Somerset Berkley receiving national recognition from Special Olympics

MARLBOROUGH – Somerset Berkley Regional High School, a Special Olympics Unified Champion School, is receiving national banner recognition for its efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without disabilities, Special Olympics Massachusetts announced recently.

Somerset Berkley Regional High School is receiving this honor as a result of meeting national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy and respect. An award presentation will take place at the school on a later date, to be determined.

Somerset Berkley will be among a select number of schools to receive this distinction. They will be presented with a banner to hang in their school and be included on a list of other schools around the country who have achieved this distinguished status.

More than 180 schools are currently participating in Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools programming in Massachusetts as part of more than 6,500 schools across the country engaged in the program. Special Olympics has a global goal of creating 10,000 Unified Champion Schools by 2020.

Once a school has become a Unified Champion School they are eligible to apply for National Banner Recognition. 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.

The Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools model is supported by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research, to be an effective and replicable means to providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.