GRA Nomination School/District Forms and Procedures

ED-Green Ribbon Schools Nominee Submission Procedure

1. Each nominating authority must submit nominees to U.S. Department of Education by February 1. All submissions must be sent to green.ribbon.schools@ed.gov.

2. Each nominee submission, including the ED Nominee Presentation Form (the cover sheet) and documentation of a nominee’s high performance in all three Pillars and nine Elements, must not exceed 20 pages pdf attachment. This will require selecting and synthesizing information from your application.

3. Ensure that submissions comply with accessibility requirements in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For guidance on creating accessible pdfs, visit the U.S. Access Board's resources, Health and Human Services checklist for accessible pdfs or World Wide Web Consortium’s techniques for creating accessible PDFs.

   1. We suggest making a PDF of each signature and then copying and pasting the signature into appropriate place on Nomination Presentation Form.

   2. Once you have compiled your documentation and signed your Nominee Presentation Form in all the appropriate places, insert the Nomination Presentation Form as the first pages of your intended submission. The unaltered, clip art signed Nominee Presentation Form must be the cover sheet (first pages) in your submission.

   3. If your application is created in Word, be sure to save it as a PDF in order to transmit it. If you instead scan your Word document to convert it to a PDF, it will not be accessible and you will be asked to resubmit.

4. Please use the following subject line format for each of the email submissions:

   1. State Abbreviation_Nominee #_School Name_Disadvantaged or Private (where applicable)

   2. Example A: MT_1_Bradley Mills Elementary [neither private nor disadvantaged so no need to specify]

   3. Example B: SC_2_Franklin High School_Disadvantaged

   4. Example C: MA_3_Greenfield Academy_Private

   5. Example D: UT_4_District Award_Butterfield School District

   6. Example E: RI_6_Postsecondary_Providence College

5. In the body of each school nominee email, please indicate how many nominees your state will be submitting in total. Example: Attached is nomination package 1 of 3.

6. In the body of each disadvantaged nominee email, please indicate in 100 words or less how your nominating entity defined “disadvantaged” and the percentage disadvantaged at the school, according to your definition.

7. ED will confirm receipt of applications and contact your agency with questions, should they arise.

8. ED will announce honorees on Earth Day, April 22.

Key Dates in the ED-Green Ribbon Schools Calendar

February 1 Deadline for participating states to submit nominees to ED.

April 22 ED announces honorees.

July Awards ceremony

Submission Tips

1. Review other states’ submission formats for ideas.

2. Use nomination format that presents a clear and succinct picture of a school’s successful practices and results. This will require selecting and editing the material in your state’s application.

3. Consider orthographical and grammatical correctness when formulating application packages. Applications will be uploaded to the ED website on the day of the announcement for the world to see.

4. Ensure that applications comply with accessibility requirements in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Inaccessible applications cannot be accepted.

5. Provide a narrative that highlights a school’s work in all three Pillars. The summary statement should be Highlights Report ready. You can use past report summaries as examples for your nominees.

6. Obtain proper permissions and provide captions for any photos you include.

7. Confirm the compliance of your nominees with all applicable health, safety and environment statutory and regulatory requirements by confirming with your health, safety, environment or other appropriate authorities.