Ms. DeFoe is a rarity at Lawndale High: a pleasant, reasonably intelligent member of the faculty who actually enjoys what she does. While she is occasionally exasperated by Brittany's attempts to produce art beyond the kindergarten level, she tries her best to remain positive.

She is the one teacher at Lawndale for whom Daria and Jane have no ill feelings. Jane, in particular, enjoys her class, and Ms. DeFoe offers her all possible encouragement.

When Lawndale once held an art contest, Ms. DeFoe looked forward to Jane's entry in particular. When the entry turned out to have a very negative message, she argued against entering it until Daria was able to talk her into it.

During the Lawndale Homecoming parade, Ms. DeFoe directed students in the creation of murals on various storefront windows. She remarked upon how good it would be to have Jane there, as they needed her color sense (indicating that she's not terribly perceptive, as Jane was later revealed to have been standing right in front of the store she was working on for several minutes). She also discouraged students from a resulting paint fight, though apparently not successfully as the fight was still going on a while later.

Ms. DeFoe also enlists Jane's help in creating picket signs for the teacher's strike, even offering to write a note to get her out of class - though she realizes she can't, and Daria, who is one of the "scabs", does it for her. It is noteworthy that Ms. DeFoe obviously feels that Jane is a far better artist than she herself is.

At the "Art in the Park" festival, Ms. DeFoe stops by Jane's booth and compliments her work, but points out that the Van Gogh copy is upside down (it's actually right-side-up, Jane just painted it upside-down). She later cautions Jane about producing copies, concerned that it will blunt her own unique style.

According to The Daria Database, Ms. DeFoe spends her nights in the Lawndale High Teacher's Lounge because she doesn't have the heart to kick her freeloading ex-college roommates out of her studio apartment.  She also makes her own soap, which she uses at truck-stop showers, and makes macramé plant holders which she plans to eventually sell through the mail.