November 2o, 2025 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
Hingham High School has once again been given the distinction as a National Unified Champion School by Special Olympics. Hingham is one of only 17 Massachusetts schools “receiving this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect.” HHS currently hangs a similar banner for the same award for the 2019-2023 school years.
During halftime of last night’s 3rd Annual Unified Basketball vs Police game, Denise Larrabee – Special Olympics Masssachusetts’ Manager of Inclusion Schools Program and former Hingham resident, presented head coach Marlee Stanley, AD Jim Quatromoni, and the rest of the unified athletes with this year’s banner.
“The best part of coaching Unified Basketball is watching students build connections they might never have made otherwise,” Stanley said. “That sense of belonging, that feeling of being part of something bigger, is the real championship.”
Nationally, only 217 schools received this award, something that Quatromoni is extremely proud of.
“The Unified Programs at Hingham High School are fueled by the strong work of all that work within the SNAP program.” explained Quatromoni. “These programs are truly the soul of our athletic department. We are better together.”
Unified sports not only continues to grow at Hingham High with basketball and track, they are model examples for other programs in surrounding towns, as well as a newly formed Hingham Middle School Unified Bocce Ball team. In addition to these teams, Hingham has a strong history of inclusion in sports through South Shore SNAP, an organization which promotes the core values of the Special Olympics across the South Shore in almost a dozen different youth sports.