The school mascot is a Spartan, and the school's main rivals are Breck School, Blake School and Minnehaha Academy. According to school legend, SPA won the right to wear its school colors (Navy Blue and Vegas Gold) in a football game against Blake more than a century ago. The SPA-Blake rivalry is still regarded as the oldest high school rivalry in the state of Minnesota. SPA offers 15 varsity sports, and 34 teams. To date, Spartan sports teams have won 39 State titles since the school joined the MSHSL in 1975. Varsity letter-winners receive the Academy 'A', a reference to the longtime tradition of simply referring to the school as 'The Academy'.
