2009 National Schools of Character Awards

Developing Young people of Character

Every year, the Character Education Partnership recognizes ten K–12 public and private schools and districts as National Schools of Character (NSOC) for their outstanding work in character education.

NSOC winners receive a financial grant as high as $10,000. The amount of each grant is based on the size of the school or district, the extensiveness of the winner's outreach plans, and available resources. Half of each grant is used to enhance the winner's program and send a team to present at the CEP Forum; the other half is used for outreach to other educators. Outreach efforts include providing staff development and mentoring to other schools or districts.

Winners may differ in their methods and implementation, but all have comprehensive character education programs that exemplify CEP's Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education and serve as models for others. The criteria used to judge award winners is CEP's Character Education Quality Standards. As part of the application process, applicants score themselves using this document.

Completing the application process is a rich opportunity to conduct a thorough self-assessment. Applicants receive detailed feedback in the form of a Quality Standards score sheet that includes a score and written feedback. Applicants also receive a subscription to E-ssential Character, CEP's electronic newsletter. CEP also gives applicants an additional month to apply for a Promising Practices award and then gives their applications special consideration.

Applications for the 2009 awards are due by December 8, 2008. Visit www.character.org for a complete list of rules, including a downloadable application and the documents mentioned above.