School Spirit Defined in 2024
While school spirit can take various forms across the nation’s high schools, a consistent theme is the enduring sense of pride. All audiences universally characterize school spirit as pride, often conveyed through school colors, mascots, and other key branding elements that contribute to a sense of community. Audiences also characterize school spirit as deeply caring about the school, having a sense of belonging, attending events, and actively participating in school sports teams and activities. Among parents, a majority (67%) observe their high-schoolers possessing notable school spirit, with 70% expressing pride in their school. However, it is crucial to note that both these percentages have declined from their 2014 levels, which stood at 73% for each.
Conversely, a majority of students want stronger school spirit, a significant rise from a decade ago. In 2014, 48% of students expressed a desire for more school spirit, a number that increased to 62% in 2024.
This rise in the desire for school spirit comes on the heels of students feeling like they have less spirit since the pandemic – under half of the students surveyed (46%) reported having more school spirit now than before the pandemic, and half of kids involved in school sports (51%) feel that way as well. One student explicitly stated that, for them, school spirit entails attending pep rallies and other events, yet they noted a decreased emphasis on spirit post-pandemic compared to before.
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