Custom Teacher Shirts
Custom teacher shirts for grade level teams, departments and whole faculties. Olive Branch Apparel prints soft tees that teachers actually want to wear on a Friday, with a proof to approve before anything is printed and no minimum order.
Teacher team shirts for the third grade hallway, school staff shirts for the first day back, hoodies for recess duty and polos for the front office. Start on a tee below, add your art, and see your price in the studio before you collect anything from colleagues.
Design Your Teacher Shirts Here
Add your team name or school art to a real shirt, set the quantity, and watch the price for custom teacher shirts update live. The studio opens on a soft, lightweight unisex tee, a popular pick for staff because it feels broken in from the first wear and layers easily under a cardigan.
One Design or Many for Custom Teacher Shirts
The decision that shapes the price of a staff order is not the shirt. It is how many different designs you ask for. A school that wants every grade to look distinct has two good ways to get there, and they behave very differently in production.
One Design in Several Shirt Colors
Screen printing rewards repetition. The screens are made once per design, then every shirt in the run is printed from them. If the whole staff shares one design, the order counts as one large run, and the price per piece reflects the full quantity instead of each small team on its own.
You can still tell teams apart. Print the same artwork on a different shirt color for each grade, so kindergarten wears one color and fifth grade another. The catch is ink. One ink color has to read on every shirt you choose, which usually means white ink on a set of medium and dark colors.
A Separate Design for Each Team
Grade level shirts with their own artwork, such as a different slogan or grade name for each hallway, are separate small jobs in screen printing. Each design needs its own setup, so six teams of five people are priced more like six small orders than one order of thirty.
That is where direct-to-film earns its place. DTF prints full-color artwork without screens, so small counts and many versions are practical. A common middle path is a shared screen printed front for everyone and a small DTF grade name on the sleeve or the back.
If you are ordering for a single team, none of this is a problem, and either method works. For a whole building, tell us how many versions you have in mind and we will show you which split keeps the total sensible.
Teacher Apparel We Print and Embroider
Grade Level Team Tees
Soft t-shirts for a grade level team or department, printed with a team name, a slogan or original art the whole hallway agreed on.
Whole Staff Shirts
Screen printed school staff shirts for the first day, spirit Fridays and field days, priced as one run across the entire faculty.
Embroidered Staff Polos
Polos with a stitched school name on the left chest for the front office, administrators and conference nights, plus hats for outdoor duty.
From Team Idea to Workroom Delivery in Six Steps
You approve a proof before anything is printed, so the shirts that arrive match what the team agreed on.
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1
Pick Your Garment
Three we actually recommend, with the reasons why. Full catalog is one click away.
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2
Drop In Your Art
Upload a logo or start from a sketch. We fix files that will not print.
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3
See Your Price
Per-piece pricing moves as you change quantity and print locations.
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4
Approve A Proof
Nothing runs until you have seen exactly what we are about to make.
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5
We Print It
Screen print, embroidery or DTF, whichever your art and quantity call for.
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6
It Ships
About 14 days from the day you approve the proof, printed and boxed.
Price a Team Order and a Staff Order Together
Change the quantity in the studio and see how the price per shirt moves.
Small Teams Welcome
There is no minimum order. A team of four can order four shirts, and the per-piece price drops as more colleagues join, so it pays to ask around the hallway first.
Spelling Checked on a Proof
You see a proof and approve it before printing. Read the school name, the grade and any quote carefully, because a typo on a teacher shirt will be noticed by students.
A Price to Share
The studio shows the price as you build. Many teachers pay for their own shirt, so having a real figure before you send the sign-up sheet avoids awkward surprises.
Rough Logos Redrawn
If the only school logo you can find is a small image from the website, send it. We clean up or redraw rough art so it prints sharply on fabric.
When Schools Order Teacher Shirts
The school year has a handful of moments when a matching shirt does real work, and each one has a deadline that arrives faster than expected. Working backward from the date is the surest way to have the box in the workroom on time.
Staff shirts for the first day and open house are best settled before summer ends. Rosters shift late in the break, so order a few extras for late hires.
A bright team color helps chaperones and students find their teacher in a crowded museum or zoo. Choose a color no other school is likely to be wearing.
Shirts given to teachers by a principal or parent group are a gift, so softness matters more than usual. Collect sizes quietly through the office well ahead.
Field day, promotion ceremonies and last day shirts land in the busiest weeks of spring. Approve the proof early, since nobody has spare attention during testing.
Standard turnaround is about 14 days from proof approval. If a date is already close, call and ask, because sometimes an order can be done faster.
