Nigel Ratburn

Nigel Charles Ratburn is a fictional character and the main third-grade teacher at Lakewood Elementary School. He has appeared since the 1st Season. His given name was originally "Emil" as seen in Arthur's imagination of him as a baby in Arthur's Baby, but was renamed to "Nigel" in subsequent seasons.

Appearance and Personality
Mr. Ratburn's appearance consists of a green suit complete with a solid yellow shirt and bright red necktie. Being a rat, he has long whiskers, which he appears to keep trimmed.

He tends to give out a lot of homework to the kids in his class, sometimes assigning two research projects in the same week. Because of these tendencies, he is often considered the strictest teacher at Lakewood Elementary School. However, many of Arthur and his friends find out he's not as bad as they first thought, although the Brain seems to have no problem with him, but Buster has the strongest dislike for homework.

Students

 * Arthur Read


 * Buster Baxter


 * Francine Frensky


 * Muffy Crosswire


 * Alan Powers


 * Binky Barnes (repeated third grade)


 * Sue Ellen Armstrong


 * Fern Walters


 * George Lundgren


 * Jenna Morgan

Former students

 * Prunella Deegan

Jobs
Mr. Ratburn has a numerous amount of jobs. In the episode "Arthur and The Real Mr. Raburn" it is revealed that Mr. Ratburn is a teacher, a basketball coach, and works on the School Newspaper. In the episode 'The Short Quick Summer', Mr. Ratburn got a summer job at Jack's Joke Shop, where he worked as a cashier and helped Sue Ellen learn a card game magic trick.

Trivia

 * Mr. Ratburn was taught in the 3rd Grade by Mr. Pryce-Jones of Glenbrook Academy, who later became a rival of Ratburn's at the Medieval Fair. Ratburn was heavily influenced by Mr. Pryce-Jones, remarking that sometimes he thinks, "..I'm not a tough enough teacher."
 * In the episode "Dad's Dessert Dilemma", Mr. Ratburn is shown to have an unnatural love for cake, to the point of snatching a plate of cake from a child before he has a chance to eat any of it. He used the excuse "I came by to bring you the spring reading list" three times, each time feigning surprise and exclaiming, "Oh, are you having cake?!"
 * Outside of school, Ratburn is shown to enjoy many jovial pursuits, such as magic, puppeteering, and camping.


 * Mr. Ratburn didn't know how to use the internet or even turn on a computer until The Brain showed him how in the episode, "Best of the Nest."
 * The car that Mr. Ratburn drives is a red roadster convertible.
 * In Arthur's Almost Boring Day, he was revealed to have gone to the same school as Arthur's father David in a grayscale film, and around the same age as David.