When her mother falls for a wealthy man, Lina Cruz must move in with her new stepfather and transfer from an urban East Los Angeles public high school to an exclusive prep school in Malibu, where she struggles to fit in with her affluent new peers. After snooty cheerleading captain Avery blocks Lina from varsity, Lina recruits her best friends from her old school to help her whip the pathetic junior varsity cheerleading squad – the Sea Lions – into fighting shape.