What Are The Blackboard Awards?

Founded by New York Family's parent company, Manhattan Media in 2002, The Blackboard Awards accomplish two worthy goals: They help New York City parents make informed choices about their children's education, and they honor and celebrate schools, principals and teachers of excellence from all education communities—public, private, parochial and charter—and from all grade levels, from nursery school through high school.

How does it work?

In November, we host an awards night for schools and principals, and in June we host an awards night for teachers. For most of the Blackboard Awards' history, the master of ceremonies was the legendary memoirist and NYC teacher Frank McCourt. Since his death we've welcomed a variety of distinguished educators and city dignitaries. The recent participation of NBC News' Kate Snow, Lynda Baquero and Richard Lui as the hosts of the Blackboard Awards was a special honor given NBC's own commitment to education through their annual Education Nation series. Bolstering the ceremonies is an in-depth series of education-related articles, profiles and resources appearing in New York Family magazine and here on BlackboardAwards.com

How can a parent participate?

Parent participation is critical to the helpfulness and success of the Blackboard Awards, and since its inception eleven years ago, thousands of city parents have participated. Take the teacher survey. Tell us all about your star teacher by nominating him or her for a 2013 Blackboard Award. We welcome survey responses all year round. The nomination deadline for this year's Teacher Awards is May 10th, 2013. Bring them on!

Your recommendations count!

By telling us about a school you like, you're helping that school grow its reputation and reach other families who may be interested in it. By telling us about a teacher or principal you love, you're helping us honor some of society's most important—and most unsung—heroes.