<P> For the first three years of the show , the IHP class had ten students . Arvid Engen ( Dan Frischman ) was a skinny , bespectacled nerd , mathematics expert , and budding scientist . Arvid 's best friend was the overweight , wisecracking cynic Dennis Blunden ( Dan Schneider ) , a computer whiz whose fields were chemistry and physics and who had a knack for getting the socially inept Arvid involved in various schemes . Alan Pinkard ( Tony O'Dell ) was an ultra-conservative preppy and egotist ; his area of expertise was political science and he was a devout fan of Ronald Reagan . Alan competed for the highest grades in the class with Darlene Merriman ( Robin Givens ) , a spoiled rich girl who was probably even more self - centered than Alan and whose specialties were speech and debate . Both Alan and Darlene held the ambition of being named class valedictorian . Sarah Nevins ( Kimberly Russell ) did not have any one particular area of expertise ; she was the most down - to - earth of the IHP class and was once cited as having the lowest G.P.A. Maria Borges ( Leslie Bega ) was very passionate about getting A 's ( going as far as grounding herself in the pilot episode for getting a ' B ' ) , and Jawaharlal Choudhury ( Jory Husain aka Joher Coleman ) was an exchange student from India whose expertise was natural science . Eleven - year - old Janice Lazarotto ( Tannis Vallely ) , despite her young age , was in high school and the IHP class because of her advanced intellect . Arts student Simone Foster ( Khrystyne Haje ) was a quiet , sensitive redhead with a particular fondness for poetry . A notable development in the show was the relationship between Simone and Eric Mardian ( Brian Robbins ) , an aspiring writer and , outwardly , the most unlikely member of the IHP - Eric wore black leather , drove a motorcycle , acted tough , and ostensibly disliked anything academic ( to Dr. Samuels 's delight , he was the only one in the class not on the academic team , although he would never leave the IHP ) . Eric constantly hit on Simone ( on whom he had a crush ) and the two eventually had an on - again - off - again romance . </P>
<P> For the first three years of the show , the IHP class had ten students . Arvid Engen ( Dan Frischman ) was a skinny , bespectacled nerd , mathematics expert , and budding scientist . Arvid 's best friend was the overweight , wisecracking cynic Dennis Blunden ( Dan Schneider ) , a computer whiz whose fields were chemistry and physics and who had a knack for getting the socially inept Arvid involved in various schemes . Alan Pinkard ( Tony O'Dell ) was an ultra-conservative preppy and egotist ; his area of expertise was political science and he was a devout fan of Ronald Reagan . Alan competed for the highest grades in the class with Darlene Merriman ( Robin Givens ) , a spoiled rich girl who was probably even more self - centered than Alan and whose specialties were speech and debate . Both Alan and Darlene held the ambition of being named class valedictorian . Sarah Nevins ( Kimberly Russell ) did not have any one particular area of expertise ; she was the most down - to - earth of the IHP class and was once cited as having the lowest G.P.A. Maria Borges ( Leslie Bega ) was very passionate about getting A 's ( going as far as grounding herself in the pilot episode for getting a ' B ' ) , and Jawaharlal Choudhury ( Jory Husain aka Joher Coleman ) was an exchange student from India whose expertise was natural science . Eleven - year - old Janice Lazarotto ( Tannis Vallely ) , despite her young age , was in high school and the IHP class because of her advanced intellect . Arts student Simone Foster ( Khrystyne Haje ) was a quiet , sensitive redhead with a particular fondness for poetry . A notable development in the show was the relationship between Simone and Eric Mardian ( Brian Robbins ) , an aspiring writer and , outwardly , the most unlikely member of the IHP - Eric wore black leather , drove a motorcycle , acted tough , and ostensibly disliked anything academic ( to Dr. Samuels 's delight , he was the only one in the class not on the academic team , although he would never leave the IHP ) . Eric constantly hit on Simone ( on whom he had a crush ) and the two eventually had an on - again - off - again romance . </P>
who played eric in head of the class
who played eric in head of the class
Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins