For the first time in its history, last night The Gator earned the SNO Distinguished Site Award, placing the student news site among a select group of digital student publications nationwide recognized for excellence in online journalism.

SNO is a WordPress-based publishing platform that hosts and supports high school student news websites, providing digital publications with design tools, technical support, training and recognition programs for online journalism.

With just hours left before eligibility closed for the yearlong contest, The Gator is currently the only Massachusetts student news site listed as having earned the distinction this year. It is one of 79 student news programs listed in the 2025–2026 Best of SNO Distinguished Sites Program, representing about 13% of the 595 participating schools and about 24% of the 326 published schools this year.

“With the largest group of new recruits since the newsroom launched in 2014, I couldn’t be prouder of this accomplishment,” David Cutler, who advises The Gator, said. “This is unlike any national accolade the program has won before. It is a standards-based platform honor, not a head-to-head national contest like an NSPA Pacemaker or CSPA Crown, which remain the biggest overall honors in scholastic journalism.”

The award recognizes student news sites that demonstrate strength across several areas of digital journalism, including writing, multimedia, audience engagement, continuous coverage, story-page design and overall site excellence.

“This win emphasizes the newsroom’s recent commitment to excellent journalism in many categories,” Editor-In-Chief Tavio Mares-Praag said.

The Gator also won a Silver Crown this year from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, one of the nation’s top honors for student journalism, along with First Place for Online Student News Site, Class IV, from the New England Scholastic Press Association. The newsroom also earned a wide range of individual regional and national accolades.

A special plaque commemorating the honor will be on display in Cutler’s classroom.

“It’s getting hard to find wall space in my classroom for all of these amazing accolades,” Cutler said. “But if you want to be part of something truly special and unique, please consider joining journalism in the fall. Everybody in the Upper School is welcome to join, and the elective is entirely run and taught by students.”