A Special Olympics Unified Champion School has an inclusive school climate and exudes a sense of collaboration, engagement and respect for all members of the student body and staff. A Unified Champion School receiving national banner recognition is one that has demonstrated commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence.
These standards were developed by a national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community. Wait, I'm a Unified Champion School now and I could be a Nation Banner school? Yes, that's right. Each school that starts the program is a Unified Champion school working in the areas of Whole School Engagement, Inclusive Youth Leadership, and Unified Sports.
A national banner school is one that is achieving higher levels of Unified programming in these areas.
Please review these standards for each level
Who can apply? Schools that have been a UCS and have not yet been awarded National Banner Status, and schools that were recognized in the National Banner class of 2018.
The application cycle
- March 1, 9am Applications open *for both NEW schools and schools that were recognized in 2018
- May 1, 9am- Applications Close
- May - Initial application review
- June - National Certifying Body reviews applications.
- August- National Banner Schools announced