Summer Strong: How Hope Squad Supports Students Year-Round

The final bell rings and summer begins.

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And while summer can be filled with swimming pools and vacations, it can also come with challenges.

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For some of our most vulnerable students, school provides a much-needed safety net of routines, structure, and caring adults who support them day-in and day-out. A trusted teacher who notices when they’re having a hard day. A counselor who checks in. A coach, advisor, or friend who helps them feel seen and connected.  

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But when school ends and these support systems disappear, a new set of challenges can arise.

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In fact, summer can increase feelings of isolation, loneliness, and disconnection. Students may spend less time with trusted adults and peers and more time navigating challenges on their own. Mental health concerns, peer conflicts, risky situations, and crises still arise, but do so without the daily touchpoints that school provides.  

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For students who are already struggling with anxiety, depression, family conflict, or feelings of belonging, the summer months can be especially difficult. Days become less structured. Opportunities for meaningful connection may decrease, and many students lose the routines that help them stay grounded.

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It’s not a question of whether students will encounter tricky situations over the summer break; the question is whether they’ll be prepared to respond.

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Students are on the front lines  

Today’s students are deeply connected—and they don’t stop communicating when school is out. Through text messages, social media, gaming platforms, summer jobs, and friendships, peer communication continues throughout the summer while access to trusted adults may decrease. As a result, students are often the first to notice when a peer is struggling.  

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Whether it’s subtle social withdrawal, concerning posts online, or out-loud expressions of hopelessness, students often are more in tune with what’s happening in their peers’ lives than adults realize.  

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Young people are more likely to confide in a friend before they would ever reach out to a parent or other adult¹. They may share struggles, frustrations, or cries for help in conversations adults will never see.  

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That’s why students must be equipped with the skills to recognize warning signs, reach out with compassion, and connect peers to trusted adults and resources.  

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Equipping students beyond the school year  

Hope Squad training makes a difference year-round, and that can be especially useful during the summer break.

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Hope Squad doesn’t just teach students how to support one another during the school day. It equips them with skills they can carry with them, wherever they go, and in every season.  

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Through Hope Squad, students learn to recognize warning signs, start caring conversations, listen without judgment, and connect peers with trusted adults who can help. They learn that they don’t need to have the answers or be the solution, but that they can be the bridge to connect a peer to help and hope.

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When a student sees a scary social media post in June, gets a troubling text message in July, or notices a social connection stepping back from activities before classes resume, Hope Squad equips students to respond.  

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Recognizing that summer can be a particularly vulnerable time for students, Hope Squad developed Summer Strong—a suite of resources designed to help schools proactively prepare students for a safe, connected, and mentally healthy summer. With video, social media content, and individualized plans, Summer Strong helps Squads equip students with strategies and practical tools they can use long after the final bell rings.

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The Hope Squad impact

When schools implement Hope Squad, they’re not just creating a group of student leaders. They’re building a schoolwide culture that enhances safety and connectedness for all students.  

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More than a school-year program, Hope Squad equips students with skills they can carry beyond the classroom—and data shows it’s working:

• 93% of Hope Squad administrators report that Hope Squad has increased connectedness in their school.²  
• 97% of Advisors agree that Hope Squad Members know how and where to get help for their peers who are struggling.³  
• In schools with Hope Squads, 55% of mental health referrals come from non-Hope Squad Members, demonstrating Hope Squad’s impact of creating a schoolwide culture of mental health awareness and intervention.⁴

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Building protective factors for summer and beyond  

The most effective school safety strategies don't end at the bell.

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Instead, they create cultures where students know how to look out for one another, ask for help, and connect peers to support—whether they're sitting in a classroom, scrolling social media at home, or navigating new friends at summer camp.

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That's what Hope Squad helps schools build.

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We believe that even when school is out, hope is still in.  

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¹ Purtle, J., Mauri, A. I., McSorley, A. M., Adera, A. L., Goldman, M. L., & Lindsey, M. A. (2024). Demographic variation in preferred sources for suicide prevention and mental health crisis services among U.S. adults. Preventive Medicine Reports, 47, 102914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102914

² 24-25 Admin Data, "The Hope Squad has increased connectedness in my school/s"(Strongly agree 5-point Likert scale response)

³ 24-25 Advisor Data, Main Sheet, "Hope Squad members know how/where to get help for their peers who are struggling." (Strongly agree 5-point Likert scale response)

⁴ 24-25 Mental Health Referral Form Data, "How was the student referred?"