On any given day, a South Carolina school psychologist might start in an IEP meeting, planning special education services with a student’s family and teachers, then spend midday on evaluations, help a teacher rework a behavior plan, and end the afternoon checking in on a student who just needs one steady adult. Most of that work happens quietly. For one week each November, it gets the spotlight it deserves.
What National School Psychology Week is
National School Psychology Week (NSPW) runs November 9–13, 2026. Sponsored by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the week celebrates what school psychologists do every day to help students thrive, and it gives schools and communities a ready-made occasion to say thank you.
Each NSPW carries a theme, and this year’s is “Inspire Connection”: a celebration of how school psychologists build relationships that support students, strengthen collaboration among educators and families, and transform school communities.
NASP has given each day of the week a question. Monday asks what connections inspire you; Tuesday, where connection can take you; Wednesday, how we will inspire change; Thursday, what connects us. Friday closes the week with “Let’s inspire connection!” Wednesday, November 11, is also NASP’s Virtual Hill Day, when school psychologists contact their state and federal legislators. Our School Psychology Week page has the week day by day.
Why connection matters for student mental health
The CDC counts school connectedness, a student’s sense that the adults and peers at school care about them, among the protective factors for young people’s mental health. Connection is prevention.
It’s also getting harder to supply. NASP reports nationwide shortages of school psychologists, and its state shortages dashboard shows how each state compares.
In many buildings, the school psychologist is the connective tissue: linking assessment data to classroom decisions, families to services, teachers to workable strategies, and students to a trusted adult. A week of recognition won’t fix a shortage, but it reminds every school community why this role is worth investing in.
Simple ways schools and districts can mark the week
Celebrating NSPW doesn’t take a budget or a committee. A few ideas that fit inside a normal school week:
- Use the morning announcements. Name your school psychologist and share one thing they do for students. Plenty of students (and some staff) have no idea.
- Put your thanks in writing. A card from a class, a note from the principal, or a shout-out in the staff newsletter goes further than you’d think.
- Recognize the role publicly. Add a moment of recognition to a faculty meeting, district newsletter, or school board agenda during the week of November 9–13.
- Share a daily “connection minute.” Invite your school psychologist to offer one quick belonging-builder each day, such as a check-in idea or a greeting-at-the-door strategy, over announcements or staff email.
- Point families to good information. NASP’s free resources for families and educators are easy to drop into a newsletter.
- Ask one question. Administrators, try: “What one change would help you connect with more students?” Then see what you can do about the answer.
A thank-you from SCASP
SCASP has been here since 1967 for one reason: we believe every South Carolina student deserves a school psychologist. NSPW is the week we get to say the other half out loud: every school psychologist deserves to be seen.
So to every practitioner who learned the names, sat through the hard meetings, finished the reports after hours, and became the trusted adult a student didn’t know they needed: you inspire connection all year long. We’re proud to be your professional home, and we hope your school takes this week to celebrate you.
Members, how is your school or district marking NSPW this year? Trade ideas, borrow shamelessly, and show off what your building pulled together in the SCASP member circles.
And if you’re not yet part of the association, there’s no better week than this one to join SCASP and connect with school psychology colleagues across South Carolina.