Spirit Week 2026: Community, Camaraderie, Competition

During the week of January 26-30, Marlborough’s hallways burst with excitement, energy, and colorful outfits for one of the community’s favorite weeks of the year: Spirit Week. The annual tradition includes community activities that give back, spark creativity, and create friendly competition between classes as each grade earns points for participation and competes for the coveted Spirit Week title. Each day of the week features a dress-up theme, daily activities, and community partnership drives to fuel the fun. Friday brings the highly anticipated dance competition, where each class showcases a choreographed class dance that shows off their class unity, enthusiasm, and dance moves. Here’s how the week went:

Meme Monday
Spirit Week started with Meme Monday, where students dressed as their favorite meme. Students spent time during lunch putting together meal kits for Hang Out Do Good, a local grassroots organization whose mission is to make their community better through “simple do-goodery.” As meal kits were assembled by the dozens, classes racked up points for their participation. Other opportunities for points included attending the informative TEDx talks given by Upper School students in the Honors Research and Capstone Programs, and joining in the “Give Advice, Get Advice” session run by Student Council representatives.

Freaky Fri(tues)day
Tuesday’s dress-up theme brought “Freaky Friday” to a Tuesday as teachers and students swapped styles for the day with teachers in uniform and students dressed as their educators. Students added points to their class tallies as they donated granola bars to the Westside Food Bank. The TEDx talks continued during lunch and students were able to gain points for participating in banner decorating.

Wicked Wednesday
Wicked Wednesday flooded campus with pink and green as Upper and Middle Schools were divided into team Glinda (pink) or team Elphaba (green) from Wicked, dressing in pink or green to show their spirit. The first aid kit drive brought dozens of donations: medical tape, band aids, alcohol wipes, and more to be sent to Project Cure, which provides medical supplies internationally to locations with the greatest need. Participation points were also awarded to those who joined a creative activity at lunch: bedazzling Yondr pouches and other accessories!

Chalamet vs. PJ Thursday
Thursday’s dress-up theme posed a choice: to Chalamet or to PJ? Students could either wear pajamas for the day or dress up as a character from the world of actor Timothée Chalamet. Students earned additional points for their class in the home stretch of the competition as they brought old socks for recycling or new socks for donation to Community Loving, a mutual aid organization that helps unhoused and low-income families in the South Bay by providing essential resources. During Flex, classes came together for some team-oriented competition with capture the flag—winning classes earned even more points for their class total as students prepared for the final day of Spirit Week.

Class Colors Friday
Friday is always one of the most electrifying days of Spirit Week. The day was for showcasing class pride to the highest degree. Classes dressed in their class color and performed in the all-school dance competition. After rehearsing throughout every day this week, each class showcased a choreographed dance number. Each routine demonstrated the respective class’s unique personality and collective pride. The Class of 2027 won first place for their boating-themed dance, which included props, in-sync choreography, and even a Titanic-movie cameo. 

After tallying up all the points from the week, the Class of 2027 was named this year’s Spirit Week champions. The Classes of 2026 and 2028 followed close behind in second and third places, respectively.

More than just winning a title, the energy of this week highlights the tight bonds among classmates and the ways they support one another and the larger community. Echoing this energy, students also planned an optional walkout in support of the January 30 ICE Out nationwide protests. It was just another example of the ways the Marlborough community comes together to support one another and express what matters most to each of us.

Head of School Jennifer Ciccarelli shared with students, “In your interest to protest and make your voices heard, I see reflected back to us our core value of the year: Champion Inclusion. I also see evidence of you prioritizing Standing with Others. You have a tremendous sense of social justice and the importance of lifting up one another’s voices.” 

Spirit Week was not just about the hype or the outfits. It was a showcase of Marlborough’s dedication to giving back. Between the Community Partnerships drives, donations, and class unity through it all, students proved that spirit means showing up for each other. That is what community is all about.