Hingham, MA, September 23, 2025 – Special Olympics has announced that Hingham High School, a school with Special Olympics Unified Champion School® programming, is receiving national banner recognition for its efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without intellectual disabilities. Hingham High School is receiving this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. A national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community developed these standards.
The primary activities within these standards include sports, leadership, and whole school engagement opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities. The result is a school environment that promotes inclusion and respect for all. National banner schools should also demonstrate they are self-sustainable or have a plan in place to sustain these activities into the future.
“Hingham's Unified Sports program is emblematic of the inclusive and welcoming community HHS is. I am proud of and humbled by the support, collaboration and unity these student-athletes have for one another and our program,” said Dr. Buckey, HHS Interim Principal.
The Unified Champion Schools® model is a strategy for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments, utilizing three interconnected components: Unified Sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement. More than 21 million inclusive experiences are taking place through Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® programming.
The Unified Champion Schools® model is supported by the 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 provide students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.