For fans in the stands, the circus is two popcorn-scented hours of acrobats and animal acts, clowns and contortionists and trapeze artists and trick ponies.

But for more than 300 people who make up the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the show is a bustling, traveling village of its own, complete with weddings, births, school, church services and graduations.

It's a community populated, in many cases, with families that range from the newest of newlyweds to longtime veterans whose children have never known anything but life on the road.

While those children miss out on the usual school activities such as sports and school plays, they get to learn from experiences many children can only dream about, said general manager Michael Stuart.

His 8-year-old daughter, Katherine, is learning Portuguese from a Brazilian performer, and the children take day trips to places such as the White House, the Alamo and museums around the country as they travel.

"It's not just sitting down and reading about these places -- they actually get to go to these places," Mr. Stuart said during last night's evening performance inside Mellon Arena. "There's a lot to gather here."

For the 315 performers, animal caretakers, prop artists, concessionaires and administrators who make up the circus, life with the circus has a routine -- albeit a chaotic routine, some performers say -- of its own.

For all but two to three weeks a year, the circus folk travel on Mondays and Tuesdays, almost entirely by train, to one of the more than 40 cities Ringling Bros. visits each year. They perform Wednesday through Sunday -- some days performing up to three shows stretching over 16 hours -- then pack up the entire show in six hours each Sunday evening and make ready for the next day's move.

In between, circus workers and their family members live a variation of everyday life. Nearly all live in the modified trailers that fit on a railcar. Most of them are 45 feet long by 8 feet wide, and contain bedrooms, laundry facilities, a living room, a kitchen, and for most, all the books, clothes, family photos and other personal belongings that make them home.

They visit local groceries to resupply their pantries and refrigerators, and call ahead to cities on the tour to schedule appointments with doctors and dentists whose contact information is provided by the circus. A veterinarian technician travels with the circus to care for the animals, and the circus's veterinarians visit the shows when needed.

A nun -- one of three teachers that travel with the circus -- teaches Sunday school and provides additional religious training, and the circus hosts religious services for its employees every Sunday that a pastor or priest is able to join them.

For the 20 or so families with children, the circus provides a nursery for children six months to 8 years old, and two accredited schools -- the Calvert School for home-schoolers and the American School -- for children ages 6 years to 18 years old. School lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and teachers teach wherever the circus can find an available spot.

Inside Mellon Arena, school is being taught this week in a room inside a closed restaurant, out of milk crates filled with colored hanging files of student work and books that range from learning the alphabet to mastering middle-school math.

Other times, school is taught in the hallways of convention centers and arenas across the country.

"It's wherever we have room for them, sometimes," said Mr. Stuart, who met his wife, Mary, in 1993 when she was an ice skater and he was props manager for Disney on Ice. "Sometimes they're in hallways with pipe and drape," the blue curtains that otherwise cover anything from sound equipment to performers changing clothes between acts.

Despite the informality of their arrangement, students seem to do as well as or better than their peers in some "normal" schools, according to Mr. Stuart. When his family took a 10-month break from the road two years ago, his daughter -- then 6 years old -- had no problem testing into the second grade. They also have a 4-year-old son, Tyler.

"I would say they get a better education, actually, because it's more one on one," he said.

Children might not get gym class or band practices, but they can take private lessons for next to nothing from the show's performers in subjects such as horseback riding, gymnastics, dance, music and more than half a dozen languages including Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.

But while the circus offers rich cultural experiences, life with the circus also can be smothering.

"You work 24-7, you're with these people 24-7, so there's really no break," he said. "You can't get your solitude. You're never alone."

And while working in the same place their families are working can create flexibility in caring for children and enjoying meals together, the circus's demanding schedule also can make it hard for spouses in different parts of the operation to spend time with each other, said clown Ben Bolin, 26, during a quick break from his broom-balancing act during the circus's hour-long "pre-show."

He met his wife, 26-year-old Nichole Garza, two years ago while both were working for the circus, and the couple married in June. As the circus's production manager, and his boss, Ms. Garza watches every show -- and Mr. Bolin's part in it -- every day, and gives him notes on performances.

She's not easy on him, and in fact might be harder on him, because he's her husband. And much of their time together is work time, or a quick wave across a crowded circus ring.

"We're around each other all the time, but I never get to see her," he said.

They look forward to the Monday-Tuesday travel days, when they can be alone with each other, and their two mixed-breed dogs, in their trailer. With the train moving quickly, there's no cell phone service, no Internet -- and few distractions from each other.

Do they plan to have children on the road?

Mr. Bolin's eyes widened against white greasepaint and black eyeliner.

"Not now," he said. "It's hectic enough with two dogs."

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