Gramaxo, Patrícia LeonorDias, ÁlvaroAbelha, MartaDutschke, GeorgSeabra, Filipa2026-06-112026-06-112026-06-10Gramaxo P, Dias Á, Abelha M, Dutschke G and Seabra F (2026) What makes school a happy place? Development and validation of a measurement scale for students. Front. Educ. 11:1816069. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2026.18160692504-284Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/22178Introduction: In addition to academic results, schools are increasingly mandated with promoting student happiness, contributing to their well-being, instilling a sense of belonging, and fostering the development of social and emotional skills. Thus, it is essential to have validated instruments to assess the overall happiness of schools. This article proposes a scale that assesses school happiness, as perceived by students. Methods: Data was obtained through questionnaires administered to 2,452 students (for the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), data were collected from 1,242 respondents, while a separate sample of 1,210 participated in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The model was tested using structural equation modeling techniques. Results: The results made it possible to identify three main components: Supportive Relationships and School Climate (People), Learning Processes and School Experience (Process), Learning Environments and Inclusion (Place). Discussion: The article discusses the development and validation of an instrument that can be applied to students as one of the means of assessing a school’s general happiness level and identifying key aspects to improve to increase a school’s level of happiness. Implications for future research on happy school evaluation are discussed, since schools will now have at their disposal tools that enable them to assess a happy school from the perspective of teachers, parents, and pupils.engHappy schoolsPsychometric validationScale developmentStudent perceptionsWellbeing in educationjournal article2026-06-10cv-prod-505045610.3389/feduc.2026.1816069