Unified Champion Schools
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
Please join us - National Banner Application meeting March 8th at 3:00 to learn more about the process.
High School
Unified Sports
Unified Strength and Conditioning
A big nod to Salem HS! Salem started with Unified Strength and Conditioning this past January and fielded a nice big team. They are off to an excellent start and are changing the culture at their school. Well done Salem Witches!
Unified Track & Field Preseason planning
General Timeline of the season
Coaches meetings

  • March 21 – Practices begin.
  • April 4 – Meets begin, 4 meet season with 2 home and 2 away.
  • May – Sectionals 5/9-5/19
  • May - States 5/25

If you have questions regarding the season please contact [email protected]
MASC Unified Bocce is Back!
We’re back to in-person Bocce events and we couldn’t be any more excited! We heard so many schools loved playing bocce on a regular basis last year, so please continue to practice up until the big tournament. This year, Special Olympics MA will help support 2 in-person Bocce competitions:
MASC is ready to roll!
Sunday, March 6 – Minnechaug Reg.HS
Saturday, March 19 – Pembroke HS
Youth Leadership
YAC Members Speak at Hill Day
4 YAC members, Ella Florence and AJ Pion from Chicopee HS along with Amalia Zorena Auburn HS, and Risha Khanderia from Marlborough HS worked to prepare and share their stories for Hill Day.
Capitol Hill Day is our annual effort to raise awareness & secure U.S. government funding for our urgent work in education and health.
We met with the offices of;
Representative Seth Moulton – with Dale Moss
Representative Jake Auchincloss
Representative James McGovern
Representative Katherine Clark
Senator Edward Markey

Please contact [email protected] if you have questions.
Whole School Engagement
The Plunge is back virtually and In-Person!
You can still plunge where you are or swing by one of our plunge events! Curious on how to team build at your school or create the much needed fun event for the entire school to rally around? Please visit All things plunge.
Need some help fundraising? Check out some fundraising tips below or visit our fundraising toolkit here!

  • Do you have a Facebook? Connect your Facebook through Donor Drive using Facebook Fundraisers for extra outreach to your Facebook friends!
  • Do you have a Venmo? Use our Venmo Punch Card and request people for donations and then transfer the donations to your personal page!
  • Share updates and photo content. It will make people interested and want to donate!
  • Send an email out to all your friends and family contacts and share why you are taking the plunge and ask for a donation.
Check out the Leaderboard! - Thank you
Middle School
Ready for March Madness?

We are excited to welcome middle schools into the Unified Basketball program. What could be better than getting more students involved competing for their school on a team?
Timeline of the upcoming season
January – Coach meeting via webinar 
Season 
Week of March 1 – 2 practices
Week of March 7 – 2 practices
Week of March 14 – 1 practice and 1 game 
Week of March 21 - 1 practice and 1 game
Week of March 28 – Basketball Jamboree

If you have questions please contact [email protected]
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