Northeast Philly Middle School Earns National Inclusion Honor

PHILADELPHIA — A School District of Philadelphia middle school recently earned recognition from Special Olympics Pennsylvania for its commitment to inclusion

The C.C.A. Baldi Middle School is the first middle school in Pennsylvania to receive the honor of a National Banner Unified Champion School from Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

The Unified Champion Schools is a program that promotes social inclusion with sports as the foundation and integrates youth leadership.

Baldi was among 10 other schools in the state to receive this distinction and 121 nationally.

These schools demonstrate commitment to inclusion by meeting 10 national standards of excellence, developed by a national panel of leaders from Special Olympics and the education community. There are more than 30 schools within the School District of Philadelphia that are leading components of the Unified Champion Schools programming.

Of those 30 schools, Lincoln and George Washington high schools and Baldi have received national recognition as a National Banner Unified Champion School for meeting the 10 national standards of excellence.

School leadership and staff at Baldi embraced the concept of creating a continuum of engagement and inclusive school culture for students with and without disabilities within their shared community.

Baldi has a number of special education programs, and students from Baldi feed into George Washington High School.

This creates a continuum of engagement which was a goal for both the District and Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

According to an evaluation conducted by the Center for Social Development and Education (CSDE) at the University of Massachusetts Boston, 98 percent of involved teachers believe participation in the program has increased the confidence of students with disabilities. Additionally, 94 percent of teachers and school staff say the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools program increases opportunities for students with and without intellectual disabilities to work together.