January 2022 - Schools Newsletter

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

Elementary-10 Standards of Excellence

Middle and High 10 Standards of Excellence

If a school receives national banner status they are requested to reapply to keep up their status every 4 years.

The application cycle for the 2021 – 2022 school year will open in March 2022.

March 1, 9AM ET - Applications open *for both NEW schools and schools that were recognized in 2018
May 1, 9AM ET - Applications Close
May - Initial application review
June - National Certifying Body reviews applications.
August- National Banner Schools announced

We are proud to share that we have 41 National Banner Schools! Please reach out to any member of the Special Olympics MA schools team if you think your school is ready to apply and we'll support you!

High School

Unified Sports

Unified Strength and Conditioning

We are excited to share the following schools have signed up for the 6 week Unified Strength and Conditioning season.

Fairhaven HS

Joseph Case HS

Lynn English HS

Marlborough HS

Milford HS

Monomoy Reg. HS

Pembroke HS

Monson HS

Plymouth North HS

Plymouth South HS

Salem HS

Westborough HS

If you have questions regarding the season please contact [email protected]

Unified Track & Field Preseason planning

General Timeline of the season

Early February - Coaches meetings (meeting links will be forthcoming).
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 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

Deadline to complete form is Friday, January 21 MASC School Registration

Youth Leadership

Youth Leadership Experience at USA Games

2 YAC members will be going to USA Games this next June as part of the Massachusetts delegation. The students will joining other youth leaders from every Special Olympics' state chapter to attend leadership workshops. We are thrilled that Zach DeLuca and Tyler McGough from Auburn HS will be representing Massachusetts.

Congratulations Zach and Ty!

Please contact [email protected] if you have questions.

“Stand Up and Speak Out”- the courage to make our communities inclusive for all

The 5th Annual MSAA/MIAA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit is scheduled for January 21, 2022. This VIRTUAL event with the theme “Stand Up Speak Out”... is intended for students and school personnel from the MSAA and MIAA memberships.

Registration Information click here

Whole School Engagement

Plunge time!

If you haven’t heard, we have announced 9 in-person plunge locations in February and March. Your school is welcome to attend any of these in-person locations OR like last year, you can create your own fun and unique way of ‘plunging’. We saw plungers get sprayed by fire hoses, jump into lakes, pour buckets of water over their heads, jump into the snow just to name a few! So make sure you record your plunge, whatever it is, and send us the videos/pictures by March 2 so that you can be a part of the MASC Plunge Video.

Registration is easy – login with your information from last year or create a new account if you are a new plunger!

Special SHOUT OUT to . . . Auburn and Silver Lake for leading the way in fundraising already!

We thank you!

ALL the money raised by MASC schools will go to help more schools across Massachusetts add Unified Sports and becoming Unified Champion Schools, creating a culture of acceptance and inclusion in their school communities!

Every dollar raised directly supports year-round sports training and competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities in Massachusetts.

Middle School

Middle Unified Basketball Planned for March

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]

Coach of the Year

MIAA announces Coach of the Year for Unified Track and Field

Congratulations, Nick Diantonio, Unified Track & Field Coach of the year at Natick High School. Nick has a long and impressive resume which includes coaching the Natick Unified T & F team since inception 5 years ago and had this to say about his time coaching unified sports:

"We concurrently emphasize such concepts as: the importance of true and valuable interpersonal relationships amongst teammates, healthy lifestyle choices, and, most importantly, working to build a genuinely inclusive school community. Simply stated, when an individual finishes with the Unified Track and Field season at Natick High School, if one can look in the mirror and affirm he or she has become a better person as a result of participation with our team, we have succeeded as coaches!”