John Hughes High School is the high school that CeCe, Rocky, Deuce, Dina, Ty, Gunther and Tinka attend. The gang (minus Ty) began the show in grade 8. The visual style of the school is made to look like the real life Lincoln Park High School in Chicago.
Although the school goes from grades 8-12, only twelve 9th and two 11th graders have been addressed by name.
The name of the school may be a reference to the infamous filmmaker, John Hughes, who is known for directing and/or writing films such as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and the Home Alone trilogy. He grew up in Chicago, IL, where Shake It Up is set, and where a majority of his films were set. His last film written before his death in 2009 was Drillbit Taylor, in which Shake It Up's own Roshon Fegan appeared as a "Random Kid". Hughes was also buried in Chicago.