Fit, Fabric and Sizes for a Whole Staff
A teacher shirt has to survive a long day of reaching, bending, sitting on a carpet square and standing at dismissal. Soft ring-spun cotton and cotton blends move well and stay comfortable in a warm classroom. Heavier classic tees cost less and last a long time, though some staff find them stiff. For a shirt worn weekly, comfort usually wins.
Sizing a faculty is harder than sizing a group of friends, because a staff covers every build and nobody wants to announce their size in a meeting. A private form or a sign-up sheet in the office works better than a show of hands. Share the sizing shown in the studio, and suggest people go up a size if they plan to layer.
Think about the dress code before choosing a color and a garment. Many schools pair staff shirts with jeans on a set day, so the shirt should look tidy tucked or untucked. Darker and mid-tone colors hide marker, glue and playground dust far better than white, and they still look presentable at the afternoon bell.
Order with the whole year in mind. Staff join after winter break, student teachers arrive, and substitutes on long assignments like to be included. A few spare shirts in common sizes save a tiny reorder later. There is no minimum either way, so one shirt for a new colleague is still fine.
One note on the range. We do not make cardigans, quarter zips, lanyards or tote bags, which often round out a staff set. We do make t-shirts, long sleeve tees, tank tops, polos, hoodies, hats and beanies, and those cover most classroom and duty days.
Ordering for the Whole Faculty
Tell us the headcount, the date and how many versions you need, and we will send a clear quote.
Artwork That Works on Custom Teacher Shirts
Teacher shirts tend toward words, and words are where prints go wrong. A long quote in a thin script looks lovely on a screen and can fill in on fabric, especially in a light ink on a dark shirt. Keep slogans short, choose a sturdy typeface, and let the grade or team name be the largest thing on the shirt.
Check who owns the art before you fall in love with it. The school mascot and crest usually belong to the school or district, so ask the office for the approved file and colors. Famous storybook, film and cartoon characters belong to their publishers and studios, and we cannot print them. Original artwork avoids the problem entirely.
School colors rarely match a stock ink or shirt color exactly. If your building is particular about its shade of blue or gold, say so and send a reference. The proof shows how the ink color sits on the shirt color, and that is the moment to adjust, before the run is printed.
Do not worry if all you have is a sketch on a sticky note or a blurry copy of the school logo. We clean up or redraw rough artwork so it prints well. For embroidered polos, expect small lettering to be simplified, because thread cannot hold detail as fine as ink can.
Teacher Shirt Questions, Answered
Is there a minimum order for custom teacher shirts?
No. There is no minimum on custom teacher shirts, so a team of three or a single shirt for a new hire is fine. The price per piece drops as the quantity goes up, which is why combining several teams into one order usually costs less per person. The studio shows the price for any quantity.
How far ahead should we order for the first day of school?
Standard turnaround is about 14 days from the day you approve the proof, and gathering sizes from a staff always takes longer than planned. Starting before summer break ends is the safe route. If your date is already close, call and ask, because sometimes an order can be done faster.
Can each grade level have a different shirt?
Yes. The most economical way is one shared design printed on a different shirt color for each grade, since that runs as a single order. Grade level shirts with completely different artwork are possible too. They are produced as separate small jobs, and direct-to-film is often the better method for those.
Should teacher shirts be screen printed or done with DTF?
Screen printing suits one design across many shirts and is hard wearing, which fits a whole staff order. Direct-to-film suits small teams, full-color art and designs that change from group to group. Tell us the quantity and the art for your custom teacher shirts and we will recommend one. You see it on the proof either way.
Can you print our school mascot or a book character?
We can print your school mascot once the school or district is happy for you to use it, so ask the office for the approved artwork. We cannot print characters from books, films or television, because those belong to their owners. Original art in a similar spirit is the simple alternative, and we can help tidy it up.
Can the principal order for the whole faculty?
Yes. For a full building, send the headcount, the sizes and the date through the quote form, or build the order in the studio and see the price as you go. Larger orders of school staff shirts bring the per-piece price down. One contact person approving the proof keeps things moving.
How do teachers usually pay when everyone buys their own shirt?
Most teams have one organizer collect payment from colleagues and place a single order, because one combined run costs less per shirt than separate ones. Check the price in the studio first, share it with the team, and set a firm sign-up deadline. People who miss it can still order a single shirt later.
Do you ship to schools outside Colorado?
Yes. Our shop is in Fort Collins, Colorado, and we ship custom teacher shirts across the United States. Many organizers have the box sent to the school office. Everything from artwork to proof approval happens online or by phone, and a person answers on weekdays from 9am to 5pm Mountain.
Where We Are
Olive Branch Apparel
706 East Stuart Street
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Outfit the Team Down the Hall
Start with one grade level or the whole faculty. Add your art in the studio, see your price, approve a proof, and we will ship your teacher shirts from Fort Collins to your school.