About Grit League
The Grit League recognises the hard work, discipline, and commitment that occur every day in classrooms and at school. We believe excellence goes beyond the scoreboard. Our mission is to celebrate and promote academic excellence, strong attendance, and continuous improvement in all high-commitment teams and activities.
Every team is measured against the average performance of its own school — never against another school, and never against a national benchmark. That single design decision is what makes the League fair for every participating school, whatever its size, resources or community.
Academic Excellence
We reward strong academic performance and a commitment to learning.
Attendance Matters
We celebrate consistent attendance and showing up for your team.
Continuous Improvement
We recognise growth, effort, and the pursuit of getting better every day.
The three indices
- Scholastic Grit Index (SGI)
- Team average GPA ÷ school average GPA × 100. An SGI of 107.5 means the team's average GPA ran 7.5% above its school's average.
- Attendance Grit Index (AGI)
- Team attendance rate ÷ school attendance rate × 100. An AGI of 103.1 means the team's attendance ran 3.1% above the school average.
- National Grit Index (NGI)
- (0.70 × SGI) + (0.30 × AGI). One overall measure, weighted 70% academic performance and 30% attendance.
Privacy by design
Individual student records never leave the school. The Foundation does not receive student names, individual GPAs, individual attendance records or transcripts. Schools submit only aggregate school and team summary statistics, which is all that is needed to calculate the three indices.
Schools therefore retain complete control over their student records, and the approach is consistent with the principles of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Recognition philosophy
Recognition influences attention. Attention influences behaviour. Repeated behaviours become habits, and over time those habits become part of a school's culture. The League exists to make the habits that matter most visible, so that schools can celebrate them consistently throughout the year — not only at the end of it.
The Grit League is an initiative of the National Grit League Foundation, whose mission is to help every school become the best version of itself.