While many students may come into high school with images in their mind portraying it as a place of fun and joy 24/7, this is not the case. In reality, an average day of high school is quite similar to a work day. Attending classes, receiving homework, procrastinating on said homework at 11 p.m., all while balancing out their lives at home. Many still regard high school as the prime time of life and an experience they will never be able to relive again. What makes high school, in particular, so great? The answer is being in an environment they can thrive and have a good time in, which is all thanks to school culture.

Leah Shafer of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, states that “Culture is core beliefs and behaviors. […] A good culture arises from messages that promote traits like collaboration, honesty and hard work.” But according to freshman Clare Ryan-Bradley, SPA culture can be defined as “[…] having a sense of belonging and connections with the students around you.” School culture can be defined in many ways and each and every school has its own values that shine through in its unique environments. It serves as a deal breaker and can either elevate school spirit or drive many away to a different school. Strong school culture may benefit and challenge students to be the best version of themselves as well as raise school spirit and encourage participation in school events. On the other hand, a hurtful, toxic school culture may bring isolation among students and cause difficulty for students to grow and develop.

At SPA, many students believe positive aspects of school culture include a competitive environment where students push each other to work hard and do their best work. SPA only grants admission to a few students every year; this small number of students creates a close community and allows students to form tight bonds and connections with each other.

“[There’s a] kind of friendly pressure that goes amongst students. I see other people really excelling in school and outside of school. And that really pushes me to want to make myself better and to do better. I think this is a double-edged sword because it can be really motivational and inspiring, but it can also put a lot of pressure on an individual,” sophomore Deling Chen said.

In addition to friendly competition, sophomore Adele Gjerde, who transferred to SPA this year, mainly appreciated a learning environment where teachers actively paid attention to students. “I think [teachers] actually know the kids and they take time to know their names and their pronouns versus the other school I went to. They knew my name, but did they know anything about me? No, they didn’t know my learning style or anything like that, whereas these teachers have surveys and they’re like, is there anything else you want me to know?” she said.

Furthermore, the encouragement of exploration through clubs, affinity groups, student organizations and other extracurriculars actively supports the purpursuit of students’ passions and interests. Senior Hannah Brass said, “I really like how most people are curious about what they’re learning about and want to know more. I also really like how open the community is, even if it still needs work to become a more inclusive space.”

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SPA culture can be defined as “[the] community and how we interact with each other and how we shape the culture and minds and hearts of people in our grade and grades above and below us,” said Deling Chen.

However, positive student engagement doesn’t mean there aren’t issues within the community. Because SPA is a tight-knit community, students are more aware of each other’s personal goals and achievements, which in turn, drives each other to work harder. However, this may sometimes lead to burnout and poor mental health.

“I think competitiveness is very built into SPA culture. I think there can be some positives in motivating others to work harder, but overall it is very toxic. I think it can be discouraging and just creates more unnecessary stress in an already stressful environment,” senior Julia Colbert said.
Additionally, the lack of attention to inappropriate behavior within the community can create cycles where harmed students are unable to achieve a proper resolution. “The thing that I don’t like about SPA’s culture is just how different incidents go unnoticed and don’t really get addressed,” Brass said. “Sometimes students will make harmful jokes or comments, but when they are reported, not much happens, or what goes on is very hush-hush and the behavior isn’t corrected.”

Brass also described the fear that students may have of being judged for calling out harmful behavior. “If we changed, I think the people that make those kinds of comments would realize that they’re not okay and the behavior would be less normalized, so the culture might become more accepting,” she said.

Overall, many students feel that SPA’s culture, including school traditions, academics, extracurriculars and student relationships, is heavily focused on pushing its members to strive to achieve great things. However, that also comes with downsides that require them to adapt and learn to push through any additional stress that may be added to their daily lives. To summarize, sophomore Milan Mishra said, “I would say there’s aspects to culture that could be bad, but I don’t think that school culture, like inherently, is a negative topic.”