Did prepandemic perceptions of school climate protect students' internalizing symptoms during COVID‐19 school closures?

The global COVID‐19 pandemic significantly disrupted educational environments for all students when the majority of schools in the United States abruptly switched to remote learning. School climate, including support and structure, has been recognized as an important construct that influences student functioning. The current study explored student perceptions of school climate before school disruptions as a potential protective factor against negative outcomes during the pandemic. Middle school students (N = 225) completed assessments of their perceptions of school climate in Fall 2019 and self‐reported internalizing symptoms in Spring 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to test both the association and directionality between school climate and internalizing symptoms. Positive perception of school climate before the pandemic was significantly associated with less internalizing symptoms during initial school closures, particularly for girls. The results highlight the importance of school climate in students' mental health, especially during periods of stress. Limitations and future directions are discussed. Practitioner Points: Positive perceptions of school climate before the COVID‐19 pandemic were associated with lower levels of student internalizing symptoms during school closures.Girls benefited more from a positive school climate in terms of reduced internalizing symptoms during the pandemic.School climate support and structure can serve as protective factors for students' mental health even when they are not physically present in the school building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]