Best of SNO reopens Sept. 21 after record student journalism submissions

SNO Sites will relaunch Best of SNO on Sept. 21 for the 2026–2027 school year after a record 15,000-plus submissions last year. The program showcases top student reporting, gives schools quick recognition, and helps surface the best work from newsrooms nationwide.

Why it matters: - Best of SNO gives student journalists national visibility for work that often starts as local school coverage. - The program also serves as a teaching tool by showing student reporters and advisers examples of strong journalism from across the country. - As local newsrooms shrink, student publications are covering more school boards, city councils and elections. - Best of SNO gives that work a broader audience and faster feedback than many young reporters can get elsewhere. - A free public tracker, SNO Trending Stories, shows which stories and topics are gaining reader attention in real time. - The tool is available at trending.snosites.com.

What happened: - SNO Sites said Best of SNO will open for its 2026–2027 season on Sept. 21, 2026. - The recognition program returned after a record 2025–2026 year. - SNO Sites received more than 15,000 story submissions last school year. - That worked out to about 115 submissions per academic day. - SNO Sites republished more than 2,000 of those stories on BestofSNO.com. - The company expects this season to be even busier as more schools join SNO each month.

The details: - Best of SNO is the writing component of SNO's Distinguished Sites recognition program. - Any SNO Sites member can submit one eligible story per day during the academic year. - Reviewers select roughly the top 10% to 15% of submissions for republication. - The standards are intentionally strict. - Kyle Phillips, who manages the Best of SNO recognition program, said the program gives schools near-immediate recognition for strong work. - Phillips also said the program gives student journalists and advisers a single source for current examples of excellent student journalism. - SNO Sites provides publishing solutions for thousands of scholastic and collegiate journalism programs.

Between the lines: - The program reflects how student journalism is becoming more important as a source of local accountability reporting. - Best of SNO is positioned as both an award and a benchmark, which helps explain why the selection rate stays low. - The combination of republication and trending data turns student newsroom work into a wider audience product, not just a school-level achievement.

What's next: - Best of SNO starts accepting submissions on Sept. 21, 2026. - Participating schools can continue submitting one eligible story per day throughout the academic year. - More schools joining SNO could push submissions higher than last year.

The bottom line: - Best of SNO is back, and SNO Sites is betting that student journalism demand, quality and visibility will keep rising.