts to turn her head back, then corrects herself and hurries after her mom and dad. When they arrive back into the forest, her parents find that the car is full of leaves, from sitting in the forest for so long. While they fret over it, Chihiro finally turns around and stares back into the tunnel. Her parents start up the car, telling her that everything is going to be okay. She stares for a while longer, then gets into the car. Chihiro assures her parents that she will be able to handle a new home and a new school.