Unmarried, sarcastic English literature and grammar teacher Connie Brooks arrives in a small Midwestern town to teach at the localhigh school. She meets handsome, athletic biology teacher Phillip Boynton, and they begin dating. Boynton, however, is unwilling to commit to the relationship, and several years of platonic dating pass. When student Gary Nolan does poorly in her class, his father—wealthy local newspaper publisher Lawrence Nolan —accuses Miss Brooks of being incompetent. Brooks convinces Mr. Nolan that he's working too hard and neglecting his son. Mr. Nolan hires Miss Brooks to tutor his son in English, and agrees to spend more time with Gary. As Gary becomes a better-adjusted youth, Mr. Nolan begins to romance Miss Brooks. Meanwhile, high school principalOsgood Conklin is criticized by Superintendent Stone for being a martinet. Conklin decides to seek election to Stone's job, and convinces Miss Brooks to manage his campaign. Miss Brooks convinces Nolan to support Conklin in his newspaper. This gives Nolan more time to romance Miss Brooks, causing Boynton to become jealous. Boyton's jealousy convinces Miss Brooks that he does love her after all, and she breaks off her budding romance with Mr. Nolan. Conklin seems on the verge of defeating Stone in the next election, but withdraws from the race after learning how little the job pays. Miss Brooks overhears one half of a telephone conversation in which Boynton buys a home and tells the real estate broker that he will be sharing it with "Mrs. Boynton." Miss Brooks assumes that Boynton will soon ask her to marry him, and that he is buying the property as a home for them. But it turns out that Boynton is buying it for himself and his mother, whose loneliness is causing her to have psychosomatic illnesses. But everything turns out all right once Mrs. Boynton realizes how this is going to impact her son's relationship with Miss Brooks. She moves in with Miss Brooks' eccentric landlady, Mrs. Margaret Davis, instead. As the film ends, Boynton finally proposes to Miss Brooks and gives her an engagement ring.
