At Vince Lombardi High School, nerdy teenager Kate Rambeau unsuccessfully attempts to initiate conversation with jock Tom Roberts. At a Board of Education meeting, Miss Togar, the new principal, explains that she will implement strict rules on campus. While Mr. McGree, a teacher, lectures his class about Ludwig Van Beethoven, a female student named Riff Randell commandeers an outdoor loudspeaker, broadcasting music by rock band the Ramones, and announces that Lombardi is “rock ‘n’ roll high school.” With the exception of Kate, students throughout the school dance until Miss Togar cuts the loudspeaker wire. Proclaiming her intention to enforce discipline, Miss Togar asks who is responsible for the insubordination and Kate steps forward. After Riff introduces herself, Miss Togar confiscates her Ramones album and orders the girls into detention. Meanwhile, Tom awkwardly flirts with girls in the hallway and wonders why they are unresponsive. Vowing to improve his image, Tom seeks the assistance of his classmate, Eaglebauer, who keeps an office in a bathroom stall. When Tom says he is looking for sex, Eaglebauer offers him a date with Kate, but Tom wants to go out with Riff and gives his friend a credit card payment to arrange the date. Meanwhile, Miss Togar scolds hall-monitors, Fritz Hansel and Fritz Gretel, for their inept control over their fellow students and orders them to bring Mr. McGree and Coach Steroid to the science lab. There, Miss Togar tells the teachers that rock ‘n’ roll has a negative influence on the students, and when Mr. McGree disagrees, she shows off her research with lab mice. During Coach Steroid’s absence from gym class, Riff switches the teacher’s tape with a demo of a song she wrote for the Ramones called “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.” When Hansel and Gretel report Riff’s shenanigans back to Miss Togar, she charges across campus to berate the girls. In the locker-room, Kate admits she has a crush on Tom, but Riff says he is nothing compared to Joey Ramone and announces that she is taking three days off school to be the first in line for tickets to the upcoming Ramones concert. The next day, Kate gives Miss Togar a note excusing Riff from school because her mother died. Later, when Kate meets with Eaglebauer to arrange a date with Tom, he drives her to a lookout point where Tom is waiting for Riff. Eaglebauer informs Tom that Kate will be his partner for the next three days so they can practice dating skills such as “necking” and demonstrates on an inflatable sex doll. Back at school, Miss Togar becomes suspicious of Riff’s absences when Kate gives her another note, claiming that Riff’s father died. Meanwhile, at the Rockatorium Theater, Riff meets Angel Dust, who cuts to the front of the line. As the girls argue, The Ramones arrive in a convertible and their fans cheer. After the band disappears inside the Rockatorium, their manager recognizes Angel and welcomes her to join them. Back at Lombardi High, Kate delivers another excuse note to Miss Togar from Riff, claiming that her goldfish died. After buying one hundred concert tickets, Riff returns to school to distribute them among her classmates and gives one to Mr. McGree. Later, Miss Togar calls Riff and Kate to her office, presenting them with a newspaper headline about Riff’s encampment at the Rockatorium, and orders Hansel and Gretel to confiscate their tickets. After school, Riff smokes marijuana in her room and fantasizes that Joey Ramone is serenading her. Meanwhile, Tom admires his van, which has been decorated with a bar and waterbed, and Eaglebauer promises that Riff will be responsive. As Kate tells Riff that she is expecting a special date with Tom that evening, the jock calls Riff and asks her out instead. After telling Tom to find a partner for Kate so they can double date, Riff agrees, but she assures Kate that she will let her go after Tom. Later, the girls win tickets to the Ramones concert and as Tom hears the announcement on the radio, Riff calls to cancel, claiming she and Kate have been in a car accident. Tom is devastated, but Eaglebauer convinces him to pursue the girls at the concert. At the Rockatorium that evening, Kate is dressed in Riff’s rocker clothes and Riff clutches a package containing her original songs she intends to give to the Ramones. As disc jockey Screamin’ Steve Stevens introduces Riff and Kate to the crowd, Miss Togar listens to a radio broadcast of the show in her office. When Riff announces her victory over the principal, Miss Togar orders Hansel and Gretel to capture the girls. Back at the concert, Screamin’ Steve takes Riff and Kate backstage, but Angel and the Ramones’ manager refuse to let the girls in the dressing room. As the Ramones start the show, Miss Togar calls Kate’s mother and holds the receiver to her radio, informing her that Kate is at the concert. While Tom and Eaglebauer search the crowd for Riff and Kate, Angel steals Riff’s sheet music and the girls give chase. After running into Tom and Eaglebauer, Riff enlists their help and when Angel trips over a roadie snorting cocaine on the floor, Tom topples behind her and recovers Riff’s songs. The Ramones wind down their set and Riff rushes to the front row to give Joey a note, which he reads aloud to the audience. Meanwhile, backstage, Kate nurses Tom’s wounds, but he mistakes her for Riff. Correcting him, Kate confesses that she hired Eaglebauer to arrange a date with him and Tom is moved. Following the request from Riff’s note, Joey dedicates the encore song to Tom and Kate. Arriving at the Rockatorium, Hansel and Gretel fail to seize the girls because they are distracted by Angel. After the show, Joey passes out and the Ramones drag him backstage as Riff follows, fanning him with her sheet music. Despite the protests of the Ramones’ manager, Joey agrees to look at Riff’s songs and promises to visit her at school if he likes them. The next day at Lombardi High, Miss Togar uses Riff’s confiscated Ramones record to ignite a pile of the students’ rock albums. As the teenagers and Mr. McGree protest, Riff throws a bowl of punch at the principal and Kate and Tom douse the fire with a hose. The students take over the school, hanging a banner reading: “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.” After arriving on campus and dismissing Miss Togar’s threats, the Ramones join the kids inside and mayhem ensues. Dancing through the graffiti-covered halls with Riff, her fellow students, and Mr. McGree, the Ramones perform and, as they finish, Kate jumps into Tom’s arms as they kiss. Backed by police and parents, Miss Togar calls to Riff through a megaphone, feigning a desire for negotiation, but, in response, Riff destroys her files with a chainsaw and tosses them out the window. While the Ramones tell Riff her song will be on their next album and induct her as an honorary band member, Kate prepares chemical explosives and sets fire to Miss Togar’s office. As the insurgents leave the building, Riff pleases Miss Togar with a concessionary speech. When the Ramones play “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” however, Riff detonates Kate’s bomb and the school explodes into flames.