I was reading a bit about the early days of TV…and somebody mentioned a kid’s TV show called “DingDong School”-is this true? Why would anybody make a TV show about kids in school? Zi mean, most kids can’t wait to get OUT of the classroom-why would such a TV show be popular?
in any event, how long did this show run for? was it nationally syndicated? 
Right. Sesame Street never existed. There’s no Schoolhouse Rock. Blue’s Clues is imaginary. The entire television industry for schooling./entertaining kids for the last 60 years is a myth because kids don’t like school.
Not familiar with Ding Dong School, but Disney’s Recess is set almost entirely at school during school hours. It’s very popular.
I grew up watching Ding Dong School. No cartoons, no puppet animals, just the schoolteacher hostess reading books and the like. Gentle as Mister Rogers, and without even the puppet king.
I actually had a jigsaw puzzle from the Ding Dong School show. It was circa 1960.
Because they relate to it? The most popular kids’ program when I was growing up was Grange Hill about a London state school (I see from Wikipedia that it’s still running, nearly 30 years since it began). It was basically a soap set in an environment that was pretty familiar to those of us who watched it.
I watched it when I was a kid. I believe I watched it before I went to school, when the prospect was still mysterious and exciting. The teacher for the New York version also looked a lot better than the one in the link. 
When I was a kid, I loved “Ding Dong School.” Like “Captain Kangaroo” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the show depended upon the charm of one person (in this case, Miss Frances.)
Miss Frances was the dream teacher. She was kind, good-humored, patient, and motherly.
“Ding Dong School” was before my time but I do remember a few of the local versions of “Romper Room” that aired in whatever city I was living in at the time.
“Captain Kangaroo”, though, had puppets, cartoons (“Tom Terrific and the Might Manfred!” and others), The Magic Drawing Board, and gags (ping pong balls!). Ding Dong Schoo,l had none of that.
I remember Ding Dong School, but didn’t watch it (or care for it much). I do remember Miss Frances looking into a magic mirror and saying, “I saw Jimmy, and Billy, and Sally” as she appeared to be looking at you. This was impressive for about thirty seconds until I realized she was just saying a bunch of names.
Actually, I didn’t watch many kids shows (other than cartoons); maybe the Sandy Becker show or Chuck McCann once we got cable. Oh, and Captain (later promoted to Colonel) Clown. But all these were local shows, not national ones.
But I much preferred shows for adults. The children’s shows seemed condescending to me and too simple.
It’s hard to get enthused over “My Weekly Reader,” when you read the same news story a month earlier in “Newsweek.”
A clip of Ding Dong School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62A-Homjvzs
WHEATIES! 
Are you sure that was Ding Dong School? Because I’m quite sure I remember Miss Marianne saying the same thing to me during Romper Room!
I remember all of those shows…Ding Dong School was perhaps one of the first I can (barely) remember, but it was like having a nice babysitter read you a story and make you feel good. There was also a show back then (in the Chicago area) where a younger woman would talk to kids and even had a talking table (Mr. Pegasus)…plus of course Howdy Doody and Bozo The Clown…actually, when I think about it, there were quite a few good shows back then for little kids.
I don’t remember which one of those shows, but I got in trouble once. The show had sent out plastic sheets that you put on your television screen (held by static electricity I would imagine) and then they would put an image on the screen and you could trace it. Needless to say, I did the wonderful tracing with my crayons, but without any plastic sheet…I remember my father not being all that pleased to see my artwork on the television screen that night.
And then there was the Micky Mouse Club, with Spin and Marty and the Saturday morning shows, Sky King, Fury, Flicka, Superman, Flash Gordon, Lone Ranger, Zorro…and all of them with cool ads for neat toys and breakfast cereals - the ads seem to work as I can also remember begging my mother to buy the cereal du jour.
Can you imagine if they tried to put such a show on the air today? the name alone makes me laugh; I guess its an example of the TV show that would NOT make in 21st-century America!
Yeah…Ding Dong School does sound more like something you would find in the porn section of your local video store…
That would have been Winky-Dink and You.
As for Ding Dong School, it was not about kids in school, it was a genuine educational program. It got its name from the teacher (Miss Frances) ringing a bell at the start of the program to call the kids to the TV. She’d read from a book, tell a story or two, maybe some basic counting exercises. It was for pre-school kids.
Miss Frances, by the way, was Dr. Frances Horwich, dean of the Education Department at Roosevelt College in Chicago. It ran from late 1952 to late 1956.
And if anyone asks such a question about Mr. Wizard I think I will kill myself.
And The Banana Man.
I too was one of Miss Frances’ viewers as a pre-schooler. I also had a book called “Miss Frances Book of Manners,” which I wish was still available for children today - many are in dire need of it, unfortunately. 
Miss Frances (who really should have been Mrs. Frances, btw :)) was very kind and did indeed remind small kids of grandmom, although she was only in her early 40s. She lived into her 90s, passing away about 5 years ago or so. As others have noted, she was very popular with pre-school kids, many of whom did not attend pre-school or day care like today. IMO, it probably gave us a good ground for school when we did hit kindergarten. My morning kindergarten class, 1957-58 - height of the baby boom era - had 56 kids! I personally don’t know how that teacher handled so many 5 year olds!! I bet she thanked goodness for Miss Frances Book of Manners daily, though. 
I loved Miss Frances and never missed Ding Dong School. What a treat to see that YouTube Video! I thought this one was long forgotten.