Career/Vocational Technical Education

Nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program

To:	Superintendents, Charter School Leaders, and High School Principals
From:	Jeff Wulfson, Acting Commissioner
Date:	October 20, 2017

I am seeking nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. All Massachusetts high school seniors graduating between January and August of 2018 who are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, who attend a Massachusetts public or private high school, as well as those who are homeless, are eligible. Under the Executive Order establishing the Presidential Scholars Program, students are selected on the basis of outstanding scholarship and promise of future success. Previously, nominees were invited to apply based solely upon SAT and ACT scores or on their demonstrated ability and accomplishment in the visual and performing arts or creative writing. More recently, the Presidentially-appointed Commission on Presidential Scholars has expanded the nominee pool by inviting each Chief State School Officer to nominate up to twenty students, ten male and ten female, from his or her state for its general student category, and up to five students for its Career and Technical Education student category. I encourage you to nominate two students in either category who have demonstrated outstanding academic performance as well as other accomplishments, but might not otherwise be nominated based on SAT/ACT scores alone. Schools may only nominate one female student and one male student. Candidates should have strong academic performance, demonstrated leadership, school and community involvement, and they may receive discretionary points for extraordinary achievement, heavy work load, family responsibilities, or obstacles overcome. If you are nominating Career and Technical Education students, they should have evidence of academic rigor, technical competence, employability skills, and demonstrated ingenuity and creativity in their career and technical education program. To nominate a student, please complete the Individual School Form, plus the 5-page nomination form for each nominee. Include a 1-2 page writing sample from each student, and send to Margie Roberts, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, by email to mroberts@doe.mass.edu. An email notification will be sent to all nominators announcing the students who have advanced to the next stage of competition. Deadline for nominations is Friday, November 3, 2017 at 5:00 p.m.

Attached:

Guidelines for Nominations by Schools

Individual School Form

Student Information Form

Last Updated: October 19, 2017