Special Olympics honors 10 Pa. schools for their work on inclusivity

Patriot-News - 9/3/2020

When it comes to inclusiveness in sports, Pennsylvania schools are some of the best.

The Special Olympics has named 10 Pennsylvania schools as National Banner Unified Champion Schools because of the work they do to be inclusive when it comes to both sports and leadership activities for students. Only 121 schools in the entire country received this honor.

Among the schools honored are York County’s Central York High School and Dallastown High School. Other nominated schools include Franklin Regional High School and Norwin High School in Westmoreland County, Pennridge High School in Bucks County, Springfield Township High School and Upper Merion Area High School in Montgomery County and Sun Valley High School in Delaware County. C.C.A. Baldi Middle School in Philadelphia and Slippery Rock University in Butler County also became the first middle school and university in the state to receive the honor from the Special Olympics.

In order to become a National Banner Unified Champion School, these schools had to meet 10 standards of excellence, including offering a fully-inclusive sports or fitness program that has roughly the same number of students with and without intellectual disabilities. The schools must also have at least two activities that promote inclusivity and engage the entire school.

You can learn more about what makes a National Banner School at specialolympics.org.

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