Why do we ask you to report?
Special Olympics Illinois Unified Champion Schools is honored to be partially funded through the Federal Department of Education. Because of this funding, there are specific things we require from our schools to assist us to meet the necessary reporting metrics to continue to receive this grant.
Annually, we ask schools to complete a Commitment Letter, a Mid Term Numbers Report, an End of Year Numbers Report, and a Survey sent out by the University of Massachusetts. By completing each of these items, schools assist us in verifying participation, growth, and benefits of the Unified Champion Schools strategy across Illinois.
Commitment Letter
We ask every school to complete a Commitment Letter each year. In this letter, schools have the opportunity to identify what they will be striving to accomplish this year within each component. We then are able to communicate and provide resources to assist schools in achieving their goals.
Fill out the Commitment Letter Today!
Numbers Report
The Numbers Reports are crucial to our Grant Reporting process! By turning in participation numbers, we are able to accurately reflect the level of Unified engagement across the state for the Federal Government and Special Olympics to see. In addition to that, we understand that some schools are not able to get things up and running right away. That’s OK! We ask ALL schools to turn in a Numbers Report, even if their numbers are low or zero. This is because it helps us report participation 100% accurately. When the numbers come from the schools, there is no dispute.
Numbers reports are due by January 15 and May 15 each year! Complete yours today!
Not sure how to complete the Numbers Report? We are here to help! Check out this video!
UMASS Survey
Each year we ask our teachers to complete a survey from the University of Massachusetts to gauge how things are progressing both within each school and across the state. This is your chance to evaluate your progress and the SOILL UCS Team. The information gathered through these surveys is utilized both statewide and nationally to assist us in growing and adjusting to ensure quality opportunities are available for all.
There are a few reasons to be sure to complete this survey. The Federal Grant we receive requires us to have at least an 75% completion rate of the UMASS survey each year. If our completion rate were to fall lower than that, we may not receive the same level of funding for the next year. In addition to that reason, this is a great opportunity for you to share with SONA and the Federal Government all of your efforts utilizing the UCS Strategy! By completing this survey, you are sharing the work you are doing as well as the benefits this work brings to your school. In doing so, you are assisting Special Olympics Illinois, as well as other state programs, in getting more schools involved. We use this data in our outreach efforts to help grow engagement across the state!
This survey comes out every Spring. This year, the UMass Survey will launch in March and end in May. Please be on the lookout for communication on this leading up to the launch.
If you have any questions or need help filling out the survey please contact Jillian Hosteny at jhosteny@soill.org